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I. Linguistics
A. Scope of Linguistic Studies
1. Phonology – studies the combination of sounds into organized units of speech, the combination of syllables and larger
units.
a. Phoneme is a distinctive, contrasted sound unit, e.g. /b/, /æ/, /g/. It is the smallest unit of sound of any language that
causes a difference in meaning.
b. Allophones are variants or other ways of producing a phoneme.
2. Phonetics – studies language at the level of sounds: how sounds are articulated by the human speech mechanism.
3. Morphology – studies the patterns of forming words by combining sounds into minimal distinctive units of meanings
called morphemes.
a. Morpheme is a short segment of language which (1) is a word or word part that has meaning, (2) cannot be divided
into smaller meaningful parts without violating its meaning, (3) recurs in different words with a relatively stable
meaning.
b. Allomorphs – are morphs which belong to the same morpheme e.g., /s/, /z/, and /ez/ of the plural morpheme /s/ or
/es/.
c. Free morphemes can stand on their own as independent words, e.g., beauty in beautifully, like in unlikely. Thus,
they can occur in isolation.
d. Bound morphemes cannot stand on their own as independent words. These morphemes are also called as affixes.
e. Inflectional morphemes never change the form class of the words or morphemes to which they are attached. They
show person, tense, number, case, and degree.
f. Derivational morphemes are added to root morphemes or stems to derive new words.
4. Syntax – deals with how words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences, and studies the way phrases, clauses,
and sentences are constructed.
a. Structure of predication –refers to the two components : subject and predicate
b. Structure of complementation – has two basic elements : verbal and complement
c. Structure of modification – includes two components : head word and modifier
d. Structure of coordination – covers two components : equivalent grammatical units
5. Semantics – attempts to analyze the structure of meaning in language and deals with the level of meaning in language.
a. Lexical ambiguity – refers to the characteristic of a word that has more than one meaning.
b. Syntactic ambiguity – refers to the characteristic of a phrase that has more than one meaning e.g. Filipino teacher.
6. Pragmatics – deals with the contextual aspects of meaning in particular situations ; studies how language is used in real
communication.
a. Speech act theory – advances that every utterance consists of three separate acts (1) locutionary force – an act of
saying something and describes what a speaker says, (2) illocutionary force – the act of doing something and what
the speaker intends to do by uttering a sentence, and (3) perlocutionary act – an act of affecting someone; the effect
on the hearer of what a speaker says.
b. Categories of illocutionary acts – refers to categories proposed by John Searle to group together closely related
intentions for saying something:
Representative – stating, asserting, denying, confessing, admitting, notifying, concluding, predicting, etc.
Directive – requesting, ordering, forbidding, warning, advising, suggesting, insisting, recommending, etc.
Question –asking, inquiring, etc.
Commissive – promising, vowing, volunteering, offering, guaranteeing, pledging, betting, etc.
Expressive – apologizing, thanking, congratulating, condoling, welcoming, deploring, objecting, etc.
Declaration – appointing, naming, resigning, baptizing, surrendering, excommunicating, arresting, etc.
7. Discourse – studies chunks of language which are bigger than a single sentence.
B. Language Views / Theories of Language
1. The Structuralists support the idea that language can be described in terms of observable and verifiable data as it is
being used.
a. Language is a means of communication.
b. Language is primarily vocal
c. Language is a system of systems.
d. Language is arbitrary.
2. The Transformationalists believe that language is a system of knowledge made manifest in linguistic forms but innate
and, in its most abstract form universal.
a. Language is a mental phenomenon. It is not mechanical.
b. Language is innate. Children acquire their first language because they have a language acquisition device (LAD) in
their brain.
c. Language is universal: all normal children learn a mother tongue, all languages share must share key features like
sounds and rules.
d. Language is creative and enables speakers to produce and understand sentences they have not heard nor used
before.
3. The Functionalists advocates that language is a dynamic system through which members of a community exchange
information. It is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning such as expressing one’s emotions, persuading
people, asking and giving information, etc.
They emphasize the meaning and functions rather than the grammatical characteristics of language.
4. The Interactionists believe that language is a vehicle for establishing interpersonal relations and for performing social
transactions between individuals.
Language teaching content may be specified and organized by patterns of exchange and interaction.
C. Language Acquisition / Theories of Language Learning
1. Behaviorist learning theory – the language behavior of an individual is conditioned by sequences of differential rewards
in his/her environment.
According to Littlewood (1984), the process of habit formation includes the following :
a. Children imitate the sounds and patterns which they hear around them.
b. People recognize the child’s attempts as being similar to the adult models and reinforce (reward) the sounds by
approval or some other desirable reaction.
c. In order to obtain more of these rewards, the child repeats the sounds and patterns so that these become habits.
d. In this way t he child’s verbal behavior is conditioned (‘shaped’) until the habits coincide with adult models.
Behavioralists see three crucial elements of learning: (1) a stimulus, which serves to elicit behavior, (2) a
response triggered by the stimulus, and (3) reinforcement which serves to mark the response as being
appropriate and encourages the repetition of the response.
2. Cognitive learning theory. Noam Chomsky believes that all normal human beings have an inborn biological internal
mechanism that makes language learning possible.
Cognitivists / innatists ‘ mentalists account of second language acquisition include hypothesis testing, a process
of formulating rules and testing the same with competent speakers of the target language.
3. Krashen’s Monitor Model (1981).This is the most comprehensive theory in second language acquisition. It consists of
five central hypotheses.
a. The acquisition / learning hypothesis – claims that there are two ways of developing competence in L2:
Acquisition – the subconscious process that results from informal, natural communication between people where
language is a means, not a focus nor an end in itself.
Learning – the conscious process of knowing about language and being able to talk about it, that occurs in a more formal
situation where the properties of a language are taught
b. The natural order hypothesis suggests that grammatical structures are acquired in a predictable order for both
children and adults _ certain grammatical structures are acquired before others, irrespective of the language being
learned.
c. The monitor hypothesis claims that conscious learning of grammatical rules has an extremely limited function in
language performance: as a monitor or editor that checks output.
d. The input hypothesis. Krashen proposes that when learners are exposed to grammatical features a little beyond
their current level those features are acquired.
e. The affective filter hypothesis. Filter consists of attitude to language, motivation, self-confidence and anxiety.
Learners with a low affective filter seek and receive more input, interact with confidence, and are more receptive to
the input they are exposed to.
o Teachers must continuously deliver at a level understandable by learners
o Teaching must prepare the learners for real life communication situations
o Teachers must ensure that learners do not become anxious or defensive in language learning.
o Formal grammar teaching is of limited value because it contributes to learning rather than acquisition
D. Language Teaching Implications
1. Language theories provide some basis for a particular teaching method or approach.
Structuralism / behaviorism has produced the audiolingual method (ALM), oral approach / situational language
teaching, bottom-up text processing, controlled-to-free writing.
2. The cognitive learning theory results to the cognitive approach that puts language analysis before language use and
instruction by the teacher, before the students practice forms.
Learning as a thinking process gives birth to cognitive-based and schema-enhancing strategies such as Directed
Reading Thinking Activity, Story Grammar, Think-Aloud, etc.
3. The functional view of language introduced methods which are learner-centered, allowing learners to work in pairs or
groups in information gap tasks and problem-solving activities where such communication strategies as information
sharing, negotiation of meaning, and interaction are used.
These communication-based methods include the Communicative Language Teaching / Communicative
Approach, Notional-Functional Approach, Natural Approach
4. Cognitive – affective has given rise to a holistic approach to language learning or whole person learning. It also includes
the humanistic approach, allowing learners vocabulary for expressing, sharing and understanding one’s feelings, values,
and needs.
The humanistic techniques cover Community Language Learning.
II. Literature
A. Goals of Teaching Literature
1. Develop and/or extend literary competence. Jonathan Culler defines literary competence as the ability to internalize the
‘grammar’ of literature which would permit a reader to convert linguistic sequences into literary structures and meaning.
2. Develop and/or enhance learners’ imagination and creativity.
3. Develop students’ character and emotional maturity.
4. Develop creative thinking.
5. Develop literary appreciation and refine one’s reading taste.
D. Literary Criticism – involves the reading, interpretation and commentary of a specific text or texts which have been
designated as literature. Literary criticism is the application of a literary theory to specific texts. Literary theory identifies what
makes literary language literary and the function of literary text in social and cultural terms.
1. Classical Literary Theory –literature is an imitation of life.
a. Mimesis (Plato) – literature is an imitation of life.
b. Dulce et utile (Horace) – function of literature is to entertain or to teach/instruct
c. Sublime (Longinus) – style may be low, middle, high, or sublime
d. Catharsis (Aristotle) – purgation of negative emotions of fear and pity
C. Eclectic Approach
1. Reading as interest – development of the recreational reading habit; the major approach is personalized or individualized
reading.
2. Reading as language process
Language Experience Approach – a strategy which views reading as an extension of speaking :
thinking/experiencing, talking, writing, reading.
Psycholinguistic Approach – view reading as an interaction of thought and language, a process of combining
psychology and linguistics. This approach advances that reading, like listening, is a receptive process, used to
understand a written message, that readers reconstruct the author’s meaning in their own words.
3. Reading as culture – focuses on the relation between dialect differences and the written message as well as on one’s
cultural heritage. It makes instruction relevant to the pupil’s cultural background.
4. Reading as a learned process – emphasizes on controlled development of skills in a structured sequence progressing
from simple to complex
The Basal Textbook Approach – follows this general format : scope-and-sequence or flow chart for all an overall
view of skills; kindergarten readiness workbooks; first grade, second grade and above skillbooks; teacher’s
guides and assessment tests. The standard basal text lesson follows these steps:
(a) background or motivation
(b) vocal development
(c) purposeful or guided silent reading
(d) discussion
(e) purposeful rereading
(f) skill instruction in word recognition, comprehension skill with the use of workbooks
(g) enrichment activities
The Linguistic Approach – look at reading as recognizing and interpreting graphic symbols representing
spoken sounds which have meaning. It stresses sound-symbol regularity and systematic exposure to frequently
used sounding patterns.
The Phonics Approach – believes that the English spelling system is essentially regular in its correspondence
between letters and speech sounds and that letter sounds can be blended together to form words. For second
language learners short phonics drills on crucial sounds like f, v, j, sh, th, z, a and the schwa are needed.
Programmed Instruction – includes step-by-step learning, learning, immediate feedback, regular and constant
review and individual progress through materials.
The Skills Monitoring Approach – reading is analyzed in terms of skills arranged in hierarchies. This approach
entails
(1) a scope and sequence chart of reading skills
(2) a battery of tests for preassessment of reading abilities
(3) based on test results, instruction to adjust to pupils’ interest, abilities, and needs
(4) a continuous assessment using both formative and summative tests
(5) a corrective or remedial measures
(6) an adequate and challenging enrichment activities for the bright pupils.
V. Structure of English
A. Sentences. Every sentence must have both a subject and a verb.
1. Three kinds of sentences
A declarative sentence states a fact, e.g., “Connie loves Rommel.”
An interrogative sentence asks a question, e.g., “Does Connie love Rommel?”
An exclamatory sentence registers an exclamation, e.g., “Like, I mean, you know, like wow!”
2. Three basic structures
A simple sentence makes one self-standing assertion, i.e., has one main clause, e.g., “Connie loves Rommel.”
A compound sentence makes two or more self-standing assertions, i.e., has two main clauses, e.g., “Connie loves
Rommel and Rommel enjoys it.”
A complex sentence makes one self-standing assertion and one or more dependent assertions, subordinate
clauses, dependent on the main clause, e.g., “Connie who has been desiring Rommel these twelve years, loves him,
and Rommel, what’s more, still enjoys it.”
Hemingway favors a paratactic syntax while Faulkner prefers a hypotactic one. 3. Asyndeto
n –
Connectives are committed between words, phrases, or clauses, e.g., “I’ve been stressed, destressed, beat down, beat
up, held down, held up, conditioned, reconditioned.”
4. Polysendeton – Connectives are always supplied between words, phrases, or clauses, as when Milton talks about Satan
pursuing his way, “And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.”
5. Periodic Sentence – is a long sentence with a number of elements, usually balanced or antithetical, standing in a clear
syntactical relationship to each other. Usually it suspends the conclusion of the sense until the end of the sentence, and
so is sometimes called a suspended syntax.
6. Loose Sentence - a sentence whose elements are loosely related to one another, follow in no particularly antithetical
climactic order, and do not suspend its grammatical completion until the close. A sentence so loose as to verge on
incoherence is often called a run-on sentence.
7. Isocolon – the Greek word means, literally, syntactic units of equal length, and it is used in English to describe the
repetition of phrases of equal length and corresponding structure, e.g., “Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink but in
tears, not in pleasure but in passion, not in words only, but in woes also.”
8. Chiasmus – is the basic pattern of antithetical inversion, the AB:BA pattern. The best example is probably from John F.
Kennedy’s first inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
9. Anaphora – begins a series of phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word. Churchill’s exhortation in 1940: “We
have become the sole champion now in arms to defend the world cause. We shall do our best to be worthy of this high
honor. We shall defend our island home, and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable until the curse of
Hitler is lifted from the brows of mankind. We are sure that in the end all will come right.”