Key Linguistic Concepts
Aspects of Language Analysis
1. Communicative Functions of Language
- Representative or Referential: Information on events and concepts.
- Emotive: Shows the feeling or emotion of the speaker.
- Conative: Aims to change the reader’s attitude or activity.
- Metalinguistic: Clarifies or defines the meaning of words or expressions.
- Poetic: Focuses the reader’s attention on the form and sound of words, rather than content.
- Phatic: Ensures the communication channel is open and the partner is present.
2. Text Types
- Narrative:
Key Concepts in Child Language Acquisition
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Proposed by Chomsky (1959), the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) refers to an innate grammatical structure believed to underlie all human languages. It enables children, once they acquire a sufficient vocabulary, to combine words into novel yet grammatically consistent utterances and to understand the meaning of language quickly. Children are not explicitly taught language rules; instead, this ability develops naturally with mere exposure to a language environment.
Read MoreBehaviorism vs. Innatism: Language Acquisition Theories
Behaviorism and Innatism in Language Acquisition
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is a psychological theory of learning that was very influential in the 1940s and 1950s, especially in the United States. Traditional behaviorists believed that language learning is the result of imitation, practice, feedback on success, and habit formation. Children imitate the sounds and patterns they hear around them and receive positive reinforcement for doing so. Thus encouraged by their environment, they continue to imitate
Read MoreUnderstanding Interlanguage: Development and Error Analysis
- Interlanguage: A system with a structurally intermediate status between the native language (NL) and the target language (TL).
It falls between the TL and the NL and is based on the learner’s best attempt to provide order and structure to the linguistic stimuli surrounding them.
- Learners succeed in establishing closer approximations to the system used by native speakers through a process of trial and error.
Brown, Douglas B. 1994
Interlanguage Defined
Interlanguage: Systematic knowledge of an L2 which
Linguistic Levels, Language Functions, and Narrative Styles
Understanding Verbal Language
Verbal language is a cultural invention of humankind, essential for the development of human intelligence. When a comprehensive development of this capacity is not reached, its full realization cannot be achieved.
Linguistic Usage Levels
Cultivated Level
Characterized by the use of an elaborated and formal code associated with written language. Its main features include complete and correct syntactic structures, precise lexicon, etc.
Conversational Level
Characterized by
Key Public Speaking and Rhetoric Terms Defined
Key Public Speaking & Rhetoric Terms
- Ethos
- Ethical appeal; relates to the speaker’s credibility.
- Pathos
- Persuading through emotional appeal.
- Logos
- An appeal that is rational and reasonable, based on the evidence provided.
- Mythos
- Appealing to the audience’s cultural identity by showing how a claim aligns with shared values or stories.
- Oratory
- The art or practice of formal and eloquent public speaking.
- Delayed Feedback
- Audience response received after the speech is performed.
- Internal Previews
- Extended transitions