The document discusses the fundamental concepts of language, emphasizing its role as a medium for cultural transmission and thought. It highlights the arbitrary nature of symbols, the evolution of word meanings, and the influence of language on identity and societal dynamics. Additionally, it addresses the implications of language policy in nation-building and the impact of colonization on linguistic diversity.

1. Basic notions of language
Dr. Jessie Grace U Rubrico
Faculty of Education
University of Malaya

2. Form – Meaning Pair
 sounds
 words
 signs meaning
 symbols
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

3. thoughts
world views
culture
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

4. medium of thought
vehicle for
cultural transmission
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

5.  national language policy
a factor in
nation building
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

6. TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

7. PBGS 6304 University of Malaya TESL Program Dr. Jessie Grace U.
Rubrico

9. cognitive
social
cultural
political
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

10.  medium of thinking
shaping thoughts/ideas
facilitating
thought processes
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

11. communication
bias
alienation
diversity
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

12.  record
 embodiment
 conveyance
 ethnicity nurture
- language death = culture death
- languages: living, dying/endangered,
dead/extinct
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

13.  contributes
to
nation building
 marks
prestige
power
conquest
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

14. arbitrariness
productivity
creativity/flexibility
displacement
cultural transmission
rule-governed
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

15.  Symbols are arbitrary :
- different languages have different
terms to represent the same things
Example: money/currency
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

16. The potential number of utterances, as well as
the number of words and meanings in human
languages is practically infinite.
 The girl ate the sandwich.
The little girl ate the sandwich.
 The pretty little girl ate the sandwich.
 The pretty little girl ate the egg sandwich
her mother prepared for lunch yesterday. . .
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

17.  new utterances to be created
 new thoughts, experiences, situations
 new meanings to old words
 semantic broadening
 semantic narrowing
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

18.  email /email address
 screensaver
 unfriend
 e-book TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

19.  word meaning narrows to something specific.
- litter: 'a bed” (before1300)
> 'bedding‘ > 'animals on a bedding
of straw’ > things scattered about,
odds and ends. . .
Source: Sol Steinmetz. (2008). Semantic Antics: How and Why Words Change
Meanings. Random House.
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

20.  Guido (Guy) Fawkes led the plot to
blow up the English Houses of
Parliament in 1605.
> refers to any "person of grotesque
appearance" – after the burning of
Fawkes‘ effigy
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

21. 20th century, refers to a ‗man‘
(American popular culture)
replaces "fellow," "bloke," "chap," etc.
in English-speaking world
 refers to a group of men and women :
―Let‘s go for it, guys!‖
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

22.  advent of computers—
mouse
window
keyboard
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

23. past
real or
unreal
present future

24.  Chinese baby in England raised
by a British family
> speaks English
not Chinese.
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

25. sentences
phrases
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

26. •knowledge of L1
competence •description of L1
• use of L1
performance knowledge
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

27.  transactional medium: lingua franca
transaction = result.
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

28.  learning language to explore works of
literature –
 Greek for the works of Homer or
Socrates
 Hebrew & Greek to study the Bible
 Arabic to read the Quoran
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

29.  some religions prefer their scriptures
written and read in their original,
unadulterated form
 Arabic for Muslims learn religion
 Latin for Christian liturgy
 Sanskrit for Hindu liturgy
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

30.  language : expression of culture
-things that belong to a culture
can only be expressed fully and
properly in the language that is
the basis of that culture.
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

31.  struggle between peoples ethnically the
same but divided by language and
religion
- the Basques and Spaniards in Spain;
Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka;
the anti-Tagalism of some ethnolinguistic
groups in the Philippines
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

32.  colonizers generally make the
population of their colonies speak their
language
- access to opportunities, etc.
 Filipinos learned languages of their
colonizers: Spanish and English.
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

33. language is a state of mind
 internalized self-images,
abstract and suggestive
Bilinguals:
 language of the heart [experienced];
 language of the head [remembered]
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

34.  alienate or discriminate against
individuals/groups.
 promote certain agenda: advertisers, politicians
and all those trying to influence opinion
language bias - imbalance in language use;
preference of a language over another.
TESL Program University of Malaya
Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico

35. O'Grady, William D., Archibald, John, (eds.). (2009).
Contemporary Linguistic Analysis: An Introduction, 6th
edition. Ontario: Pearson Education Canada.
Yule G. (2006). The study of language. Cambridge: CUP
http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/broadenterm.htm