Acquisition of Language

1. Behaviorist learning theory. Derived from a general theory of learning, the behaviorist view states
that the language behavior of the individual is conditioned by sequences of differential rewards in
his/her environment.

It regards language learning as a behavior like other forms of human behavior, not a mental
phenomenon, learned by a process of habit formation. Since language is viewed as mechanistic and as a
human activity, it is believed that learning a language is achieved by building up habits on the basis of
stimulus-response chains. Behaviorism emphasizes the consequences of the response and argues that it
is the behavior that follows a response which reinforces it and thus helps to strengthen the association.

According to Littlewood (1984), the process of habit formation includes the following:

a. The child imitates the sounds and patterns which s/he hears around her/him. b. People recognize the
child’s attempts as being similar to the adult models and reinforce (reward) the sounds by approval or
some other desirable reaction. c. In order to obtain more of these rewards, the child repeats the sounds
and patterns so that these become habits. d. In this way the child’s verbal behavior is conditioned
(‘shaped’) until the habits coincide with the adult models.

The behaviorists claim that the three crucial elements of learning are: a stimulus, which serves to elicit
behavior; a response triggered by the stimulus, and reinforcement, which serves to mark the response
as being appropriate (or inappropriate) and encourages the repetition (or suppression) of the response.

2. Cognitive learning theory. Chomsky argues that language is not acquired by children by sheer
imitation and through a form of conditioning on reinforcement and reward. He believes that all normal
human beings have an inborn biological internal mechanism that makes language learning possible.
Cognitivists/ innatists claim that the child is born with an ‘initial’ state’ about language which
predisposes him/her to acquire a grammar of that language. They maintain that the language
acquisition device (LAD) is what the child brings to the task of language acquisition, giving him/her an
active role in language learning.

One important feature of the mentalist account of second language acquisition is hypothesis testing, a
process of formulating rules and testing the same with competent speakers of the target language.

3. Krashen’s Monitor Model (1981). Probably this is the most often cited among theories of second
language acquisition; considered the most comprehensive, if not the most ambitious, consisting of five
central hypotheses:

The five hypotheses are:

a. The acquisition/ learning hypothesis. It claims that there are two ways of developing competence in
L2: Acquisition - the subconscious process that results from informal, natural communication between
people where language is a means, not a focus nor an end, in itself.

Learning - the conscious process of knowing about language and being able to talk about it, that occurs
in a more formal situation where the properties or rules of a language are taught. Language learning has
traditionally involved grammar and vocabulary learning.
Acquisition parallels first language development in children while learning approximates the formal
teaching of grammar in classrooms. Conscious thinking about the rules is said to occur in second
language learning while unconscious feeling about what is correct and appropriate occurs in language
acquisition.

b. The natural order hypothesis. It suggests that grammatical structures are acquired in a predictable
order for both children and adults, that is, certain grammatical structures are acquired before others,
irrespective of the language being learned. When a learner engages in natural communication, then the
standard order below will occur.

b. The monitor hypothesis. It claims that conscious learning of grammatical rules has an extremely
limited function in language performance: as a monitor or editor that checks output. The monitor is an
editing device that may normally operate before language performance. Such editing may occur before
the natural output or after the ouput.

Krashen suggests that monitoring occurs when there is sufficient time, where there is pressure to
communicate correctly and not just convey meaning, and when the appropriate rules are known. d. The
input hypothesis. Krashen proposes that when learners are exposed to grammatical features a little
beyond their current level (i.e., i + 1), those features are ‘acquired’. Acquisition results from
comprehensible input, which is made understandable with the help provided by the context. If learners
receive understandable input, language structures will be naturally acquired. Ability to communicate in
a second language ‘emerges’ rather than indirectly put in place by teaching. c. The affective filter
hypothesis. Filter consists of attitude to language, motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. Thus
learners with favorable attitude and self-confidence may

have a ‘low filter’ which promotes language learning. Learners with a low affective filter seek and
receive more input, interact with confidence, and are more receptive to the input they are exposed to.
On the other hand, anxious learners have a high affective filter which prevents acquisition from taking
place.

Linguistic Concepts:

Scope of Linguistic Studies:

1. Phonology. It studies the combination of sounds into organized units of speech, the combination of
syllables and larger units. It describes the sound system of a particular language and distribution of
sounds which occur in that language. Classification is made on the basis of the concept of the phoneme.

Phonology is the study of the sound system of language: the rules that govern pronunciation. It
comprises the elements and principles that determine sound patterns in a language.

2. Phonetics. It studies language at the level of sounds: how sounds are articulated by the human speech
mechanism and received by the auditory mechanism, as well as how sounds can be distinguished and
characterized by the manner in which they are produced.
3. Morphology. It studies the patterns of forming words by combining sounds into minimal distinctive
units of meaning called morphemes. It deals with the rules of attaching suffixes or prefixes to single
morphemes to form words.

Morphology is the study of word formation; it deals with the internal structure of words. It also studies
the changes that take place in the structure of words, e.g. the morpheme ‘go’ changes to ‘went’ and
‘gone’ to signify changes in tense and aspect.

4. Syntax. It deals with how words combine to form phrases, phrases combine to form clauses, and
clauses conjoin to make sentences. Syntax is the study of the way phrases, clauses and sentences are
constructed. It is the system of rules and categories that underlies sentence formation. It also involves
the description of rules, of positioning of elements in the sentence such as noun phrases, verb phrases,
adverbial phrases, etc.

Syntax also attempts to describe how these elements function in the sentence, i.e., the function that
they perform in the sentence. For example, the noun phrase “the student” has different functions in the
following sentences:

a) The student is writing a new play. b) The teacher gave the student a new play.

In sentence a), the student functions as the subject of the sentence while in sentence b), it functions as
indirect object.

5. Semantics. It deals with the level of meaning in language. It attempts to analyze the structure of
meaning in a language, e.g., how words are related in meaning; it attempts to show these inter-
relationships through forming ‘categories’. Semantics accounts for both word and sentence meaning.

6. Pragmatics. It deals with the contextual aspects of meaning in particular situations. Pragmatics is the
study of how language is used in real communication. As distinct from the study of sentences,
pragmatics considers utterances – those sentences which are actually uttered or said by speakers of a
language.

7. Discourse. It is the study of chunks of language which are bigger than a single sentence. At this level,
inter-sentential links that form a connected or cohesive text are analyzed. The unit of language studied
in discourse and pragmatics may be an utterance in an exchange or a text in written form.

Phonology:

1. Phoneme is a distinctive, contrasted sound unit, e.g. / m /, / æ /, / n /. These distinct sounds enter
into combination with other sounds to form words, e.g., /mæn/ ‘man’.

Phoneme is the smallest unit of sound of any language that causes a difference in meaning. It is a phone
segment that has a contrastive status. The basic test for a sound’s distinctiveness is called a minimal pair
test. A minimal pair consists of two forms with distinct meaning that differ by only one segment found in
the same position in each form. For example, [sɪp] ‘sip’ and [zɪp] ‘zip’ form a minimal pair and show that
the sounds [s] and [z] contrast in English because they cause the difference in meaning between the
words ‘sip’ and ‘zip’; hence, they are separate phonemes - /s/ and /z/.
2. Allophones are variants or other ways of producing a phoneme. They are phonetically similar and are
frequently found in complementary distribution. For example, the systematic variations of /t/ are:

The /t/ in top is aspirated [th]; the /t/ in stop is released [t]; the /t/ in pot is unreleased [t7].

3. Sounds are categorized into two major classes: vowels and consonants.

4. Consonant sounds are produced with some restriction or closure in the vocal tract as the air from the
lungs is pushed through the glottis out the mouth. The airflow is either blocked momentarily or
restricted so much that noise is produced as air flows past the constriction.

5. Vowels are produced with little obstruction in the vocal tract and are generally voiced. They are
described in terms of the following physical dimensions: tongue height, frontness, lip rounding,
tenseness. Different parts of the tongue may be raised or lowered. The lips may be spread or pursed.
The passage through which the air travels, however, is never narrow as to obstruct the free flow of the
airstream.

6. Suprasegmentals are prosodic properties that form part of the makeup of sounds no matter what
their place or manner of articulation is. These properties are pitch, intonation, stress, and juncture. They
are variations in intensity, pitch, and timing.

7. Stress is a property of a syllable rather than a segment. It is a cover term for a combined effect of
pitch, loudness and length --- the result of which is vowel prominence; hence, it refers to the relative
prominence of syllables. The syllable that receives the most prominent stress is referred to as primary
stress. To produce a stressed syllable, one may change the pitch (usually by raising it), make the syllable
louder, or make it longer.

e.g. 2 1 2 1 1 2 fundamental introductory secondary

8. Pitch is the auditory property of a sound that enables us to place it on a scale that ranges from low to
high. 9. Intonation is the rise and fall of pitch which may contrast meanings of sentences. The pitch
movement in spoken utterances is not only related to differences in the word meaning, but serves to
convey information of a broadly meaningful nature such as completeness or incompleteness of an
utterance. Intonation refers to the pitch contours as they occur in phrases and sentences.

In English, the statement ‘Marian is a linguist’ ends with a fall in pitch while as a question, ‘Marian is a
linguist?’ the pitch goes up.

10.Juncture refers to the pauses or breaks between syllables. It refers to the transition between sounds.
The lack of any real break between syllables of words is referred to as close juncture; plus juncture or
open juncture is used to describe a break or pause between syllables in the same word or adjacent
word; e.g. nitrate vs. night rate; why try vs. white rye; black bird vs. blackbird

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Morphology:

1. Morpheme is a short segment of language that meets three criteria:

a. It is a word or part of a word that has meaning. b. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts
without violation of its meaning or without meaningless remainders. c. It recurs in different words with
a relatively stable meaning.

The word unhappiness has 3 morphemes: {un-}, {happy}, {-ness} while the word salamander is a single
morpheme.

2. Allomorphs are morphs which belong to the same morpheme. For example, /s/, /z/ and /əz/ in /kæts/
‘cats’, /bægz/ ‘bags’ and / bΛsəz/ ‘buses’ are allomorphs of the plural morphemes {(e)s}. Allomorphs are
variants of a morpheme that may be phonologically or morphologically conditioned; e.g. {-en} as in oxen
and children are allomorphs of {plural} morpheme.

3. Free morphemes are those that can stand on their own as independent words, e.g. {happy} in
unhappily, {like} in dislike, {boy} in boyhood. They can also occur in isolation; e.g. {happy}, {like}

4. Bound morphemes are those that cannot stand on their own as independent words. They are always
attached to a free morpheme or a free form, e.g. {un-}, {-ly}, {dis-} {-hood}. Such morphemes are also
called affixes.

Bound morphemes are those that cannot stand alone as words; they need to be attached to another
morpheme; e.g. {con-}; {de-}, {per-} to be attached to {-ceive} as in conceive, deceive, perceive.

5. Inflectional morphemes are those that never change the form class of the words or morphemes to
which they are attached. They are always attached to complete words. They cap the word; they are a
closedended set of morphemes - English has only 8 inflectional morphemes.

-s third person sing. pres. She stay-s at home. -ed past tense She stay-ed at home. -ing progressive She is
stay-ing at home. -en past participle She has eat-en at home. -s plural She wrote novel-s. -‘s possessive
Marie’s car is new. -er comparative This road is long-er than

that.

-est superlative This is the long-est road.

6. Derivational morphemes are those that are added to root morphemes or stems to derive new words.
They usually change the form class of the words to which they are attached; they are open-ended, that
is, there are potentially infinite number of them; e.g. actual + {-ize}

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actualize; help + {-ful} helpful; {un-} + lucky unlucky.

7. Word – Formation processes

Derivation. This involves the addition of a derivational affix, changing the syntactic category of the item
to which it is attached (e.g., discern (V) discernment (N); woman (N) womanly (Adj)).

Category Extension. This involves the extension of a morpheme from one syntactic category to another
(e.g., house (N) house (V); fast (Adj) fast (Adv))
Compounding. This involves creating a new word by combining two free morphemes (e.g., sunset;
drugstore).

Root Creation. It is a brand new word based on no pre-existing morphemes (e.g., Colgate; Xerox).

Clipped Form. It is a shortened form of a pre-existing forms (e.g., gym < gymnasium; mike <
microphone).

Blend. It is a combination of parts of two pre-existing forms (e.g., smog < smoke + fog; motel < motor +
hotel).

Acronym. It is a word formed from the first letter(s) of each word in a phrase (e.g., NASA < National
Aeronautics and Space Administration; SARS < Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

Abbreviation. It is a word formed from the names of the first letters of the prominent syllables of a word
(e.g., TV < television) or of words in a phrase (e.g., FBI < Federal Bureau of Investigation).

Proper Name. This process forms a word from a proper name (e.g., hamburger < Hamburg (Germany);
sandwich < Earl of Sandwich).

Folk Etymology. This process forms a word by substituting a common native form for an exotic (often
foreign) form (e.g., cockroach < Spanish cucuracha ‘wood louse’).

Back Formation. This process forms a word by removing what is mistaken for an affix (e.g. edit < editor;
beg < beggar).

8. Morphophonemic Processes

There are processes that produce a great deal of linguistic variability: assimilation, dissimilation,
deletion, epenthesis, metathesis.

Assimilation is a process that results from a sound becoming more like another nearby sound in terms of
one or more of its phonetic characteristics; a process in which segments take on the characteristics of
neighboring sounds; e.g. probable – improbable; potent -impotent; separable – inseparable; sensitive –
insensitive

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Dissimilation is a process that results in two sounds becoming less alike in articulatory or acoustic terms;
a process in which units which occur in some contexts are ‘lost’ in others; e.g. ‘libary’ instead of ‘library,’
‘ govenor’ for ‘governor’

Deletion is a process that removes a segment from certain phonetic contexts. It occurs in everyday rapid
speech; e.g. [blaɪn mæn] ‘blind man ’

Epenthesis is a process that inserts a syllable or a nonsyllabic segment within an existing string of
segment; e.g. [plæntɪd] ‘planted’

Metathesis is a process that reorders or reverses a sequence of segments; it occurs when two segments
in a series switch places, e.g. ask aks; ruler lurer; violet viloyet
Mythology and Folklore

Definition of Terms Myth : (1) a story (2) that is usually of unknown origin and (3) at least partially
traditional (4) that ostensibly relates historical events usually of such description as (5) to serve to
explain some particular event, institution, or natural phenomenon (Webster) Myths are certain
products of the imagination of a people which take the form of stories. (H.J. Rose, A Handbook of
Greek Mythology) A myth is a story about gods, other supernatural beings, or heroes of a long past
time. (M. Reinhold, Past and Present) Myth is a cognitive structure analogous to language through
which primitive people organize their experiences. (J. Peradotto, Classical Mythology) Myth is the
symbolic form which is generated, shaped, and transmitted by the creative imagination of pre- and
extra-logical people as they respond to and encapsulate the wealth of experience. (R.J. Schork,
“Classical Mythology,” The Classic Journal) Fairy tale : a make-believe story about fairies, wizards,
giants, or other characters who possess magical or unusual powers Folklore : traditions, customs, and
stories of one culture or group of people Legend : a story about the past that is considered to be true
but is usually a combination of both fact and fiction Mythology : a group of myths from a single group
or culture Supernatural : more than what is natural or normal; showing godlike or magical powers;
exhibiting superhuman strength Types of Myth • PURE MYTH OR TRUE MYTH OR MYTH PROPER
Myths of this kind tend to be examples of primitive science or religion. They explain natural
phenomena or the origin of things, and they describe how individuals should behave toward the gods.

• SAGA OR LEGEND Myths of this variety tend to be examples of primitive history; they contain a
germ or seed of historical fact and enlarge upon it with great flourish. A good example of a saga or
legend in the story of the war at Troy.

Mythology and Folklore | 1

• FOLK-TALE OR FAIRY-TALE Myths of this species tend to be examples of primitive fiction. Tales of
this sort are told for pleasure and amusement. Frequently the stories contain supernatural characters
such as ghosts, elves, dwarfs, or demons, and they often include elements of magic, e.g., spells,
potions, and objects. Sources of Mythology and Folklore Aesop’s Fables : a collection of fables under
the name of Aesop over 2,000 years ago in Greece. According to Herodotus, Aesop lived in the mid-
sixth century and was a slave and that he was killed by the people of Delphi, perhaps for seditious or
sacrilegious beliefs. A Thousand and One Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights) : a collection of
stories and fables from Arabia, Egypt, India, and Persia that were compiled from oral tales that had
been passed down through these cultures for generations. Some of the well-known characters include
Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad the Sailor. Jinn are common figures in these stories. The Great Epics of
the World: Myths and legends are usually sourced from the existing epics of the different cultures of
the world. The Iliad and The Odyssey of the Greeks, The Aeneid of the Romans, The Mahabharata and
Ramayana of India, Beouwolf of England, The Song of Roland of France, El Cid of Spain, Sha Namah of
Persia, Gilgamesh of the Babylonians, etc. The Panchatantra : a collection of fables which was used to
educate Indian princes into becoming wise kings. It is supposed that Aesop’s Fables largely owed
much from the Panchatantra. The Poems of Hesiod : Theogony and Works and Days. Hesiod is an early
Greek poet who probably flourished around 700 B.C. Much of Greek mythology came from his two
complete works.

THE GREAT THEMES OF MYTH CREATION Creation myths set the stage for more particular myths
supporting social structures, the relation of human beings to the natural world, and questions of life
and death. A creator deity brings into being the sun, moon, and stars, seas and mountains, and so on,
along with deities that personify them, then plant life, animals, and humans that populate the world.
GODS AND GODDESSES Universally, people believed in ideal beings leading them. Such deities possess
human characteristics: they have parents and offspring, and they belong to some social grouping. An
important role of mythology is to reinforce and justify relations of power and leadership HEROIC
FIGURES Heroes and heroines are semi-divine beings: in many mythologies they have superhuman
powers through divine parentage; or they may have acquired divinity through their deeds as men or
women on earth, with the help of a deity, by use of magic weapons, or acquisition of magic powers
through ingenuity or trickery. MONSTERS AND DEMONS Monsters and demons are most familiar as
the beings that a heroic figure confronts and overcomes. They defy divine order both in their
appearance –typically but not invariably deformed or hideous – and in their actions, such as attacking
or capturing a human or divine victim.

Mythology and Folklore | 2

ANIMALS They are featured as wild creatures – predatory beasts or the elusive prey of hunters; or as
helpful beings tamed by humans, or as possessing powers. Deities may disguise themselves as
animals; or they may have heads or other features in token of the characteristics they supposed to
have in common, or of a clan fetish. THE UNDERWORLD Inevitably associations with burial prompt
tales of gloom and terror of the unknown yet inevitable. A strong mythic duality : Earth swallows up
the dead, but equally it produces food plants and harbors mineral wealth. JOURNEYS, QUESTS, AND
TRIALS Quests and journeys bring mythological figures into a number of situations where they can
prove their strength. In numerous myths loyalty to the dead initiates journeys to the underworld to
try to bring loved ones back to life. THE AFTERLIFE The afterlife, some form of existence after death,
takes as many different forms in mythologies as the culture from which they are drawn. Some speak
of paradise where the pains of life on earth are left behind. After death comes judgment, a rigorous
trial is conducted, and torture awaits those who fail the trial. WORLDS DESTROYED Creation may be
seen in myth as chance event or something that occurred despite opposing forces; likewise an end to
the world in its present form may be inevitable or threatened, whether by divine will, as a result of
attack by forces of evil, or in punishment for human misdeeds.