Chapter #1 Writing Assignment - Language is
rule-governed. What does this mean?
Chapter #1 Writing Assignment - Language is rule-governed. What does this
mean?
For 6 points, write a short paragraph explaining how language is rule governed. Give
examples to support your statements.
After you have posted your idea, you will be able to look at other students' postings. For 3
points you can make an insightful comment on 2 other students' postings.
Be sure to follow the prescriptive rules of writing for 1 point.
(Maximum 10 points for the entire assignment)
Remember to receive FULL credit, you must respond to the question and then to
two
other students , so you need THREE submissions per discussion.
This writing assignment is just a small test if you know how language
is rule governed. You can either explain using examples or by
explaining how the language is rule governed.
The rules that govern language are multiple. Rules can affect how we
say or write things in certain way.
Simple rules that you may think about are like commas, full stops or
even word order.
SAMPLE 1
Language must have rules to govern it in order to achieve effective communication.
When you encounter a basic utterance such as, “This is your car.” We can easily tell
that this utterance is constructed correctly, because we know the rules of English. When
you encounter an utterance such as, “Your this is car,” we can tell it is incorrect because
syntax, the set of rules a person uses to form units of language larger than words, has
not been correctly applied. This is evidence that language is rule-governed. Using
linguistic competence, one can easily tell if an utterance is correct or not.
SAMPLE 2
Is language rule governed?
I think language is rule governed. Without rules to language, there be chaos all
over because nobody can pass information in a way everyone understands.
Some of the rules we learn regarding grammar are taught in school, while other
rules are learnt from listening to others speak. All these rules one learns enables
one to pass information an acceptable way because everyone who knows the
language, also applies the same rules. I feel that the rules that we learn in school
apply more to written language compared to spoken language.
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