Sincerely Yours, Ahimsa

How Do Study of Linguistics Help Teachers Who Are Helping Students to Learn A New Language?

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context.

Linguistics

The first subfield of linguistics is the study of language structure, or grammar. This focuses on the system of rules followed by the speakers (or hearers) of a language. It encompasses morphology (the formation and composition of words), syntax (the formation and composition of phrases and sentences from these words), and phonology (sound systems). Phonetics is a related branch of linguistics concerned with the actual properties of speech sounds and nonspeech sounds, and how they are produced and perceived.

The study of language meaning is concerned with how languages employ logical structures and real-world references to convey, process, and assign meaning, as well as to manage and resolve ambiguity. This subfield encompasses semantics (how meaning is inferred from words and concepts) and pragmatics (how meaning is inferred from context).

Linguistics in its broader context includes evolutionary linguistics, which considers the origins of language; historical linguistics, which explores language change; sociolinguistics, which looks at the relation between linguistic variation and social structures; psycholinguistics, which explores the representation and function of language in the mind; neurolinguistics, which looks at language processing in the brain; language acquisition, how children or adults acquire language; and discourse analysis, which involves the structure of texts and conversations. (Retrieved from www.wikipedia.com/linguistics)

Contrastive Analysis

Study of Linguistics helps teachers who are helping students to learn a new language with contrastive analysis (CA). Dulay, Burt, Morgan, and Krashen (1982, p. 97) stated that CA took a position that a learner’s first language “interferes” with his or her acquisition of a second language, and that it therefore comprises the major obstacle to successful mastery of the new language. The CA has something to do with fixing “negative transfer,” the automatic use of the L1 structure in L2 performance when the structures in both languages are the same, resulting in incorrect utterances.”

Furthermore, the CA hypothesis is used in making lesson plan with specific guidelines. Dulay, Burt, Morgan, and Krashen (1982, p. 97) mentioned the CA hypothesis. Those hypothesis are:

1.      L2 performances do the majority of the grammatical errors reflect the learners’ L1.

2.      L2 learners make any errors in areas of grammar that are comparable in both the L1 and L2, “negative transfer.”

3.      L2 learners’ judgements of the grammatical correctness of L2 sentences are more related to L2 sentence type than to their own L1 structure.

4.      Phonological errors exhibit more L1 influence than do grammatical errors, although a substantial number of the L2 phonological children make are similar to those made by monolingual first language learners, and only a small proportion of phonological errors in reading are traceable to the learner’s L1.

Following the reason how important the CA is, after the teachers revealing diffficulties for L2 students, they can make a lesson plan with specific guidelines to help, in order to help their studetns. It is an example of lesson plan of ESL below:

The Differences Between Phonology and Phonetics

While I am learning how study of linguistics help teachers who are helping their students learn a new language, I figured out the differences of phonology and phonetics, sub-fields of structure-focused linguistics in clauses. 

Phonology:  the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural languages. What I am paying attention when I study phonology are an inventory of sounds and their features, and

rules which specify how sounds interact with each other.

Phonetics: the study of the sounds of human speech. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds (phones): their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory perception, and neurophysiological status. Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of sounds.

Phonetics

Phonology

Is the basis for phonological analysis.

Analyzes the production of all human speech sounds, regardless of language.

Analyzes the production of all human speech sounds, regardless of language.

Analyzes the sound patterns of a particular language by:

·        determining which phonetic sounds are significant, and

·        explaining how these     sounds are interpreted by the native speaker.

Question Marks for You

What if I could not do it?

What If I had strived to gain success, and failed?

What if I had given everything, but nothing in return?

What if I had what others people want to own, but I was still unhappy?

What if I had owned my success, but I didn’t own you?

A World of Possibilities

The nature of influence changes. The word originates from the medieval idea that a magical liquid emanates from the stars to influence our actions on earth. Modern influence often comes from the magical ability of technology and social media to overcome time and distance and reorder our perceptions. Before microphones and television were invented, a leader had to stand in front of a crowd and bellow. Now she can tweet a phrase that reaches millions in a flash. Influence was never easier — or more ephemeral.

Which is why we try to choose those people whose influence is both lasting and, with a few notable exceptions, laudable. The economist Elinor Ostrom, who is on our list this year, has written about the tragedy of the commons, which is the idea that self-interest can undermine the common good. We look for the antidote to this: how individuals can start a chain reaction of virtue, shaping events in ways that can become both viral and enduring.

We are living in a transformative period in which leadership and influence emerge in unlikely places. Manal al-Sharif posted on YouTube a video of herself driving in Saudi Arabia — women are barred from driving in the kingdom — and was jailed for nine days. Our categories — Breakouts, Pioneers, Moguls, Leaders and Icons — reflect the different types of influence demonstrated by people on the list. We look for those whose influence is at a tipping point. In Russia, Alexei Navalny is harnessing the growth of Internet use to connect protesters via blogging. While there are new types of influence, some are as old as Adam. In Egypt, Samira Ibrahim demonstrated old-fashioned courage by standing up to the military in a court of law over forced “virginity tests.”

This year, as in the past two, the most influential person in putting together the TIME 100 list was executive editor Radhika Jones, who edited the issue with her characteristic devotion to both breadth and depth. Managing the thousands of details that this entails fell to associate editor Feifei Sun. The fresh, inventive design was the handiwork of senior art director April Bell.

Statistician Hans Rosling made this year’s list not only because of his years on the front lines of public health in Africa but also because of how he uses statistics to change people’s perceptions of the world. “I am not an optimist,” Rosling says. He describes himself instead as a “possibilist.” The TIME 100 list is about the infinite possibilities of influence and the power of influence to change the world.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2111975_2112273_2112271,00.html #ixzz1swghVfMp