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Announcements1. 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 4th. 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)

art

COMMUNICATION

music

dancemath

phonology

syntax

morphology

semantics

pragmatics:

language use

LANGUAGE

Quick Write

Based on your understanding of the readings, how do 'communication' and 'language' seem to be different concepts?

Small Group Activity:

Divide into 6 pairs. Each pair will deconstruct one 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)

“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...”

Defining Communicative Competence:

“…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.