What is Language?

Education 388

Lecture 3

January 23, 2008

Kenji Hakuta, Professor

Learning Objectives

General: This class is meant to address student knowledge about language and linguistics (the formal study of the nature of language) in particular as they apply to ELL teaching. 

Specific Objectives:

STUDENTS WILL be able to….

• State that language consists of sounds, words, sentences, meanings, and social uses; that different languages vary on these dimensions.

• Apply knowledge about language to the analysis of language errors found in their ELL students.

• State why the analysis of language has caused controversy about how related areas such as reading and writing are taught in the schools.

• State a biological and a linguistic argument for why second language acquisition is complex and must take into account the characteristics of the learner.

• Apply the theories about language to the analysis of the California (and other) state English Language Development standards.

Source: Robin Scarcella, Effective Writing Instruction for English Learners. In Teacher Education and Professional Development: English Language Learners.

Second Language Errors

• A “language error” is a systematic variation in form from the standard language that occurs in the speech or writing of second language learners. “He no like his job” contains a language error (“no” rather than “doesn’t”) if it occurs consistently. It may or may not be attributable to the speaker’s native language. It is not random; rather, it is predictable on the basis of linguistic principles.

• Can you think of an example of language errors that you have observed in your students?

Some Examples of English Grammatical Difficulties(based on Robin Scarcella)

Verb Forms• I always remembered when my friend died.• I study English since 1986Prepositions – often absent or used incorrectly• The nucleus is on the cell.• He discriminate me.Articles – often absent or used incorrectly.• The knowledge is good.• On first day school I get loss.Count/non-count nouns• The T.A. gave me many good advices.• I read the informations.

Source: Robin Scarcella, Effective Writing Instruction for English Learners. In Teacher Education and Professional Development: English Language Learners.

Analysis of Language

• Subfield of lingusitics / the study of _______• Phonetics / sounds• Phonemics / phonemes• Morphology / morphemes• Lexicology / words• Syntax / grammar• Semantics / meaning• Pragmatics / social uses• Sociolinguistics / social variation

Components of Language and Reading

• Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words.

• Alphabetic Principle: The ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words.

• Fluency with Text: The effortless, automatic ability to read words in connected text.

• Vocabulary: The ability to understand (receptive) and use (expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning.

• Comprehension: The complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning.

Source: http://reading.uoregon.edu/

Categorical Speech Perception

• The human speech (language) recognition system is finely tuned, and creates categorical perception out of continuous information.

• Research on categorical speech perception is the strongest evidence (perhaps) of the modularity of language (see Pinker).

• There are language-specific aspects to this: the /ba/ to /pa/ continuum is marked differently in English and in Spanish.

Language Functions and Modalities are Localized in the Brain

Different Tasks are Localized Too

Hearing Speaking Thinking about

Source: National Institute of Agingwww.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Resources/HighRes.htm

McGurk Effect: A vivid demonstration of sensory integration.

• The same sound, e.g., /ba/ is perceived differently depending on visual cues about vocal production (place of articulation) – you will hear it as /ba/ or /da/ depending on what you see.

• View the effect:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73LE1vKGfy4&feature=related

• On Japanese TV! (this also gives you a demo on the importance of prior knowledge in comprehension.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fke7GWcT5ko

Harry McGurk and John MacDonald in "Hearing lips and seeing voices", Nature 264, 746-748 (1976).

The “syntax” argument*a la “Human Language” videos and Pinker reading

• John is easy to please

• John is eager to please

• It is easy to please John.

• *It is eager to please John.

isthe

fromwith

consistidentifyanalyzeimply

diagonalsalinity

verbmonarchy

boxwalkplaceflower

Function wordsCommon content words

Academic wordsDisciplinary words

isthe

fromwith

consistidentifyanalyzeimply

diagonalsalinity

verbmonarchy

boxwalkplaceflower

Function wordsCommon content words

Academic wordsDisciplinary words

The lingustic environment is important.

The linguistic environment varies by social class.

Hart, Betty & Risley, Todd R. (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everday Experience of Young American Children

The linguistic environment varies by social class.

Hart, Betty & Risley, Todd R. (1995) Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children

Age of the learner matters

The learning curve – it is gradual and bumpy.

Uguisu

Variability is a characteristic of language acquisition, and learning appears gradual in most

cases.

http://www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/www/research/publications/(1976)%20-%20A%20CASE%20STUDY%20OF%20A%20JAPANESE%20CHILD%20LEARNING%20ENGLISH%20A.pdf

It can take a few years, despite the will of politicians!

Claiborne Pell Ron Unz

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Oral EnglishReadingWritingRedesignation

Measure

It takes 4-7 years to develop English proficiency, even under good circumstances.

http://www.stanford.edu/~hakuta/www/research/publications/(2000)%20-%20HOW%20LONG%20DOES%20IT%20TAKE%20ENGLISH%20LEARNERS%20TO%20ATTAIN%20PR.pdf