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LinguisticsastheScienceofLanguage
● Linguistics is the science of language, and linguists are scientists who
apply the scientific method to questions about the nature and function
of language..
● The field uses empirical observations to develop theories of language
behaviour.
● Linguists conduct formal studies of speech sounds, grammatical
structures, and meaning across all the world’s over 6,000 languages.
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Speech is the representation
of the experience of the
mind. According to Aristotle,
language is a speech sound
produced by human beings
to express their ideas,
emotions, thoughts, desires,
and feelings.
ARISTOTLE
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Language is an arbitrary system of signs
constituted of the signifier and signified. In
other words, language is first a system
based on no logic or reason, and Secondly, the
system covers both objects and expressions
used for objects.
Thirdly objects and expressions are arbitrarily
linked. And finally, expressions include sounds
and graphemes used by humans for
generating speech and writing, respectively,
for communication.
Saussure
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According to Sapir, language is a purely
human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions, and
desires through a system of voluntarily
produced sounds.
The definition of Sapir expresses that
language is mainly concerned with only
human beings and constitutes a system
of sounds produced by them for
communication.
SAPIR
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The totality of the utterances that can be
made in a speech community is the
language of that speech community.
Bloomfield’s definition of language
focuses on the utterances produced by all
the community’s people and hence
overlooks writing. Besides, he stresses
form, not meaning, as the basis of
language.
BLOOMFIELD
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According to Bloch and Trager, a
language is a system of arbitrary
vocal sounds through a social group
that cooperates.
Their definition of language points
out that language is an arbitrary
system, vocal sounds, a way of
communication, and collectivity.
BLOCH&TRAGER
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Noam Chomsky says that language is the
inherent capability of native speakers to
understand and form grammatical sentences.
A language is a set of (finite or infinite)
sentences, each finite length constructed out
of a limited set of elements.
This definition of language considers
sentences as the basis of a language.
Sentences may be limited or unlimited and
are made up of only minor components.
CHOMSKY
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Derbyshire says that language is undoubtedly
a kind of communication among human
beings. It consists primarily of vocal sounds,
articulatory, systematic, symbolic, and
arbitrary.
This definition of Derbyshire clearly utters,
language is the best source of
communication, and it also portrays how
human language is formed and the
fundamental principles of language.
Derbyshire
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According to Lyons, languages are the
principal communication systems used
by particular groups of human beings
within the specific society of which they
are members.
Especially Lyons points out that
language is the best communicative
system of human beings by particular
social groups.
Lyons
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A language is a system of
arbitrary vocal sounds used for
human communication. This
definition of language by
Wardhaugh mainly insists on
arbitrariness, vocal sounds,
humans, and communication.
Wardhaugh
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Indian linguist Patanjali utters that
language is a human expression
produced by different speech
organs of human beings.
Through speech organs, humans
produce several expressions
converted to language.
Patanjali
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Behaviorist
● A psychological theory in its essence founded by J.B. Watson supported
by Leonard Bloomfield, O.N. Mowrer, B.F. Skinner, and A.W. Staats.
● It is originally a theory of native language learning., evolved in a part as
a reaction to the traditional grammar
● Infants learn oral language from other humans through a process that
includes imitation, rewards, and practice. Humans in an infant’s
environment provides the stimuli and rewards (Cooter & Reutzel, 2004).
● The characteristics of behaviorism include imitation, practice,
reinforcement, and habit formation.
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Behaviorist
● The key principle of the behaviorist theory stands on the analysis of
human behavior in the discernible stimulus-response interaction and
the association between them. The motivating operations, discriminative
stimuli, response, and reinforcing stimuli were the contingencies that
Skinner believed to be the foundation of language development.
● Children imitate adults. Their proper utterances are reinforced when
they are praised and received a reward.
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Innatist/Nativist
● The nativist approach was proposed by Noam Chomsky.
● Humans are pre-programmed with the innate capability to establish
language.
● Children’s brains contain a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) which
holds the set of rules about language in our heads called “Universal
Grammar.”
● When the young child is subjected to a language, their LAD makes it
possible for them to set parameters and infer the grammatical
principles from the input around them, because the principles are
innate.
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Cognitivist
● Language is just one part of a child’s whole intellectual development.
● The foundations of Cognitive Theory were set by the Swiss psychologist
Jean Piaget, placed within the context of a child’s mental or cognitive
development.
● A child must understand a concept before s/he can acquire the
particular language form.
● Language acquisition was solely centered on the maturation of the
brain.
● Jerome Bruner (1996) theorized that as a child articulates language in
his brain; his/her cognitive skills will grow, thereby supplementing the
development of more sophisticated language.
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Interactionist
● This theory emphasizes the communication between children and their
caregivers.
● Language merely occurs for communication Children learn a language
to communicate with the world around them. Language emerges from
and is dependent upon, social interaction or whom we want to
communicate with.
● Jerome Bruner suggests that the language behavior of adults when
talking to children is specifically adapted to support the attainment
process. This kind of support is often described as scaffolding for the
child’s language learning.
● The environment where a child grew up will heavily affect how well and
how quickly s/he learns.
