Applied Linguistics In these activities you will: Develop sensitivity to ...

Applied Linguistics In these activities you will:
i. Develop sensitivity to the communication difficulties of
ESL learners
ii. Analyze language patterns of an ESL learner and stages of
fluency development
iii. Reflect and report on impacts of the above Language is one of the most important characteristics of humans.
Linguistics is the study of languages in general which include English.
This is important to teachers who teach English as an additional language
at any level and at any age. Applied Linguistics involves not only
"language" but also practical issues that affect communication. It entails
a look at the sounds and how they relate to and help create meaning. How do
we produce sounds?
It also entails an examination of the structure of sentences. How can we
accurately convey meaning? There are many other issues this subject covers
such as the process children go through to acquire their first language.
How does this compare to the manner in which we learn a second or an
additional language? What are the different variations of language? This
examines the different dialects one can find in a particular language.
These clearly indicate oral language usage but we will also look at the
written form of the language and issues related to this particular process. The process of learning a language, whether it is a first or a second, is
very fascinating. We will learn basic information related to the main
components of language (Pragmatics, Semantics, Syntax, Morphology, and
Phonology) as well as a look at first and second language acquisition and
written language.
The first lesson we learn here is that any time we deal with topics related
to humans and their methods of communication, we find that it is not always
an EXACT science. There are many issues that are clearly recognized and
described with certainty but there are also many variations regarding
different components of language.
Whenever we work with humans at any level, we should always utilize an
understanding of the different factors that play a role in how and why we
do certain things that influence our communication. Humans are,
undoubtedly, complex beings.
Phonology But what is phonology? Phonology is the study of the sound system of a
language. This includes the patterns of sounds. Humans are capable of
producing a large number of sounds which are not necessarily used in one
language. Certain sounds maybe present in some languages and not others. When a person learns a language, he or she learns the sound system of that
language. This person learns how to combine sounds to form words. We learn
the sounds for b, s, and u then combine them to form words like bus or sub.
We can also add them to other sounds we learn to form an even larger
selection of possible words like busy, substitute, business, subtle, etc. All of the sounds represented in all the world languages constitute a set
of sounds that the human vocal tract is able to produce. It is believed,
however, that after a certain age most humans struggle with the production
of sounds to which they were not exposed earlier. If you have tried to
learn a language as an adult, you will know exactly what this means. This particular branch of language - Phonology - focuses on each sound and
attempts to analyze sounds individually. Sounds are isolated because when
we speak, the sounds run together. It becomes difficult to see when one
ends and another starts. This contributes to the difficulty of learning a
language. We do not stay at the alphabet stage, we move on to words,
phrases, sentences, etc. The knowledge of the sound system of a language helps us differentiate
between the beginnings and the ends of different words as well as
comprehend speech. Let me explain. When English speakers separate 'keep
out' from 'key pout' they do so because they "know" the language. [This
example is taken from a cartoon I found in a great book called "An
Introduction to Language."] There was a newspaper article in the USA Today last year with the word Suh-
weet as part of its title. This was written in this manner to emulate the
way some have started to pronounce the word sweet to mean great, cool, etc. Children make some funny "mistakes" with the language because while in the
process of learning it, they reproduce it based on how they hear it.
Someone shared an interesting example with me. It is about a child who
hears his mother tell him to hold on so he does not fall. He then responds
by saying: I am holding Don. What he heard his mother say was Hold Don
instead of hold on. There are many other examples. Children learning the English-alphabet-song,
often repeat the letters 'l-m-n-o-p' as if they were one word. Listen for
that the next time you hear them, it is quite lovely. Finally, a common example that we all love is 'ice cream' and 'I scream'.
They sound just the same and someone capitalized on that in a TV
commercial. The bottom line is that, most of the time, if a person knows
the language, he or she will be able to differentiate based on the context.
Let's now examine other issues related to Phonology. Consider the following
interesting points: . Vocal Tract: The production of sounds involves pushing air from the
lungs through the vocal tract and manipulating several variables at
the same time. These variables include the tongue, lips, teeth, etc.
. Speech includes segments of sounds: When we talk, we produce a set of
movements within our vocal tracts and they result in a continuous set
of sound waves. We do not speak in isolated sounds. We do not say:
Peh, el, ease for please. We string sounds together to form words and
words together to form phrases, etc.
. Phonemic Alphabet: learning how to spell words does not help us in
learning how to pronounce them. In English, for instance, it is said
that we follow an old system of writing which does not always
correspond with pronunciation. Though, through, rough, etc. all have
the same ending -ough which is pronounced differently in the mentioned
examples. Furthermore, the -gh can be silent in some cases and can be
pronounced f in others. Another set of examples that represent a
confusing pattern will be: meat, great which are pronounced
differently although they share -eat at the end.
a. Vowels: we have five vowels in the English language which are (a-e-i-o-
u). Some consider the y a vowel and others even consider the w a
vowel. Now, let's see how many sounds these five basic vowels produce.
If you thought five, you are mistaken. The correct number is 14.
b. Consonants: although not as varied in their production of different
sounds, there are some letters that are combined to form new sounds in
English such as c and h, s and h, t and h, etc.
Phonological Rules: Aspiration: this has to do with a puff of air that follows the production
of certain sounds in certain positions in words. Example: pronounce the
word paper and then pronounce the word pepper. Do you notice the difference
between the ways you pronounce the first p in both words? The p in pepper
is followed by a short puff of air. ELLs learn the sounds associated with
the letters of the alphabet (or think they do) and apply it to all words
with no exceptions. This contributes to what is known as the "foreign
accent" effect. Vowel Lengthening: some combinations of vowels result in the same sounds
while some other times the same combinations could result in different
sounds. In English we lengthen some vowels which can be very subtle. This
is also a source of difficulty for ELLs. Vowel nasalization: vowels are nasalized when they are next to a nasal
consonant. What are nasal consonants? They are m, n, and ? which are nasal
in nature. Try to practice pronouncing some words with these sounds and you
will be able to sense the role your nose plays in their production. The
third sound is used to refer to the n when followed by a g or a k. Flapping: Anther important factor in the sound system of the English
language has to do with flapping. In American English, we tend to change
the pronunciation of t in certain words. It actually becomes a sound
similar to a d. A good example is how write becomes writer. Most native
speakers of American English pronounce writer similar to rider. Another
example of this phenomenon is the word butter. It is very rare to hear a
native speaker of American English articulate a clear t sound in butter
(*budder). It is needless to repeat that this also confuses English
language learners. Pragmatics Pragmatics is the study of how language is affected by the context in which
it occurs. Some linguists have described pragmatics as what makes people
speak to others in an appropriate manner. Speakers of any language know how to combine words and phrases to form
sentences. They also know how to combine sentences to express complex
thoughts and ideas which is also known as discourse. When we discuss discourse and discourse analysis, we look at: style,
appropriateness, cohesiveness, rhetorical force, topic/subtopic of
structure, differences between spoken and written discourse, and
grammatical properties. One sentence often affects the meaning of the sentence that follows it. How
many times we feel that we do not understand something because we missed
the first part?! Or how often we ask people to tell us the context in which
one sentence was made in order to make sense of it. This is partially due to the fact that in English for example, many words
have more than one meaning. Consider the bank, for instance. It could mean
the place in which one deposits a paycheck or it could be related to a
river. How do we know which meaning? From the context! A great deal of what we mean is implied. Consider the fo