Name_____________________
Science of Linguistics
Most of the science we have studied this year is natural science. Natural
science is when we learn about plants, animals, rocks, and planets.
Linguistics is a different kind of science. It is called a social science
because we learn about people.
Linguistics is the study of languages and how people use them.
Learning about linguistics is important, because we all use language
every day. Language lets us share our ideas and thoughts with other
people.
1. What is linguistics?
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2. Why is linguistics important?
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Most people in our class can speak more than one language. If you can
only speak one language, linguists say you are monolingual. If you can
speak two languages, linguists say you are bilingual. If you can speak
more than two languages, linguists say you are multilingual.
Some people only have one language, but they can speak more than one
dialect of that language. For example, some people can speak American
English and British English. Some people can speak northern Somali
and southern Somali. Some people can speak White Hmong and Green
Hmong. These people are called bidialectal if they can speak two
dialects, and multidialectal if they can speak more than two.
Being able to speak more than one language or dialect is a good thing.
When you speak more than one language or dialect, you can make
friends with more people, and you can understand more books, songs,
movies, and websites.
Sometimes, people who speak more than one language change languages
when they are talking. For example, they say part of a sentence in
Spanish and part in English. This is called codeswitching.
1. Are you monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual?
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2. What languages can you speak well?
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3. What languages can you speak a little bit of?
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4. Do you ever codeswitch when you are talking to your friends?
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How would you dress if you were going to visit the President? You
would probably wear a suit if you are a man, and a dress if you are a
woman. You would probably wear dress shoes. These are called formal
clothes. Now think about how you would dress to play soccer. You
would probably wear comfortable clothes and tennis shoes. These
clothes are called informal. Are formal clothes better than informal
clothes? No, each kind of clothes is good for different things. If you
went to play soccer wearing a suit, or went to meet the President in
tennis shoes, that would not be appropriate. Clothes need to match
what you are doing.
Now think about the way you talk when you are with your friends.
Then think about how you talk with your parents, grandparents, aunts,
and uncles. Do you use the same words? Do you talk about the same
things?
No one talks the same all the time. We all change how we talk
depending on who we are talking to and what we are talking about. If
you meet your friend in the hall, you might say, “What’s up?” If you
meet Mr. Ledermann in the hall, or you are giving a speech in English
class, you might say “Good afternoon.”
Linguistics calls these changes in the way people talk register. Some
registers are more formal. We use them at work, in our classes at
school, when we give speeches, when we write papers, and when we talk
to important people. Other registers are less formal. We use them
when we talk with our friends and sometimes with our families.
Writers sometimes use these registers to show how people talk.
Just like formal and informal clothes, one register is not better than the
other. Registers are appropriate when they match the situation.
Registers are inappropriate when they do not match the situation.
1. Think about your first language. What kinds of words do you use
when you speak in informal register? It is okay if these words are
inappropriate for school.
2. Think about your first language again. What kinds of words do you
use when you speak in formal register?
3. If English is not your first language, now think about English. What
kinds of words do you use when you speak in informal register? It is
okay if these words are inappropriate for school.
4. If English is not your first language, think again about English.
What kinds of words do you use when you speak in formal register?