Linguistic Theories Essay

Language is the way people communicate with each other. It allows us/them to express their thoughts and impart information through writing or speech. However, this exchange is not necessarily always objective as words and their meaning can/may be tainted by the speaker’s intentions. In politics, language is not only a powerful tool to conceal the truth and influence the public’s opinion but also a weapon against their opponents.

The piece titled ‘getting our future back on the rails – slowly’ is written by a member of The Grow Slow organisation who believes that the most convenient occupant for the land of the abandoned railway yards is a community garden. The author begins the article in a confined toned aiming to convince the reader that a community garden is the right choice and later transfers on to a more critical tone when talking about convenient foods. The author’s main arguments include firstly that community gardens are a global trend and that their community should be one to follow such a trend, secondly a community garden will be beneficial to everyone and is the most efficient option and lastly community gardening will bring the whole community

He makes an important hypothesis that universal grammar (UG). UG is a characterization of these innate principle of language faculty, I-language. (5) He then postulates some detailed structure of UG. It is a system of conditions on grammars, constraints on the form and interpretation of grammar at all levels, from the deep structures of syntax, through the transformational component, to the rules that interpret syntactic structures semantically and phonetically. The study of linguistic universals, which is classified as formal or substantive, is the study of the properties of UG for a natural language. (6) Substantive universals concern the vocabulary for the description of language and a formal linguistic universal involve the character of the rules that appear in grammars and the ways in which they can be interconnected. Language-acquisition device uses primary linguistic data as the empirical basis for language learning to meet explanatory adequacy that is defined in UG, and to select one of the potential grammars, which is permitted by UG.

It appears that the grammar that was taught in schools in the 1970’s and 1980’s is not used as extensively in society today.

Linguistic relativity is the notion that language can affect our thought processes, and is often referred to as the ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis’, after the two linguists who brought the idea into the spotlight. Whorf writes how “Language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas, the program and guide for the individual’s mental activity” (1956:212), and I will explain how it is able to do so. In this essay I will argue that certain ways of mental categorization, spatial cognition and reality interpretation, based on the characteristics of our specific variety of language, influence our perception of the world. I will discuss how languages divide up nature differently, and

The first is English is a communication tool that allowed people in general to communicate with other cultures is also linked to the job prospects. Second is the construction of the knowledge, this consist in creating significant meaning to the language this process can be real through the exposition to language and generate a significant context for the students. Finally, formation of habits, this subcategory is related with the memorization of the several information mainly focused to grammar and vocabulary this memorization can be achieved practicing of the language by the realization of mechanic task.

After discussing grammar in class, I learned that it is not just a simple definition. By looking at different examples, I was able to learn how grammar is present in many different aspects of my life. A good example of this would be dance. I started taking dance classes when I was young and I continued throughout high school. There are many different styles of dance, and things would be done differently in each style of dance. For example, with modern, students are usually able to dance barefoot, while with jazz students usually where a specific type of jazz shoe, and with ballet there are pointe shoes. At my studio, there was a specific type of pointe shoe that was worn by some dancers who were more experienced, so when I was little I would

Amy Tan is the author of several novels including The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife. She was born in the United States to parents who immigrated to California from China (Gruber 35). In her article entitled “Mother Tongue”, Tan focuses on the English shared between her mother and herself versus the English that she speaks with everyone else, and how it has affected her outlook on language. Through her examples, she presents to the audience the obstacles faced by her mother’s “limited” English. Tan demonstrates that no matter how much someone may change, the most important things lay back in their roots.

Language is a cognitive function that most of us take for granted. It starts from early on, some say at conception, and it develops in complexity as we get older. It is an essential part of communication and without it its development would be greatly hindered. This natural process requires complex structures and reasoning, the bringing together of sounds and words to develop concrete ideas and thoughts. In this paper we will discuss the components of language and how it relates to cognitive processes.

Have to is a non-modal alternative to the modal verb must to talk about obligation.

There are plenty of teaching methods that are used to teach a language, they developed over the years and centuries, in this essay two well-known teaching methods will be discussed, their principles, their advantages, and their drawbacks, these methods are Grammar Translation Method and The Direct Method.

Most young children develop language rapidly, moving from crying and cooing in infancy to using hundreds of words and understanding their meanings by the time they are ready to enter kindergarten. Language development is a major accomplishment and is one of the most rewarding experiences for anyone to share with a child. Children learn to speak and understand words by being around adults and peers who communicate with them and encourage their efforts to talk.

It is not uncommon to say that grammar instruction plays an important role in language teaching. Regarding the status and importance of grammar teaching, a variety of opinions have been made. Batstone (1994) states that “language without grammar would be chaotic: countless words without the indispensable guidelines for how they can be ordered and modified” (p. 4). More vividly, Wang (2010) makes two similes. She compares grammar to the frame of a house, which is a decisive factor to ensure the solidness of it. Additionally, she regards grammar as a walking stick, whose function is to help and support students to learn English. Thus, the nature of grammar instruction manifests its own significance as it helps students

Larsen-Freeman (2001) as cited in Mart (2013), describes grammar as a system of meaningful structures and patterns that are governed by particular pragmatic constraints. This clearly indicates that grammar plays a crucial role in learning the target language. Grammar instruction is one of the most difficult issues that people have encountered in language learning and teaching. Therefore, the best way to overcome this issue is by

Grammar has always been an important issue in second and foreign language learning and teaching. Some hold the view that grammar is not essential for second/foreign language learning and therefore have a ‘zero position’ regarding grammar teaching. On the other hand, some view that grammar is necessary for second/foreign language learning.