Topic 1

Topic 1

1. 0. INTRODUCTION

   • Traditionally, theories of language have concentrated on the study of its different component in isolation, such as grammar, semantics or phonology; seeing language as the system that included all those components. However, approaches in the last 20th century paid its attention to language as communication
     • I think we are dealing with one of the most importatn topics within the list of topics since it establishes the theoretical basis in which the whole syllabus and curriculum it is based on.
       • Spanish educational authorities, by following the European Framework, have based on this knowledge to develop the curriculum for the foreign language teaching in Primary Education as the natural approach to learn the language.
         • This curriculum is developed in the following law concretions: - Constitution. Art. 27. Right for everybody of having a good basic education. - Organic act on Education 2/2006, 3rd May LOE. - Organic act on Education 8/2013, LOMCE. General Curriculum Level - RD 126/2014, 28th February. Basic Primary Education curriculum - Madrid’s Decree 89/2014, 24th July. Primary Education Curriculum.

2. 1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION

   • LANGUAGE DEFINITION
     • SAPIR: Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communication ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols
     • HALL: Language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means of habitually used oral-auditory symbols
     • FERDINAND SAUSSURE: Language is a set of linguistic signs that are interrelated according to certain rules that the encoder and the receiver are familiarised with.
     • Saussure was the first on studying human language and he named it the study of LINGUISTICS
       • Saussure established the differentiation of 2 parts within a whole meaning message; in his own words, a LINGUISTIC SIGN
         • SIGNIFIER: is the phonological or orthograpic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something.
         • SIGNIFIED: is the meaning of a word or an expression, the way it can be interpreted.
         • Among all types of communication codes used by humans (music, arts, sign language...) WRITTEN and ORAL language are the most efficient for the transmission and reception of information, thoughts, feelings and opinions. Moreover, they are exclusively human ways of communication.
   • ORAL LANGUAGE
     • From the emerge of Homo Sapiens, we have been speaking animals as a recognizable distinct specie. Along hundreds of thousands of years, human language was transmitted from generation to generation and developed entirely through oral words, until 5000 years ago when they started to write.
       • We can describe speech as the act of producing sounds with the vocal cords in order to create a definite code known by a whole community.
         • Because of its poor consideration, it was not studied until teh last third of the 20th century. HALLIDAY was one of the first personalities who put his interest in the study of spoken language.
           • Following Noam Chomsky, when we use Oral communication, we need to know WHERE, WHEN and TO WHOM we are addressing our message. This fact makes neccesary the study of the grammatical code, the phonological code and the social code of gestures and body language. That is to say, the speaker must take into account both, VERBAL and NON-VERBAL communication systems.
             • RULES OF USAGE: CHOMSKY'S LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE. To produce and understand messages in a particular language. It requires to manage:
               • PHONOLOGY: Organisation, characteristics and patterns of sounds.
               • MORPHOLOGY: Word formation rules and types of combinations of lexemes and morphemes.
               • SYNTAX: How words are put together to create a sentence and their relationships.
               • SEMANTICS: How words are combined to produce a specific meaning or to understand the message received.
             • RULES OF USE: CHOMSKY'S LINGUISTIC PERFORMANCE. To use the rules of usage effectively by taking into account extralinguistic factors.
               • APPROPRIATENESS: To know the language that suits best in each situation, by taking into account the context, participants, setting...
               • COHERENCE: Ability to organise utterances by using repetitions, ellipsis... to facilitate interpretation.
               • INTELLIGIBILITY: Level of understanding or being understood by the mastery of grammar, vocabulary and expressions.
               • ORAL ABILITY: Level of proficiency of the language in comprehension and production. Ability to express oneself accurately, fluently and without hesitation in order not to break communication down. This cannot be developed in isolation without the motivation to put it into practice.
             • Every language has, in SAUSSURE's words, a set of signs and a systematized rules shared by sender and receiver that can be expressed by means of speech. will mention those that belong to the smallest units of discourse structure: the prosodic features:
               • THEME & RHEME: Developed by VILEM MATHESSI under the Prague School and later studied by Halliday. It contributes to the coherence of an utterance by showing a linear progress; from the theme to the rheme
                 • THEME: is the subject of discourse, what is normally referred to in the previous utterance. It always appear at the beginningof a sentence and it is emphasized over the rheme. It normally coincides with the subject.
                 • RHEME: is the fresh element, which offers information about the theme.
               • GIVEN & NEW
               • TONE GROUPS & TONICS
               • PAUSE-DEFINED UNITS
               • PITCH PROMINENCE
   • WRITTEN LANGUAGE