Oral presentation

1. LANGUAGE AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION IV
September 1st, 2020
ORAL
ASSIGNMENT #1
ISFD N. 41

2. - Rocío Salomone
- Victoria Arias
- Vanesa Longhi
- Marina Daniela Villaverde
- Manuela Sierra Devita
- Ana Campos
- Aldana Nuñez
GROUP MEMBERS

3. The Origins
of Language
Chapter 1

4. Some type of
spoken
language was
developed
between
100.000 and
50.000 years
ago, before
written
language.
The ability to produce sound and simple vocal patterning
(a hum versus a grunt, for example) appears to be in an
ancient part of the brain that we share with all vertebrates.
But that isn’t human language.
“The suspicion does not appear
improbable that the progenitors of
man, either the males or females,
or both sexes, before they had
acquired the power of expressing
their mutual love in articulate
language, endeavoured to charm
each other with musical notes and
rhythm.”
Darwin (1871)
Darwin’s theory about the
origin of language claimed
that humans developed
musical ability prior to
language to charm each
other.

5. Different sources about
the origin of language
The Divine
Source
Provided
humans with
language
Basic hypothesis
If human infants were allowed to grow up without hearing any
language around them, then they would spontaneously begin
using the original God-given language.
Experiments
● Psammeticus, an Egyptian pharaoh, isolated two
newborn babies for two years. It was reported that
the children uttered the Phrygian word “Bekos” (bread).
It is believed that they picked up the word from the
goats’ bleating.
● King James the Fourth of Scotland carried out a similar
experiment. The children spontaneously started to speak
Hebrew, believed to be the language of the Garden of
Eden.
The Divine source theory was proved wrong as
children who grew up in isolation without access to
human language were not able to speak at all.

6. ● Bow-wow Theory
● Primitive words were
imitations of natural sounds
● Words sound similar to the
noises they describe
⇒ Onomatopeia
● Modern languages do have
words that echo natural
sounds but they are not
entirely based on them
● Yo - he - ho Theory
● Development of human
language in social contexts
● Communication to maintain a
certain organization within the
groups
● Early humans who lived in
groups used different sounds
like hums, groans and curses
when involved in activities that
required physical effort (lifting
heavy bits of trees)

7. The Physical Adaptation
Source
Evolutionary
developments that led to
speech production
In comparison to primates
Human teeth
Upright and even in height, adapted to chew
and grind. Helpful in producing sounds such as
F and V.
Human lips
Their flexibility helps in making sounds such
as P or B.
Human Mouth
It is smaller, can be closed and open rapidly.
The tongue is also smaller, thicker and more
muscular which makes it useful to shape a
variety of sounds inside the oral cavity.
Human Larynx or “Voice Box”
It is placed in a lower position which creates a
cavity above the vocal folds, called the Pharynx
which acts as a resonator for increased clarity
of the sounds.
Some physical features that
humans posses are distinct
from other creatures

8. ● Human gestures before language
● Evolutionary connection between the language-using and tool-using
abilities of humans which were involved in the development of the
speaking brain
● Development of a part of the human brain that specializes in
organizing and combining sounds or signs in specific arrangements
● Innateness Hypothesis
● Humans are born with a special capacity for language
● Crucial mutation ⇒ Language gene only humans possess
● Pre-programmed or hard-wired to acquire language

9. Animals and
Human
Language
CHAPTER 2

10. Properties of
Human Language

12. Duality
At a physical level,
sounds are produced
individually (n, b, i)
and they possess
no intrinsic meaning
The combination of
individual sounds
produces meaning
SOUNDS
MEANING
Language is organized in
two levels simultaneously

13. But can
animals use
human
language?
Animals seem to understand our language to an extent,
some animals even learn how to ‘’use our language’’,
but they won’t come near to the proficiency of a human.
Chimpanzees are usually the go-to when
testing if human language can be taught
to animals.
Ex. Washoe, Sarah and Lana, Kanzi.
Nowadays, in unlikely places like TikTok, you can
find other animals ‘’learning’’ human language.
I am Bunny
(click on the picture)

14. Language
history and
change
CHAPTER 17

15. Mother………. Mutter
Father………....Vatter
Friend………… Freund
COGNATES
Possible family
connections

16. SIR WILLIAM JONES
“A number of languages from
very different geographical areas
must have some common
ancestor”

17. Proto-Indo-
European
-About 30language families.
-6912 languages.

18. Comparative
reconstruction
-Sound reconstruction
-Word reconstruction
Aim of the procedure: to
reconstruct what must
have been the original or
“proto” form in the common
ancestral language

19. Old English
IT IS AN EARLY VERSION OF THE
ENGLISH SPOKEN BY THE TRIBES
OF ANGLES, SAXONS AND JUTES

20. -This tribes moved from Northern
Europe into the British Isles in the
fifth century.
This pagan tribes spoke Germanic
languages.
-From the sixth to the eighth
century they were converted to
Christianity and a a number of
terms from Latin came into
English at that time.

21. The Vikings invaded and settled
in parts of the coastal regions of
England and it is from their
language that some words were
adopted
9th and 10th C

22. -The arrival of the Norman French marked the end of the Old English
period and the beginning of the Middle English period.
-These French-speaking invaders became the ruling class so that the
language of the nobility, the government,the law and the civilized life in
England was French for the next two hundred years
-Throughout this period an English version of French was spoken and it
was considered the prestige language.
-The language of the peasants remained English.
MIDDLE ENGLISH

23. Other Types of Changes

24. Language
and regional
variation
CHAPTER 18

25. The Standard Language
This is actually an idealized variety,
because it has no specific region.
It is the variety associated with administrative,
commercial and educational centers, regardless of
region

26. The Standard Language
This is actually an idealized variety, because it has no
specific region.
It is the variety associated with administrative,
commercial and educational centers,regardless of
region
Accent and Dialect
The term “accent” is restricted to the description
of aspects of pronunciation that identify where an
individual speaker is from, regionally or socially.
The term dialect is used to describe features of grammar
and vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation.

27. The Standard Language
This is actually an idealized variety, because it has no
specific region.
It is the variety associated with administrative,
commercial and educational centers,regardless of
region
Accent and Dialect
The term “accent” is restricted to the description of
aspects of pronunciation that identify where an individual
speaker is from, regionally or socially.
The term dialect is used to describe features of grammar
and vocabulary as well as aspects of pronunciation.
Dialectology
to distinguish between two different dialects of
the same language and two different languages

28. Regional dialects
survey research to the identification of consistent features of speech
found in one geographical area compared to another and tend to
operate
with very specific criteria in identifying acceptable informants.
Dialect boundary
The dialect continuum we can view regional variation as existing along it
.
Bidialectal Speakers who move back and forth across this border area, using different varieties
with some ease.
Represents a boundary between the areas with regard to that one particular linguistic
item.
Isogloss
A more solid line representing a set of isogloss.

29. BILIGUALISM
Speaking two different languages.
Tends to be a feature of minority groups
DISGLOSSIA
A special situation involving
two distinct varieties of a language.
LOW variety ---- HIGH variety

30. STAGES OF
LANGUAGE PLANNING
of a standard
variety of an
official language
SELECTION
the standard variety
is developed for use
in all aspects
of social life.
ELABORATION
a substantial majority
of the population use
the standard
ACCEPTANCE
encouragement of the
use of the standard
IMPLEMENTATION

31. PIDGIN
A variety of a language
that is developed for
some practical purpose,
such as trading.
A pidgin becomes the
first language of a
social community
→ CREOLE
CREOLIZATION DECREOLIZATION
Speakers will tend
to use fewer creole
forms and structures
THE POST-CREOLE CONTINUUM
NO NATIVE SPEAKERS
LIMITED VOCABULARY
NO COMPLEX GRAMMATICAL
MORPHOLOGY

32. Language
and social
variation
CHAPTER 19

33. SOCIOLINGUISTICS
SPEECH COMMUNITY
STUDY OF THE
RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN
LANGUAGE
AND SOCIETY
SHARED NORMS AND EXPECTATIONS

34. SOCIAL DIALECT
INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL CLASSES IN LANGUAGE
SOCIOLECT
● Pronunciation
● Words
● Structures
CLASS
SOCIAL VARIABLE
LINGUISTIC VARIABLE

35. INFLUENCE OF EDUCATIONAL
AND OCCUPATIONAL
BACKGROUNDS
EDUCATION AND
OCCUPATION
INDIDECT
PERSONAL DIALECT
SOCIAL
MARKERS
FEATURES RELATED TO
PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS

36. CHOICES OF
SPEECH
DECISIONS TOWARDS THE
DIRECTION AND STYLE OF
OUR SPEECH
● CONTEXT
● FIELD
● RELATIONSHIPS
● PURPOSE
DEPENDING ON

37. FORMAL
CAREFUL STYLESPEECH STYLE
AND STYLE
SHIFTING
CASUAL STYLE
INFORMAL
Style shifting can be elicited
1

38. CHANGE IN DIRECTION OF SPEECH
OVERT
AUDIENCE DESIGN
PRESTIGE
SPEECH
ACCOMMODATION
COVERT
CONVERGENCE DIVERGENCE
2
3

39. CONTEXT
● Situational
● Occupational
● Topical
COLOQUIAL SPEECH
REPLACEMENT OF WORDS/PHRASES
REGISTER
AND JARGON
4
5 SLANG
SPECIFIC
TECHNICAL
VOCAULARY
AGE AS A
VARIABLE

40. HISTORICAL ORIGINS
NON-STANDARD LANGUAGE
AFRICAN
AMERICAN
ENGLISH
VERNACULAR
LANGUGAGE
SOCIAL
DIALECTS
PRONUNCIATION
&
GRAMMAR
SOCIAL
BARRIERS
● AAVE
● ‘CHICANO ENGLISH’
● ‘ASIAN AMERICAN
ENGLISH’

41. Discourse
analysis
CHAPTER 11

42. What is
Discourse?
‘‘Discourse studies look at the form and
function of language in conversation
beyond its small grammatical pieces such
as phonemes and morphemes.’’
Usually defined
as ‘’language
beyond the
sentence’’
The meaning of Discourse. ThoughtCo.

43. ❖ We always try to make sense and to
interpret what the writer intended to
convey even when the text contains
ungrammatical forms
❖ We must rely upon our knowledge on
linguistic forms and structures
Interpreting Discourse
My Town
My natal was in a small
town, very close to Riyadh
capital of Saudi Arabia. The
distant between my town
and Riyadh 7 miles exactly.
The name of this Almasani
that means in English
Factories. It takes this name
from the peopl’s carrer. In
my
childhood I remmeber the
people live. It was very
simple. Most the people was
farmer.
The errors do not hinder
communication, the overall
message can be understood

44. Cohesion Ties and connections that exist within a text
They show how writers structure what
they want to convey
My father once bought a Lincoln
convertible. He did it by saving every
penny he
could. That car would be worth a
fortune nowadays. However, he sold it
to help pay
for my college education. Sometimes I
think I’d rather have the convertible.
Cohesive ties:
Reference to the same person - Reference to the same person - Reference to the same
thing - Connection between phrases - Common element of meaning: money time - marks
the relationship of what follows to what went before.
Cohesive ties are used to connect
words in a clear and logical order for
the reader

45. Coherence
“Everything fitting together well”
-That’s the telephone.
-I’m in the bath.
- O.K.
A big part of what is meant is
not actually said

46. Speech events
Unified set of components
throughout:
-Same purpose
-Same people
-Same topic
-Generally same language
variety.
Variation in what people say
and do in different
circumstances
ROLES OF THE SPEAKER
AND HEARER

47. CONVERSATION
ANALYSIS
● English conversation can be described as an
activity in which two or more people take turns at
speaking.
● Participants wait until one speaker indicates that
he or she has finished usually by signaling a
“Completion Point”

48. TURN
TAKING
There are different
expectations of
conversational style
and strategies of
participation
Some of
these
strategies
seem to be
the source
of what is
sometimes
described as
Rudeness or
Shyness
Rudeness: One speaker cuts in
another speaker.
Shyness: one speaker keeps
waiting for an opportunity to take
turn and none seems to occur.
The participants characterized as “Rude” or
“Shy” may simple be adhering to slightly
different conventions of “Turn Taking”

49. The co-coperative principle.
The Quantity maxim: Make your contribution as
informative as is required
The Quality maxim: Do not say that which you believe to be
false or for which you lack adequate evidence.
The Relation maxim: Be relevant.
The Manner maxim: Be clear, brief and orderly.
Gricean maxims
“Make your conversational contribution such as is required,
at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or
direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged”

50. HEDGES
Words or phrases used to indicate
that we’re not really sure that
what we’re saying is sufficiently
correct or complete.
IMPLICATURES
An additional conveyed meaning.
CAROL: Are you coming tonight?
LARA: I’ve got an exam tomorrow.
It is necessary to appeal to
We “build” interpretations of what we read
by using a lot more information than
is presented in the words on the page
BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE
As far as I know…,
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but…
I’m not absolutely sure, but….
Jackson is guilty.
I think (NOT KNOW)
it’s possible (NOT CERTAIN)
that Jackson may (NOT MUST) be
guilty.

51. SCHEMAS AND SCRIPTS
Knowledge
structure that
exists in
memory. It
has fixed
features
Dynamic schemas
that have a series of
conventional
actions that take
place

52. KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURE VS.
LANGUAGE STRUCTURE
EXAMPLES
-Trying not to be out of the office for long, Suzy went into the nearest place, sat down and
ordered an avocado sandwich. It was quite crowded, but the service was fast, so she left a
good tip. Back in the office, things were not going well.
-Fill measure cup to line and repeat every 2 to 3 hours.

53. - Rocío Salomone
- Victoria Arias
- Vanesa Longhi
- Marina Daniela Villaverde
- Manuela Sierra Devita
- Ana Campos
- Aldana Nuñez
GROUP MEMBERS