Please
check
Announcements
1. Don't forget your plagiarism certificate next
week. You must turn that in in order to stay
enrolled in the class.
2. The first major assignment is not due until
March 9th. However, you are already working
on it via your readings reviews – make sure
that you carefully review the Key Concept
paper assignment description ASAP, so that
you can gear your readings reviews toward
completion of that assignment.
Quick
questions or
quandaries?
Today’s Topic:
What is language?
What is
communication?
“Language is a complex and
dynamic system of
conventional symbols that is
used in various modes for
thought and
communication.”
(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1982)
“Language is a complex and
dynamic system of
conventional symbols that is
used in various modes for
thought and
communication.”
(American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 1982)
Another definition of language:
“Language is a socially shared code, or
conventional system, that represents ideas
through arbitrary, agreed upon symbols and
rules that govern the combination of these
symbols. Language includes speech, but
language can also be written or signed
(manually coded), so that speech is just one
form of language. The rules of a language
underlie a person’s ability to understand and
to produce the language of his or her culture.”
(Griffith & Ripich, 1999, p. 2)
Misconception alert!
“Signs” (manual codes) are not the
same as “gestures.” Signed
languages, such as American Sign
Language (ASL) is a language, not
an informal system of gestures.
“Contemporary views of human language hold that:
• language evolves within specific historical,
social, and cultural contexts;
• language, as rule-governed behavior, is
described by at least five parameters –
phonologic, morphologic, syntactic, semantic,
and pragmatic;
• language learning and use are determined by
the interaction of biological, cognitive,
psychosocial, and environmental factors;
• effective use of language for communication
requires a broad understanding of human
interaction including such associated factors as
nonverbal cues, motivation, and sociocultural
roles.”
(ASHA, 1982)
…language, as rule-governed
behavior, is described by at least five
parameters – phonologic,
morphologic, syntactic, semantic,
and pragmatic…
Definition of Phonology
Phonology refers to the study of the sound
system of a spoken language. The
knowledge of how the sounds are put
together is necessary for speakers to
effectively use a language. Speakers know
what sounds can go together in their
language (e.g. words cannot start with /mb/
combinations in English) and what
differences in sounds are important (e.g. /b/
and /p/).
Definition of Morphology
Morphology examines the smallest
meaningful units of words and how they are
combined. For example, “dogs” has two
morphemes – ‘dog’ and the plural ‘-s’. The
morphological system governs how
morphemes are combined to form words.
Speakers can draw on the knowledge of
morphological rules when they learn new
words.
Definition of Syntax
“Syntax refers to the structure or
architecture of sentences. It is common
but inaccurate to think of syntax as
grammar. Syntax, however, is
descriptive rather than prescriptive.”
(Lesow-Hurley, 2000, p. 28)
Two ways to look at language:
Prescriptive
Descriptive
(should be)
(is)
What would a linguist say?
Is the following “correct” in many
dialects of English?
o “I ain’t got none?”
Definition of Semantics
Semantics is the study of meanings
– of words and words in sentences.
Lessow-Hurley (2000, p. 29)
provides the following example:
o“They were hunting dogs.”
Definition of Pragmatics
“Pragmatics studies the use of
language in human
communication as determined
by the conditions of society.”
(Aguilar, 2001, from: Review of Mey, Pragmatics: An
Introduction, (2nd ed.), on LINGUIST List 12.2700)
Another definition of language:
“Language is a socially shared code, or
conventional system, that represents ideas
through arbitrary, agreed upon symbols and
rules that govern the combination of these
symbols. Language includes speech, but
language can also be written or signed
(manually coded), so that speech is just one
form of language. The rules of a language
underlie a person’s ability to understand and
to produce the language of his or her culture.”
(Griffith & Ripich, 1999, p. 2)
Communication:
Any act by which one person gives to or
receives from another person information
about that person's needs, desires,
perceptions, knowledge, or affective
states. Communication may be
intentional or unintentional, may involve
conventional or unconventional signals,
may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms,
and may occur through spoken or other
modes.
(National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs
of Persons with Severe Disabilities, 1992, p. 2)
math
pragmatics:
language use
morphology
art
dance
phonology
LANGUAGE
syntax
semantics
COMMUNICATION
music
Quick Write
Based on your understanding of
the readings, how do
'communication' and 'language'
seem to be different concepts?
Small Group Activity:
 Divide into pairs. Each pair will deconstruct two
of the assumptions provided in the Johnson, et
al, 1996, reading.
 Discuss how these assumptions might differ
from common perspectives about the
communication needs and abilities of
individuals with severe disabilities, especially in
many segregated school classrooms and
programs.
What does it
mean to know
a language?
Linguistic Competence
“Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with
an ideal speaker-listener, in a completely
homogeneous speech-community, who
knows its (the speech community’s) language
perfectly and is unaffected by such
grammatically irrelevant conditions as
memory limitations, distractions, shifts of
attention and interest, and errors (random or
characteristic) in applying his knowledge of
the language in actual performance.”
(Chomsky, 1965, p. 3)
Communicative Competence:
“The socially appropriate use
of language.”
(Paulston, 1992, p. xiv)
Defining Communicative
Competence:
“Communicative competence involves
knowing not only the language code
but also what to say to whom, and how
to say it appropriately in any given
situation. It deals with the social and
cultural knowledge speakers are
presumed to have to enable them to
use and interpret linguistic forms...”
“…Communicative competence extends
to both knowledge and expectation of
who may or may not speak in certain
settings, when to speak and when to
remain silent, whom one may speak to,
how one may speak to persons of
different statuses and roles, what
appropriate nonverbal behaviors are in
various contexts, what the routines for
turn-taking are in conversation,…
“…how to ask for and give
information, how to request, how to
offer or decline assistance or
cooperation, how to give commands,
how to enforce discipline, and the like
- in short, everything involving the use
of language and other communication
dimensions in particular social
settings.”
(Saville-Troike, 1989, p. 21)
Linguistic Universals
Looking ahead…
Introducing theories of language
Please take a
minute for the
minute paper.
And don’t forget to turn
your phone back on.