1. No category

ÍNDICE
INTRODUCCION……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3
ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS CONTENIDOS………………………………………………………………………………..
3
ORIENTACIONES DIDACTICAS GENERALES Y DE EVALUACION…………………………………………
5
BLOQUE I
LA FUNCIÓN SOCIAL DE LA LENGUA…………………………………………………………………………………..
9
BLOQUE II
EL APRENDIZAJE DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LA ESCUELA SECUNDARIA
14
BLOQUE III
LOS RETOS DEL MAESTRO DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LA ESCUELA SECUNDARIA Y LA
ATENCIÓN A LOS PROPÓSITOS EDUCATIVOS FUNDAMENTALES……………………………………….
24
MATERIAL DE APOYO
BLOQUE I.
LA FUNCIÓN SOCIAL DE LA LENGUA
COMMUNICATION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…...
30
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA………………………………………………………………………………………………….
41
LENGUAGE……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
52
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH…………………………………………………………………………
98
BLOQUE II.
EL APRENDIZAJE DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LA ESCUELA SECUNDARIA
LEARNING A FIRST LENGUAGE…………………………………………………………………………………………….
108
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS……………………………………………………………………………………………………
116
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION………………………………………………………………………………………..
126
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
131
THEORICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING……………………
136
STYLES AND LANGUAGE ANXIETY: AN OVERVIEW……………………………………………………………..
152
1
BLOQUE III.
LOS RETOS DEL MAESTRO DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LA ESCUELA SECUNDARIA Y LA
ATENCIÓN A LOS PROPÓSITOS EDUCATIVOS FUNDAMENTALES
WHY IT'S ALL ABOUT……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
155
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS………………………………………
160
LISTENING………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
172
USING SONGS AND RHYMES…………………………………………………………………………………………………
180
2
INTRODUCCIÓN
Una condición necesaria para transformar las practicas educativas vigentes en la escuela
secundaria -reducidas muchas veces a la transmisión y recepción de información por parte del
maestro y los alumnos, respectivamente- es que la formación inicial de los profesores de este
nivel educativo garantice un conocimiento suficiente de los procesos de cambio que siguen los
alumnos en este periodo de su vida -y que influyen en su aprendizaje- de sus antecedentes
escolares y de las condiciones y exigencias de la practica educativa concreta, de tal modo que,
independientemente de la asignatura que impartan en la escuela secundaria, adquieran la
capacidad para desempeñarse como educadores de adolescentes, y que mediante su trabajo
cotidiano contribuyan a que todos los alumnos alcancen los propósitos fundamentales señalados
en los planes de estudio de la educación básica.
En el segundo semestre los futuros maestros se iniciaron en el estudio de asignaturas propias de
la especialidad. En el curso Introducción a la enseñanza de: Lengua extranjera (inglés), realizaron
actividades de estudio y análisis, así como de observación en la escuela secundaria que les
permitieron obtener una visión panorámica y realista de los propósitos de la enseñanza del inglés,
de algunas estrategias y recursos mediante los cuales se promueve su aprendizaje, así como de
los elementos que el maestro debe tener en cuenta para conocer a los alumnos del grupo y
organizar el trabajo didáctico.
En este curso, Los adolescentes y el aprendizaje del inglés, los estudiantes normalistas analizaran
la función social de la lengua como sistema de comunicación, los procesos que siguen los alumnos
para aprender el inglés, las formas en que interviene la lengua materna y los factores que influyen
en estos procesos. Las actividades que realicen para preparar y desarrollar la practica educativa
permitirá la identificación de los retos que representa para el maestro la enseñanza del idioma
inglés y la comprensión del papel que le corresponde desempeñar para fortalecer en los alumnos
el desarrollo de las competencias lingüísticas básicas.
ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS CONTENIDOS
El programa de estudio esta organizado en tres bloques temáticos, en los que se analizan los
aspectos generales de la adquisición del idioma inglés en los adolescentes de la escuela
secundaria. En cada bloque se presentan los contenidos, la bibliografía básica que apoya el estudio
de los contenidos y la bibliografía complementaria para ampliar la información, así como un
conjunto de actividades para el desarrollo de los temas. Estas actividades constituyen una
propuesta flexible que puede enriquecerse con las aportaciones de los maestros y estudiantes,
3
tratando de atender los propósitos y contenidos del curso.
En el bloque I, "La función social de la Lengua", se analizan las características generales de la
lengua como un sistema de comunicación. A través de las actividades que se sugieren y los textos
que se estudian, los normalistas reconocerán los aspectos de la lengua y los factores que influyen
en su evolución, así como las variantes a que dan lugar los procesos de cambio en la historia y en
las sociedades.
En este bloque los estudiantes deberán identificar las características de la lengua hablada y
escrita, y las condiciones que son necesarias para la comunicación eficaz en cada una de ellas.
Asimismo, reconocerán los elementos fundamentales de la estructura de la lengua inglesa y
realizaran actividades que les ayuden a entender el significado de la competencia comunicativa al
hablar y escribir, y la importancia de considerar las variedades de habla inglesa de acuerdo con las
regiones y contextos en los que se usa.
El análisis de estos aspectos permitirá que los estudiantes se formen una visión de conjunto sobre
como las variantes de la lengua influyen en la comprensión del idioma extranjero. Estos elementos
son un referente para comprender las características y estructura del idioma inglés y los aspectos
propician su aprendizaje.
El bloque II, "El aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera en la escuela secundaria", trata
aspectos relacionados con las formas en que de manera individual los adolescentes desarrollan su
competencia comunicativa en lengua extranjera.
Las actividades que se sugieren tienen la intención de que los futuros maestros comprendan que
en el proceso de aprendizaje de una lengua extranjera intervienen múltiples factores que los
favorecen o dificultan, y que el maestro debe conocer a profundidad y tomarlos en cuenta para
ayudar a los alumnos a familiarizarse con el inglés en un ambiente de seguridad y respeto, a
través de estrategias que propician la expresión y la comunicación.
Es importante que los estudiantes analicen, a partir de sus experiencias como alumnos de
secundaria, los obstáculos a los que comúnmente se enfrentan los adolescentes para expresarse
de manera oral y escrita. Con esto se intenta que se inicien en actividades orientadas al campo de
formación de la especialidad, para lo cual es fundamental que durante las jornadas de observación
y practica, se ponga especial atención a la clase de inglés, a sus actividades, a las formas de
enseñanza, las condiciones y los recursos que favorecen el desarrollo de habilidades comunicativas
en la escuela secundaria. De esta manera los estudiantes obtendrán los elementos necesarios para
poner en práctica actividades que atiendan a los propósitos educativos de la lengua extranjera en
la escuela secundaria.
En el bloque III, "Los retos del maestro de lengua extranjera en la escuela secundaria y la
atención a los propósitos educativos fundamentales", se analizan las practicas de enseñanza que
favorecen el logro de los propósitos educativos de la lengua extranjera en la escuela secundaria.
Con el tratamiento de este bloque se pretende que los estudiantes reflexionen sobre las
4
condiciones que favorecen el aprendizaje del inglés, los aspectos que intervienen para lograr
mejores resultados de aprendizaje, que diseñen y realicen una secuencia de actividades en la
escuela secundaria.
Es importante resaltar que los temas de este bloque no necesariamente se trabajaran al final del
curso; pueden revisarse aquellos que se requieran antes de las jornadas de observación y practica
para preparar el trabajo y analizar las experiencias de enseñanza en la escuela secundaria.
ORIENTACIONES DIDÁCTICAS GENERALES Y DE EVALUACIÓN
A continuación se presentan sugerencias para el tratamiento de los contenidos del programa, de
las estrategias y actividades que, de acuerdo con los rasgos del perfil de egreso, así como con los
criterios que establece el Plan de Estudios, conviene tener presentes en el desarrollo del curso
para lograr los propósitos deseados.
1. Antes de iniciar el estudio de los temas es recomendable que los alumnos y el profesor titular
de la asignatura analicen el programa en su conjunto; de esta, manera tendrán una visión
general de sus características, de los contenidos y los textos que analizaran, así como del tipo
de actividades que propone. Esta revisión inicial será útil en la organización del trabajo del
semestre pues permitirá prever las actividades que los estudiantes realizaran antes de asistir
a la escuela secundaria, las que llevaran acabo durante la jornada de observación y práctica y
las que realizaran posteriormente para analizar la experiencia.
2. Los temas de estudio en este programa y las características del curso exigen que las formas
de trabajo de la escuela normal sean congruentes con las que se revisan durante el desarrollo
del curso. Así se evitara las contradicciones frecuentes que los estudiantes perciben entre las
propuestas de estudio y las prácticas comunes de enseñanza.
3. Los contenidos están organizados de acuerdo a una secuencia, sin embargo, al analizar el
programa y según los acuerdos a los que lleguen los maestros en las reuniones de colegio,
podrán realizar ajustes a las actividades para lograr el cumplimiento de los propósitos
formativos de la asignatura, la satisfacción de las expectativas de los estudiantes respecto de
su formación y contribuir a la consecuci6n de los rasgos deseables del perfil de egreso
señalados en el plan de estudios de la licenciatura en educaci6n secundaria. En este sentido,
en el bloque III de este curso se solicita la elaboraci6n de secuencias de actividades, su
aplicaci6n en la escuela secundaria y su posterior análisis en la normal. Para preparar estas
actividades con tiempo, es necesario tener presente que los contenidos de este bloque se
deberán trabajar en el momento oportuno y no dejarlos como temas que se verán al final del
curso.
4. El estudio de los temas del curso se combina con el análisis de las experiencias de observaci6n
y practica que los normalistas obtienen en la escuela secundaria. En este semestre se prevén
dos jornadas de observaci6n y practica, de una semana cada una, en grupos de primer grado
5
que se realizan en el tiempo establecido para la asignatura Observación y practica docente l.
Cada jornada tendré las siguientes características generales:
a) En la primera los estudiantes observaran el desarrollo del trabajo en un grupo de primer
grado -con diversas asignaturas- durante el turno completo, prestando especial atenci6n a
las clases correspondientes a la asignatura de la especialidad que estudian, en este caso
lengua extranjera. Durante ese periodo, si es posible, los estudiantes conducirán una
sesión de clase en el grupo, en la cual experimentaran actividades didácticas previamente
diseñadas
b) Durante la segunda, los estudiantes continuaran con la observación del trabajo en todas
las asignaturas en uno o dos grupos de primer grado. A diferencia de la primera jornada,
los estudiantes pondrán en practica actividades didácticas en dos grupos, para ello se
recomienda que permanezcan en cada grupo durante el turno completo los días que
conducirán la sesión de clases de su especialidad.
El profesor del curso Los adolescentes y el aprendizaje del inglés deberá informar al profesor
de inglés en la escuela secundaria sobre el tipo de actividades que se le demandan al
estudiante normalista para que le permita trabajar con actividades sencillas en las que se
enfatice en el desarrollo de las habilidades comunicativas y no, como suele suceder, en
contenidos de gramática.
5. De acuerdo con los contenidos del curso, en los periodos de trabajo en las escuelas secundarias
los normalistas recopilaran información sobre el trabajo de los adolescentes en la clase de
inglés; para ello, habrán de charlar con alumnos, maestros y padres de familia, grabar
conversaciones entre los adolescentes y si es posible de fragmentos de las sesiones de clase
(siempre y cuando el maestro este de acuerdo), fotocopiar algunas partes de cuadernos de los
alumnos o bien a través de la descripción escrita de las actividades que se realizan en la clase
de inglés. Para que estas actividades se organicen de manera adecuada antes de cada jornada
el maestro de la asignatura y los estudiantes acordaran el tipo de material que recopilaran.
6.
Corresponde al maestro de la asignatura Los adolescentes y el aprendizaje de/ inglés preparar
con los estudiantes la guía correspondiente a los aspectos que observaran. Asimismo, es
importante que el maestro de la asignatura acuda a la escuela secundaria y observe el trabajo
de sus estudiantes con el grupo. Solo de esta manera tendrá referentes para orientar el
análisis posterior a las visitas, que también se realiza en este curso.
7. La lectura como ejercicio permanente en esta asignatura no solo es un requerimiento para el
análisis de los textos que se proponen en la bibliografía básica; es además, una habilidad que
se debe favorecer en los estudiantes. En este curso se inicia la práctica de la lectura de textos
en inglés, con la finalidad de favorecer la comprensión en los estudiantes. Es muy importante
que, de acuerdo con las características del grupo, el profesor apoye a los normalistas de
manera que la lectura en inglés sea en efecto un recurso útil para el análisis, la reflexión y el
6
estudio y no sólo para transcribir información.
8 Es fundamental aprovechar este curso y los demás que se imparten en este semestre, para que
los estudiantes consoliden su capacidad de seleccionar e interpretar información de diversas
fuentes, para leer analíticamente, argumentar y comunicar por escrito u oralmente sus propias
ideas. Al enfrentar estos desafíos los estudiantes podrán descubrir los factores y condiciones
que influyen en el desarrollo de la competencia comunicativa; de otro modo, los conocimientos
que obtengan de los textos que forman parte de la bibliografía carecerán de significado
concreto y, por tanto, tendrán escasa o nula influencia en la práctica docente. Además, es
importante recordar que las capacidades para narrar, describir, explicar, preguntar y leer en
voz alta son componentes de la competencia didáctica.
9
De acuerdo con el enfoque de la asignatura y con los propósitos del curso, es conveniente
seleccionar los criterios y procedimientos que permitan valorar los avances que logran los
estudiantes, y evitar que la evaluación se reduzca a la aplicación de exámenes u otros
instrumentos que solo exigen memorizar o transcribir información. Puede aprovecharse la
valoración de los argumentos que los alumnos expresan en clase, las preguntas que formulan,
su intervención efectiva en los trabajos de equipo, así como los escritos (ensayos, propuestas
didácticas, registros de lectura) e indagaciones realizadas en la escuela secundaria. Un
referente mas son las soluciones que los estudiantes dan a las situaciones propuestas en las
actividades del programa, su capacidad de análisis, juicio critico, comprensión, relación,
etcétera. Las pruebas objetivas deben considerarse complementarias a los procedimientos de
evaluación sugeridos.
ACTIVIDAD DE INTRODUCCIÓN AL CURSO
En equipos, elegir alguna de las situaciones descritas. Elaborar un mensaje que en relación con la
situación deseen comunicar. Inventar un código oral y escrito. No deberán utilizar símbolos o
palabras conocidos (en caso de que el mensaje se quiera transmitir en forma verbal, conviene
grabarlo)
Situación A
"En un viaje por carretera atraviesan una zona de deslave y no hay ningún señalamiento ¿Cómo
advertirían a los automovilistas de esta situación?"
Situación B
7
"Un turista se acerca a ustedes para preguntar como llegar a un determinado lugar, ¿Cómo le
explicarían?"
Situación C
"¿Cómo avisarían a la población que se acerca una tormenta?"
Situación D
"Para invitar a los amigos a una reunión. ¿Cómo les explicarían el motivo y el lugar del
encuentro?"
Proporcionar el mensaje (grabado o escrito) a otro equipo y pedir que lo descifren. Cada equipo
presentara al grupo el mensaje correspondiente, al terminar comentar en forma colectiva:
•
Si el mensaje fue interpretado tal como se elaboro. ¿Por qué?
•
¿Qué referentes consideraron para descifrarlo?
•
¿Qué dificultades enfrentaron para descifrar el mensaje?
•
¿Qué se necesitaría para poder interpretar los mensajes orales y qué se requiere para los
escritos?
8
BLOQUE I. LA FUNCIÓN SOCIAL DE LA LENGUA
1. La lengua como sistema de comunicación
a) Sus características generales y usos sociales
b) La evolución continúa de la lengua. Los factores que influyen en los procesos de cambio
c)
Las variantes de una lengua
2. La lengua hablada y la lengua escrita: sus características, similitudes y diferencias
a) Los contextos de uso: la flexibilidad en el uso de la lengua hablada y las exigencias en el
uso de la lengua escrita
b) ¿Qué significa "saber hablar" y "saber escribir"?
3. El idioma inglés y sus características
a) Aspectos generales sobre la estructura del inglés: fonética y fonología, gramática,
semántica
b) Las variantes lingüísticas y sus efectos en la comprensión de la lengua extranjera
BIBLIOGRAFÍA BÁSICA
Cassany, Daniel, Marta Luna y Gloria Sanz (1998), "Conocimiento y uso de la K lengua", en
Enseñar Lengua, 4a. ed, Barcelona, Grao, pp. 83-99.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA COMPLEMENTARIA
Resnick, Lauren B. (1999), "El alfabetismo dentro y fuera de la escuela", en Propósitos y
contenidos de la educación básica I (Primaria). Programa y materiales de apoyo para el estudio. 1
semestre. Licenciatura en educación secundaria, México, SEP, pp. 44-59.
ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS
1. En grupo obtener una lista (lo mas amplia posible), con las aportaciones individuales de los
estudiantes, en respuesta a la interrogante. ¿Para que sirve el lenguaje? Con esta información
9
pedir a los estudiantes que elaboren un mapa conceptual que explique el use del lenguaje.
2. En equipos argumentar los puntos de vista personales en torno a las siguientes cuestiones y
registrar por escrito los aspectos que se consideren más importantes:
•
¿Cómo caracterizarían la comunicación en los siguientes casos?
•
En la familia, en el grupo de amigos, en la escuela.
•
En una conferencia (sobre política, derechos humanos, economía, etcétera).
•
En un encuentro internacional sobre educación.
•
¿En alguno de los casos analizados, dirían que hay una comunicación más eficiente?
Argumentar a favor y en contra.
Presentar al grupo las conclusiones que resultaron de la discusión en cada equipo.
De manera individual leer "Types of communication" y elaborar un cuadro que presente las
características generales de la lengua.
En grupo comentar algunos de los cuadros elaborados. A partir de las conclusiones comentadas
anteriormente elaborar, en inglés, un escrito personal que describa las características de la lengua
y de respuesta a la pregunta: ¿para qué se escribe?
3. Por equipos analizar un texto breve en lengua indígena (puede ser la letra de una canción,
poema o Leyenda) y:
•
Si es posible grabar a un integrante "leyendo" el escrito.
•
Tratar de descifrar el escrito.
•
A partir de lo que se logro descifrar del mensaje y de la estructura del texto, intentar
redactar una regla ortográfica.
Presentar, posteriormente la traducción del texto y la propuesta de regla ortográfica, argumentar
por que se llego a las conclusiones que se presentan. Escuchar la canción y contrastarlo con la
grabación que realizo cada equipo. Comentar en torno a:
ƒ
Las similitudes en la pronunciación.
ƒ
Los referentes que se tomaron para "decir" el texto.
ƒ
Las dificultades que se enfrentaron para entender el mensaje y las estrategias que se
utilizaron para resolver el ejercicio.
Individualmente leer el apartado "Conocimiento y use de la lengua" de Cassany. En equipo,
reflexionar sobre las siguientes cuestiones y responder por escrito a la pregunta que se plantea:
ƒ
Las ideas que señala el autor sobre los diferentes tipos de competencia y la relación que
establece entre ellas.
10
ƒ
Las características de los enfoques comunicativos y de las habilidades Lingüísticas.
A partir de las ideas señaladas en el texto sobre las habilidades oral y escrita, responder a la
pregunta: Que significa "saber hablar y "saber escribir". Presentar las respuestas al grupo y
argumentarlas.
4
De manera individual buscar en el articulo "Language" información sobre las características
generales de la lengua, sus variantes y los factores que influyen en la generación de las
variantes.
En grupo comentar:
ƒ
Las características de la lengua que destaca el autor.
ƒ
Las coincidencias y divergencias que se identifican entre el artículo y los escritos
personales redactados en las actividades anteriores.
A partir de los comentarios anteriores, revisar las redacciones personales; si es necesario, incluir
las características no consideradas inicialmente. Comentar en grupo las modificaciones que se
harían al texto y argumentar por que. Los textos deberán incluir en
los siguientes elementos:
Phonetics and Phonology, Grammar, Semantics.
A partir de la discusión anterior elaborar un cuadro como el siguiente:
Con base en la información registrada en el cuadro, identificar cueles variantes se manifiestan de
manera mes evidente en la Lengua hablada y cueles en la Lengua escrita.
Después de analizar el contenido del cuadro anterior, de manera similar, elaborar otro que
relacione las variantes que presenta el español que se habla en México y algunas causas que las
originan.
5. En equipos, seleccionar alguna de las siguientes palabras e investigar su origen, los usos que
11
se le han dado a través del tiempo o en diferentes culturas o regiones, su significado
etimológico y actual, palabra de la que se deriva y con las que se relaciona. Presentar los
resultados al grupo.
EMOTION
FOCUS
IGLOO
ROCKET
SALT
WELCOME
Un referente para orientar el tipo de ejercicio que se solicita puede ser el siguiente ejemplo
realizado con la palabra luna: Luna: satélite natural de la tierra, visible porque refleja la luz del
sol, latín: luna; luz, del indoeuropeo leuksna, luna, luz, de leuk Iuz, brillar. Luz: Radiación
electromagnética que el ojo humano percibe y que hace visible los objetos, claridad, resplandor:
latin lucem, acusativo de lux (terra Luc-) luz, luz de día del indoeuropeo: leuk- luz; brillar. De la
misma familia: alumbrar, deslumbrar, iluminar, ilustrar, ilustre, leucemia, leucocito, Liechtenstein,
lucero, lucido, lucir, lumbre, luminoso, luna, lunar, lunático, tunes, lustre, Luz, reluciente,
vislumbrar, probablemente Oslo, Santa Lucia, Posiblemente: Nicosia.*
Tornado de Gómez da Silva Guido (1995), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española,
Colegio de México-FCE, México, 4a. reimpresión. 15.
Después de la actividad realizada, en equipo reflexionar sobre la influencia de palabras de otros
idiomas en el inglés y su adición al vocabulario moderno.
6. En equipos seleccionar alguna de las siguientes situaciones. Comentar las cuestiones que se
presentan posteriormente.
ƒ
Convencer sobre el peligro en un caso de emergencia.
ƒ
La narración de un partido de fútbol a quien no lo esta viendo.
ƒ
Explicar y argumentar la opinión personal sobre el aborto.
ƒ
Comunicar a una persona cercana un problema personal o estado de animo, con la
intención de recibir algún tipo de apoyo.
¿En qué casos es mas común emplear la lengua oral y en cuales la lengua escrita? Argumentar por
que.
En cada caso, ¿de que manera influye el contexto en la intención del sujeto? Explicar en cada caso
la importancia que tiene la fonética, la fonología, la gramática y la semántica.
7. A partir del texto elaborado en la actividad 2 (revisar) y después de leer "Origins and basic
12
characteristics of the english language". En equipos integrar al escrito los conceptos de
Phonetics and Phonology, Grammar y Semantics, que el artículo presenta. En grupo presentar
algunos de los textos y argumentar por que se modificaron los escritos iniciales.
8. En equipo analizar fragmentos de diálogos en los que se hagan evidentes las variantes del
idioma inglés (grabar, por ejemplo, fragmentos de películas o noticieros radiofónicos,
conversaciones entre turistas, etcétera), y comentar las dificultades que se experimentan para
comprender el contenido o los mensajes. Luego, en grupo comentar:
ƒ
¿En que casos fue más fácil o difícil entender el mensaje o contenido? Argumentar por
que.
ƒ
¿Cuál es el origen o el país de procedencia de las personas que hablan y la situación en la
que se da el dialogo?
ƒ
¿Qué estrategias se utilizaron para lograr entender los mensajes que se comunican?
9. De manera individual leer el articulo "Varieties of English" y en grupo comentar:
ƒ
Las características que presenta el inglés en las siguientes regiones: Londres, Irlanda,
algunas regiones de Estados Unidos, Nueva Zelanda, La India, Pakistán y África.
ƒ
Las características y condicionantes del llamado RP.
ƒ
Los retos que impone en la enseñanza del idioma las diversas formas de expresión oral en
el mundo.
10.
De manera individual, elaborar un escrito en inglés que describa la importancia de la
comprensión auditiva para el aprendizaje del idioms.
13
BLOQUE II. EL APRENDIZAJE DEL INGLÉS COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LA ESCUELA
SECUNDARIA
1. Los adolescentes como usuarios de su lengua materna.
a) El use de la lengua oral. La competencia pragmática: la interiorización de conocimientos y
habilidades de comunicación. Similitudes y diferencias con la expresión escrita
b) Variaciones individuales en la competencia comunicativa de los adolescentes
2. Principales obstáculos que enfrentan los alumnos en la secundaria para aprender inglés.
a) La exposición a una lengua con estructura distinta: la transferencia de lengua materna a la
lengua extranjera: tipo de errores a los que da lugar
b) Las dificultades para escuchar y comprender el lenguaje oral y escrito
c)
Las dificultades para aprender a escribir
d) El miedo a hablar en otro idioma
3. Los procesos de desarrollo de las habilidades para comunicarse en lengua extranjera.
Condiciones que los favorecen.
a) La comprensión auditiva y la comprensión lectora
b) La producción de textos y la expresión oral
c) La conciencia lingüística
4. Factores que influyen en el aprendizaje del inglés en la secundaria.
a) La motivación de los estudiantes por aprender y las posibilidades de uso de idiomas en la
vida cotidiana. Su estilo de aprendizaje
b) El maestro, las actividades de enseñanza y el ejercicio de las habilidades lingüísticas en la
clase
BIBLIOGRAFIA BASICA
Lightbown, Patsy M. y Nina Spada (2000), "Learning a first language", en how languages are
learned, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-9.
Steinberg, Laurence (1999), "Cognitive transitions", en Adolescence, 5a. ed., McGraw-Hill College,
USA, pp. 58-62
14
Avery, Peter y Susan Ehrlich (1992), "Spelling and pronunciation", en Teaching American English
pronunciation, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 3-6.
Laroy, Clement (1995), "Introduction", en Pronunciation, New York, Oxford University Press, pp.
5-8.
Lightbown,- Patsy M. y Nina Spada (2000), "Theoretical approaches to explaining second language
learning", en How languages are learned, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 31-48.
SEP (1999), "Aspectos metodológicos", en Libro para el Maestro. Inglés. secundaria. Mexico, pp.
15-26.
Oxford, Rebecca L. (1999), "Styles and language anxiety: an overview", en Dolly Jesusita Young
[editor], Affect in foreign language and second language learning. A practical guide to creating a
low-anxiety classroom atomosphere, New York, McGraw-Hill, pp. 218-220.
BIBLIOGRAFIA COMPLEMENTARIA
Brown, H Douglas (1994), "Teaching listening comprehension", "Teaching oral communication
skills", "Teaching reading" y "Teaching writing skills", en Teaching by Principles: An interactive
approach to language pedagogy, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, pp. 233-346.
Lightbown, Patsy M. y Nina Spada (2000), "Factors affecting second language learning", en How
languages are learned, New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 48-70.
Brown, H. Douglas (2000), "Neurological considerations", en Principles of language learning and
teaching, 4h. ed., New York, Longman, pp. 54-70.
ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS
1. Organizar equipos y grabar una conversaci6n entre adolescentes (no necesariamente en la
escuela). Pueden ser charlas entre amigos, fragmentos de películas, entrevistas, etcétera.
Escuchar la grabaci6n y comentar las siguientes cuestiones:
•
¿Qué característica de la conversación destacarían?
•
Las posibles razones por las que los adolescentes se expresan de esa manera para
comunicarse.
•
Si la comunicación entre los adolescentes se hubiera dado a través del lenguaje escrito.
Que cambios o características identificarían? Argumentar sus puntos de vista.
Comentar en grupo los resultados de la discusión y registrar por escrito los aspectos mas
importantes.
15
2. De manera individual leer el texto "Learning a first language", de Lightbown y Spada y
comentar en grupo los puntos de vista personales sobre las ideas que los autores expresan
respecto a los siguientes aspectos:
•
Los pasos que sigue el ser humano para llegar a manejar su lengua materna.
•
¿Hasta que punto se llega a este manejo sin la educación escolar?
•
¿Que se entiende por competencia pragmática?
3. A partir del análisis de esta información, de manera individual, elaborar un diagrama que
presente los aspectos mas importantes sobre el uso que los adolescentes hacen del español
como lengua hablada y algunas diferencias individuales que lograron identificar, a través de
las conversaciones grabadas, en el desarrollo de las competencias comunicativas. En grupo
fundamentar sus opiniones sobre las causas que podrían originar estas desigualdades
lingüísticas en los adolescentes.
4. Con esta información, identificar en el texto "Cognitive transitions" de Steinberg, las ideas que
señala el autor sobre la influencia que tienen los siguientes aspectos en las formas de
comunicación de los adolescentes:
•
Las habilidades para pensar en posibilidades.
•
El desarrollo del pensamiento abstracto.
•
La reflexión sobre lo que se piensa.
•
La habilidad para "ver" las cosas en múltiples dimensiones.
•
La forma relativa de observar las cosas.
En la experiencia personal, identificar situaciones en las que las formas y estilos de comunicación
utilizadas en la adolescencia hayan propiciado pequeño conflicto. Comentarlo al grupo.
5. En equipo, analizar las entrevistas que se presentan a continuación, y comentar los aspectos
que se indican al final de las mismas:
Entrevista a alumnos de secundaria'
P - Pregunta Al - Alumnos
16
Entrevista 1
Grado: 3° Asignatura:
Inglés.
P: De todo esto que hace la maestra con ustedes, ¿Qué es lo que te gusta, a ver si lo puedes
señalar de manera precisa, de esa forma de trabajo, y que no te gusta de esa forma de trabajo,
de esa forma de llevar la clase?
Al: Lo que mes me gusta es el material que usa porque muchas veces le entendemos mejor que lo
que explica ella. Lo que me desagrada es que no nos deja hablar a nosotros y no nos deja dialogar
y siempre este explicando ella. P: ¿Qué actividades con el idioma realizas generalmente en la
clase?
Al: Básicamente es organizar un dialogo o completarlo con palabras que nos va dando durante la
clase o muy pocas veces nos deja dialogar entre nosotros.
P: ¿Escuchan, expresiones en inglés?
Al: Con el audiocasete nos deja escuchar y respecto a eso dialogamos también.
Entrevistas realizadas para esta asignatura.
P: ¿Usas el libro de texto en la clase?
Al: No, nosotros no usamos libro de texto.
P: ¿No consultan ningún libro, no manejan ningún libro?
Al: No, la maestra no pidió el libro desde el principio del año.
P: ¿Sólo son materiales que ella lleva?
AL: Sí.
P: ¿Escritos en inglés?
Al: Si, son materiales que ella respecto al tema que nos va a dar o el dialogo que viene en el
audiocasete, nos explica y ella nos hace el material.
P: ¿Cuáles son las características del material que mes te gusta?
Al: Mas que nada es el audiocasete que nos deja mucho a la imaginación y como que nos
adentramos más al tema.
P: ¿Alguna otra característica del material que te atraiga, que te haga placentera la clase?
17
Al: Muchas veces en las láminas llevan dibujos y entendemos mejor el tema y los verbos que nos
plantea.
P: Ya dices que no llevan libro de texto, pero aparte no llevan algún otro material.
Al: No, no usamos ninguno.
P: Entonces si no llevan el libro, el material, láminas, ¿Qué otros materiales utilizas tu?
Al: Solamente el cuaderno de trabajo.
P: ¿Qué es lo que se te hace más difícil de la clase de inglés?
Al: Se me dificulta entenderle cuando la maestra explica muy rápido y por eso muchas veces
prefiero el audiocasete.
P: Fuera de los diálogos que se organizan en la clase, ¿hablas el inglés con tus compañeros?
Al: Muy pocas veces, solo para algunas frases pequeñas o bromear entre nosotros.
P: ¿Sólo bromas o hay algunas otras actividades que además les gusten?
Al: Cuando realizamos la tarea en las horas libres que tenemos si lo practicamos mucho.
Entrevista 2
Grado: 2°
Asignatura: Inglés.
P: ¿Cómo te dan la clase de inglés?
Al: Nos la pasamos respondiendo el libro, pero si vemos algo un día jamás lo volvemos a ver hasta
la hora del examen bimestral.
P: ¿Que te gusta y que no te gusta de la clase de inglés?
AI: Me gustan los crucigramas y no las conversaciones porque hay veces en las que se burlan de
la pronunciación que uso.
P: ¿Qué actividades realizas comúnmente?
Al: Siempre son ejercicios del libro, puras conversaciones.
P: ¿Usas el libro de texto en la clase?
Al: Sí y bastante.
P: ¿Qué haces en el?
Al: En el hago ejercicios y los respondo por grupos.
P: ¿Te gusta trabajar con el?
Al: Mas o menos.
18
P: ¿Por qué?
Al: Porque lo que me gusta son nada más los crucigramas.
P: Además del libro de texto ¿qué otros materiales utilizas?
AI: El cuaderno, pero muy poco, de ahí en fuera nada.
P: ¿Qué es lo que se te hace más difícil de la clase de inglés?
Al: Relacionar columnas y las preguntas de opción múltiple.
P: ¿Hablas el inglés con tus compañeros la clase?
Al: No.
Entrevista 3
Grado: 1 °
Asignatura: Inglés.
P: ¿Qué es lo que mas te gusta de tu clase de inglés y que es lo que no te gusta o lo que menos te
gusta?
Al: Lo que más me gusta es el idioma inglés y, no se.
P: Pero, por que te gusta el idioma inglés, ¿le encuentras alguna utilidad?
Al: Porque pienso que es algo que después puedes utilizar de muchas formas, que es algo que
desde ahora es muy importante para cualquier trabajo en el futuro, que sirve para cualquier cosa
actualmente y es algo más importante, desde cosas tan sencillas como una computadora para
entender en lo que estas o un instructivo de cualquier aparato el inglés es fundamental. Lo que
mes me disgusta de la clase es a veces la forma en que nos trata el maestro, porque muchas
veces dependiendo del humor de que venga es la cantidad de tarea que nos deja, si viene de buen
humor no nos deja mucha tarea, si viene de malas nos puede dejar como 20 palabras.
P: ¿Qué hacen con esas palabras?
Al: Las tenemos que repetir 10 veces en el cuaderno con su respectiva traducción.
P: ¿Eso es lo que más te disgusta?
Al: Si.
P: ¿Qué otras actividades realizas en forma común?
Al: Eso normalmente, o lo que serian los ejercicios en el libro es lo fundamental de la clase
siempre.
P: ¿Cómo que tipo de ejercicios?
Al: Vienen en ese libro sopa de letras que tenemos que resolver y después le damos la respuesta
al maestro, ejercicios de falso o verdadero, según unos textos que tenemos que leer en inglés,
19
obviamente, y son relacionar columnas también de otros textos en inglés, así como repetir otros
textos también.
P: ¿Qué utilidad le encuentras por ejemplo a una actividad como la sopa de letras, el les explica
cual es el sentido de la actividad o solamente les deja la actividad?
Al: Nada más nos deja la actividad y a lo mejor el sentido podría ser la memorización de las
palabras.
P: ¿Y en esto participan diferentes compañeros contigo o es una actividad en forma individual?
AI: Es una actividad en forma individual todo lo que se hace, pero después ya cuando se supone
que todos terminan la sopa de letras el maestro las va preguntando, a veces por numero de lista o
dependiendo quien quiera participar, te pregunta una o dos palabras y se le dice en que columna o
hilera esta y te vale como una participación.
P: Por ejemplo ¿una participación a cuanto equivale?
Al: A medio punto en el examen bimestral.
P: ¿De qué forma utilizas el libro de texto, ya me dijiste que te ponen a hacer algunas lecturas,
pero ¿qué otra forma tienes para utilizar tu libro de texto?
Al: Es eso principalmente, tiene sopas de letras, textos, hay varias, tienes que completar tablas,
también con información casi todo se basa en textos que tiene al principio de cada lección, de
falso o verdadero, columna y tablas.
P: De complementar ideas, por ejemplo, que le falten palabras a un enunciado o algún texto y tu
lo tengas que rellenar, ¿hay ejercicios de este tipo?
Al: Si, también hay ejercicios de gramática, de la forma de acomodar palabras y vienen poner las
palabras que son, poner como se.... con cada verbo y lo vas anotando, una especie de
complementación de enunciados.
P: ¿Te gusta trabajar con tu libro?
Al: Sí.
P: ¿Qué te gusta más trabajar con tu libro, con la explicación te da tu maestro o los ejercicios que
te pone?
Al: A mí me gustaría más trabajar con la explicación que daría el maestro, pero casi siempre se
trabaja con el puro libro, él casi no nos explica nada, la mayoría se basa en todo lo que es el libro.
P: Además de tu libro de texto ¿tienes algunos otros materiales que utilices?
Al: No, nada mas es el libro.
ƒ
Principales dificultades que identifican en cada caso.
ƒ
Los motivos posibles por los que puede atraer o no la clase a los alumnos.
20
ƒ
¿Que ventajas y desventajas identifican en las formas de trabajo de los maestros?
ƒ
De acuerdo con las entrevistas, ¿Cuales son los principales obstáculos para el aprendizaje
de la lengua?
A partir de la discusi6n anterior contestar por escrito a la pregunta, Tu como darías una clase de
inglés?
6.
De manera individual, a partir de la lectura de los textos "Spelling and pronunciation" de Avery
e "Introduction" de Laroy, redactar en fichas de trabajo la interpretación personal de las ideas
que los autores expresan sobre:
ƒ
¿Que dificultades representa para el hispano-hablante el alfabeto en inglés en cuanto a la
fonética y fonología?
ƒ
¿A que obstáculos se enfrenta una persona que desea aprender el idioma inglés?
En equipo, presentar el contenido de las fichas elaboradas y comentar en que actitudes de los
estudiantes de secundaria se pueden reflejar las dificultades que les representa el aprendizaje de
la lengua extranjera. Con esta información redactar algunas actividades para interesar a los
alumnos de secundaria en el aprendizaje del idioma inglés.
7. En equipo volver a analizar la entrevista 2, revisada en la actividad 5 de este bloque y centrar
la atenci6n en las causas que le dificultan a la alumna hablar en inglés, comentar:
ƒ
El papel del maestro.
ƒ
Los efectos de esta situaci6n en la práctica de la lengua.
ƒ
La tolerancia a los errores al hablar inglés.
ƒ
¿Por que consideran que no se habla el inglés en la clase?
ƒ
Las causas por las que se prefiera resolver crucigramas.
8. Con esta informaci6n y los resultados de la discusión anterior y la experiencia personal en las
jornadas de observación y practica realizadas hasta el momento (en este y otros semestres),
diseñar una secuencia de actividades en la que, de manera intencionada, se favorezca en la
escuela secundaria:
ƒ
La expresión oral en inglés, en un ambiente de respeto.
ƒ
La atención a las dificultades que representa para los hablantes de español el sistema
ortográfico del idioma inglés.
ƒ
El fortalecimiento de las habilidades comunicativas.
Presentar al grupo algunas de las secuencias, para comentarlas y valorar la posibilidad de
aplicarlas en las jornadas de observaci6n y práctica en la escuela secundaria.
9. En grupo y después de la lectura de "Theoretical approaches to explaining second language
21
learning" de Lightbown y Spada, revisar las secuencias elaboradas en el punto anterior y en
grupo, analizarlas a partir de los siguientes puntos que señalan los autores:
ƒ
Elementos esenciales para el aprendizaje de inglés.
ƒ
Similitudes y diferencias entre las teorías que explican el aprendizaje de una lengua.
Con estos referentes y como producto de la discusi6n en grupo, modificar si es necesario, las
secuencias de actividades que se consideren para su aplicación en la secundaria.
Para realizar las siguientes actividades es necesario que los estudiantes normalistas hayan
sistematizado la información recabada en la escuela secundaria sobre las habilidades para
comunicarse en lengua extranjera y haber leído el apartado "Aspectos metodológicos" en Libro
para el maestro. Inglés.
10. En equipo organizar los materiales obtenidos en la secundaria tomando como referente las
evidencias que se identifiquen en relaci6n con las habilidades de lengua extranjera.
Presentar al grupo el resultado del análisis y argumentar los criterios para la ubicación de los
materiales señalando:
ƒ
Los aspectos en los que se relacionan los textos leídos
ƒ
Las situaciones particulares en las que se obtuvieron las evidencias.
Registrar de manera individual los puntos más importantes.
11. De manera individual leer "Styles and language anxiety: an overview" de Rebecca L. Oxford y
registrar por escrito las ideas que señala la autora sobre:
ƒ
¿Como influye el estilo de aprendizaje en la adquisición de las habilidades de la lengua
extranjera?
ƒ
Las características de los estilos de aprendizaje.
En grupo comentar:
ƒ
La relación entre las ideas señalas por la autora y las situaciones que se han observado en
la escuela secundaria.
ƒ
La importancia que tiene para el maestro conocer los estilos de aprendizaje de sus
alumnos.
ƒ
La influencia del profesor en la consolidación de los estilos de aprendizaje.
Presentar y argumentar ante el grupo el resultado de la discusión de los equipos.
22
12.
Revisar la secuencia de actividades iniciada en la actividad 8 de este bloque e incorporar
aquellos aspectos analizados posteriormente.
23
BLOQUE III. LOS RETOS DEL MAESTRO DE LENGUA EXTRANJERA EN LA ESCUELA
SECUNDARIA Y LA ATENCIÓN A LOS PROPÓSITOS EDUCATIVOS FUNDAMENTALES
1. El conocimiento del grupo y las formas de enseñanza.
a) Las características, intereses y necesidades de aprendizaje de los alumnos, base para propiciar
el aprendizaje del inglés
b) Actividades que permiten familiarizar a los alumnos con el use del inglés
-
La lectura en voz alta para propiciar la atención y la comprensión auditiva en los alumnos
-
La música y las canciones en inglés
-
El use de la información disponible en el medio inmediato
2. La organización y el desarrollo del trabajo en grupo.
a) Diseño y aplicación de secuencias de actividades que contribuyan al desarrollo de la
comprensión auditiva y de la lectura b) Dificultades enfrentadas y posibles soluciones
c) Las actividades realizadas y su contribución al logro de los propósitos de la educación
secundaria
3. La atención a las dificultades que manifiestan los alumnos frente a la enseñanza o en el
aprendizaje del idioma.
BIBLIOGRAFIA BASICA
Mager, Robert F. (1984), "Why it's all about", en Developing. Attitude. Toward. l Learning, 2nd.
ed., California, Lake Publishing Company, pp. 7-12.
Brown, H. Douglas (2000), "Language, learning and teaching", en Principies of language learning
and teaching, 4th. ed., New York, Longman, pp. 1-4.
Mata Barreiro, C. (1990), "Las canciones como refuerzo de las cuatro destrezas", „en P. Bello et
al., Didáctica de las segundas lenguas. Estrategias y recursos básicos, Madrid, Aula XXI/Santillana,
pp. 158-171.
Holden, Susan y Mickey Rogers (1998), "Listening" y "Using sounds and rhymes", en English.
Language. Teaching, México, DELTI, pp. 35-42 y 66-72.
24
BIBLIOGRAFÍA COMPLEMENTARIA
Pla, Laura e Ignasi Vila [coord.] (1997), Vidal, Enseñar y aprender inglés en la educación
secundaria, Barcelona, Horsori (Cuadernos de formación del
profesorado, 13).
ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS
1. Leer las situaciones hipotéticas siguientes:
Teacher A is a female teacher with eight years' teaching experience. She is a quiet, soft-spoken
teacher who is always polite and pleasant to her students. Her students do well academically and
are always quiet and attentive in class. The students sit in single rows. When the teacher enters
the room, students stand up and greet her. They raise their hands when they want to speak, and
they stand when they answer the teachers' questions. Teacher A follows the textbook closely in
her teaching. She tends to be teacher-centered in her teaching, because she believes her
classroom is a place where students come to learn.
Teacher B has three years' teaching experience. His class does not do as well academically as the
students in Teacher A's class, although they work hard and are enthusiastic. The teacher has an
excellent relationship with his students, but his classroom is much less traditional in its
organization. Students do not have to stand up when the teacher enters, or raise their hands to
answer a question, or stand up when they answer a question. The classroom atmosphere is very
relaxed. Students can volunteer answer when they wish to, so the class is often quite noisy. The
teacher often makes use of his own teaching materials, and is often critical of the assigned text.
(Richards, 1997:36)
Organizarse en equipos para comparar las situaciones presentadas con las que se han observado
en la escuela secundaria y contestar las siguientes preguntas:
ƒ
¿Qué coincidencias se logran identificar entre las situaciones presentadas y las que se han
observado en la escuela secundaria?
ƒ
¿Un grupo callado y en orden aprende mejor que otro en el que los alumnos comentan
entre si y se levantan de su asientos sin permiso expreso del maestro?
ƒ
¿Como influye la practica del maestro en la actitud que los alumnos manifiestan hacia el
aprendizaje de inglés? Argumentar las respuestas.
ƒ
En cada situación, ¿qué mantendrían y que cambiarían? Fundamentar las respuestas.
2. Tomando en cuenta las respuestas a las cuestiones anteriores y la lectura del texto "Why it's all
25
about" de Mager, en equipos reflexionar sobre las siguientes ideas planteadas por el autor:
ƒ
¿Por qué enseñar a aprender?
ƒ
Los elementos que influyen en las actitudes hacia la enseñanza.
Considerando la experiencia personal y las los textos revisados, ¿qué aspectos incorporarías a to
practica en la escuela secundaria? Registrarlas por escrito y al presentarlas al grupo argumentar
los criterios que se consideraron para esta selección.
3. De manera individual, sistematizar la información que contienen los materiales recopilados en
las escuelas secundarias sobre las características generales del o de los grupos observados;
considerar en la sistematización las evidencias que se identifiquen sobre:
ƒ
El tamaño del grupo, edades, número de varones y de mujeres.
ƒ
El interés que muestran los alumnos hacia el aprendizaje de inglés. Posibles causas.
ƒ
Las actividades que les gusta hacer y las que no.
ƒ
Dificultades que identifican en los alumnos con respecto al inglés (en sus escritos, en
conversaciones, en la dicción, etcétera).
Comentar esta información en el grupo y de manera individual responder a las preguntas:
ƒ
¿Cómo es el grupo de secundaria que observe?
ƒ
¿Qué criterios tomaría en cuenta en el diseño de secuencias de actividades para la
enseñanza de inglés con ese grupo?
Es conveniente recordar que en este tipo de actividades se trata de analizar los factores que
influyen en el aprendizaje de inglés y no de descalificar el trabajo que realiza el maestro o las
actividades en las que participan los alumnos.
4. Tomando en cuenta el análisis de los materiales realizado en la actividad anterior, la
experiencia personal como estudiante de secundaria y los productos obtenidos de las discusiones,
en equipos comentar las cuestiones siguientes:
ƒ
¿Qué se lee en la clase?
ƒ
¿Quién lee?
ƒ
¿En qué momento y para qué se lee en inglés?
ƒ
¿Estas actividades favorecen la atención del grupo?
ƒ
¿Se utiliza la música y canciones en la clase de inglés? ¿Qué tipo de música?
ƒ
¿Qué actitudes manifiestan los adolescentes cuando se utiliza música o canciones en la
26
clase?
ƒ
¿Es atractiva para los alumnos? Argumentar los puntos de vista personales a favor o en
contra.
ƒ
¿Qué efecto tienen estas actividades en el aprendizaje?
ƒ
¿Los alumnos buscan información en inglés? ¿Cómo le hacen y para que?
Registrar por escrito las conclusiones que resulten de la discusión y presentarlas al grupo.
5. De manera individual leer "Language, learning and teaching" de Brown y en grupo reflexionar
sobre los cuestionamientos que hace el autor con respecto al aprendizaje de una segunda lengua.
Después de leer "Las canciones como refuerzo de las cuatro destrezas" de C. Mata Barreiro,
"Listening" y "Using songs and rhymes" de S. Holden y M. Rogers. En equipos proponer algunas
actividades orientadas a intenciones como las siguientes:
ƒ
Propiciar la atención y comprensión auditiva en el grupo.
ƒ
Aprovechar canciones en inglés para fortalecer la comprensión auditiva y la pronunciación.
ƒ
Propiciar que los alumnos comprendan lo que leen.
6. Revisar las actividades que se han realizado en este programa (en los tres bloques)
relacionadas con:
ƒ
Las características del idioma inglés.
ƒ
Los obstáculos para el aprendizaje del idioma.
ƒ
Las habilidades para comunicarse en lengua extranjera.
ƒ
Las condiciones y características del grupo.
ƒ
El diseño de actividades o secuencias de para la enseñanza de inglés.
ƒ
Si es el caso, las dificultades enfrentadas al llevar a la práctica algunas actividades
diseñadas.
7. De manera individual, seleccionar un contenido en el programa de inglés primer curso (si es
posible en acuerdo con el maestro titular del grupo en el que se practica), con la experiencia
producto de las jornadas de observación y práctica en la escuela secundaria y del análisis de los
textos revisados en el semestre:
a)
Diseñar secuencias de actividades para tres sesiones consecutivas cuyo propósito sea
27
propiciar la comprensión auditiva y de la lectura.
b)
Aplicar las actividades en grupos de la escuela secundaria de primer grado.
Después de la jornada de observación y práctica, en grupo reflexionar sobre:
ƒ
El desempeño personal. Relación con el grupo.
ƒ
Las evidencias de los logros que pudieron identificar en los alumnos, en relación con los
propósitos de la asignatura y del nivel.
ƒ
Los aspectos en los que se considera necesario fortalecer o volver a revisar.
Propuestas para mejorar: Considerando las dificultades identificadas en los alumnos y en el
desempeño personal ante el grupo, redactar cinco recomendaciones para mejorar el aprendizaje
de la lengua extranjera en la escuela secundaria.
8. Considerando el conjunto de secuencias de actividades puestas en práctica en la secundaria por
los estudiantes normalistas, en grupo identificar en el Plan y programas de estudio del nivel:
ƒ
La relación con los propósitos formativos de la asignatura y del nivel.
ƒ
La congruencia con el enfoque para la enseñanza de la lengua extranjera.
9. Organizar una mesa redonda con el tema "Alternativas de atención a las dificultades más
frecuentes en el aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera". En la que se analicen algunos de los
siguientes temas:
ƒ
Evidencias que permiten identificar, en los alumnos de secundaria, las dificultades que
tienen para aprender el idioma inglés.
ƒ
Las principales causas de las dificultades al aprender una lengua extranjera.
ƒ
Las responsabilidades del alumno ante su aprendizaje.
ƒ
Los retos del maestro de lengua extranjera en la secundaria.
28
MATERIALES
DE
APOYO
29
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
BLOQUE I
LA FUNCIÓN SOCIAL
DE LA LENGUA
COMMUNICATION
Enciclopedia
Britannica,
"Communication",
Richards'
definition
is
both
general
and
2000 [Documento tornado de la pagina de
rough, but its application to nearly all kinds
Internet http://www.britannica.com]
of communication--including those between
T
he exchange of meanings between
individuals through a common system
of
symbols.
The
subject
of
communication has concerned scholars since
the time of ancient Greece. Until modern
times,
however,
the
topic
was
usually
subsumed under other disciplines and taken
for granted as a natural process inherent to
each. In 1928 the English literary critic and
author I.A. Richards, offered one of the first-and in some ways still the best--definitions
of communication as a discrete aspect of
human enterprise:
humans
and
animals
machines)--separated
(but
the
excluding
contents
of
messages from the processes in human
affairs
by
which
these
messages
are
transmitted. More recently, questions have
been raised concerning the adequacy of any
single definition of the term communication
as it is currently employed. The American
psychiatrist and scholar Jurgen Ruesch has
identified
40
approaches
varieties
to
the
of
disciplinary
subject,
including
architectural, anthropological, psychological,
political, and many other interpretations of
the apparently simple interaction described
Communication takes place when one mind
by
so acts upon its environment that another
communications as sexual attraction and
mind is influenced, and in that other mind an
play behaviour are included, there exist at
experience
least
occurs
which
is
like
the
Richards.
50
In
total,
modes
if
of
such
informal
interpersonal
experience in the first mind, and is caused in
communication that draw upon dozens of
part by that experience.
discrete intellectual disciplines and analytic
approaches. Communication may therefore
be analyzed in at least 50 different ways.
30
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
Interest
in
stimulated
communication
by
advances
in
has
been
science
and
components of communicated information
and
to
develop
methods
for
translating
technology, which, by their nature, have
various types of messages into quantities or
called attention to man as a communicating
amounts amenable to both their procedures
creature. Among the first and most dramatic
and instruments. Numerous and differently
examples of the inventions resulting from
phrased
questions
technological ingenuity were the telegraph
artists,
architects,
and
others concerning the overall influences of
telephone,
followed
by
others
like
posed
writers,
development of popular newspapers and
researchers,
periodicals, broadcasting, motion pictures,
concerns
and television led to institutional and cultural
sought possible theories or laws of cause and
innovations that permitted efficient and rapid
effect to explain the ways in which human
communication between a few individuals
dispositions are affected by certain kinds of
and large populations; these media have
communication under certain circumstances,
been responsible for the rise and social
and the reasons for the change.
theory;
(See
also
information
information
processing;
telecommunication system.)
communication.
by
and
various
communication.
of
been
artisans,
wireless radio and telephoto devices. The
power of the new phenomenon of mass
types
have
working
of
their
within
the
disciplines,
Many
relevant
have
also
In the 1960s a Canadian educator, Marshall
McLuhan, drew the threads of interest in the
field of communication into a view that
associated many contemporary psychological
Since about 1920 the growth and apparent
and sociological phenomena with the media
influence of communications technology have
employed
attracted the attention of many specialists
often repeated idea, "the medium is the
who
message," stimulated numerous filmmakers,
have
attempted
to
isolate
in
modern
culture.
communication as a specific facet of their
photographers,
particular interest. Psychologists, in their
adopted McLuhan's view that contemporary
studies of behaviour and mind, have evolved
society had moved (or was moving) from a
concepts of communication useful to their
"print"
investigations as well as to certain forms of
particular
therapy.
McLuhan
Social
scientists
have
identified
artists,
culture
to
forms
and
a
of
his
and
McLuhan's
"visual"
greatest
followers
one.
The
interest
were
to
those
associated
myths, styles of living, mores, and traditions
technological instruments for which young
are
people
either
from
generation
to
in
particular
generation or from one segment of society to
namely
another. Political scientists and economists
sound recordings.
have recognized that communication of many
types lies at the heart of the regularities in
the social order. Under the impetus of new
technology--particularly
high-speed
computers--mathematicians
and
engineers
have
and
measure
tried
to
quantify
motion
the
who
various forms of communication by which
passed
with
others,
sophisticated
display
pictures,
enthusiasm,
television,
and
By the late 20th century the main focus of
interest in communication seemed to be
drifting away from Mcluhanism and to be
centring upon: (1) the mass communication
industries, the people who run them, and the
31
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
effects they have upon their audiences; (2)
scholars and writers in different disciplines.
persuasive communication and the use of
technology
to
influence
dispositions;
(3)
processes of interpersonal communication as
LINEAR MODELS
mediators of information; (4) dynamics of
verbal
and
extrasensory)
nonverbal
(and
communication
perhaps
between
individuals; (5) perception of different kinds
of
communications;
(6)
uses
of
communication technology for social and
artistic purposes, including education in and
out
of school; and (7) development
relevant
criticism
employing
for
artistic
modern
of
endeavours
communications
technology.
One
of
the
most
productive
schematic
models of a communications system that has
been proposed as an answer to Lasswell's
question emerged in the late 1940s, largely
from
the
speculations
mathematicians,
Claude
Warren
The
Weaver.
of
two
U.S.
Shannon
and
simplicity
of
their
model, its clarity, and its surface generality
proved
attractive
to
many
students
of
communication in a number of disciplines;
In short, a communication expert may be
although it is neither the only model of the
oriented to any of a number of disciplines in
communication
a field of inquiry that has, as yet, neither
universally accepted. As originally conceived,
drawn for itself a conclusive roster of subject
the
matter
information source, a transmitter, a channel
nor
agreed
upon
specific
methodologies of analysis.
of
model
BRITANNICA
transmission,
COMMUNICATION
MODELS
OF
COMMUNICATION
Messages
extant
contained
destination--all
ENCYCLOPIEDIA
process
a
five
in
is
it
elements--an
receiver,
arranged
(electronic
nor
and
linear
messages,
a
order.
initially)
were supposed to travel along this path, to
be changed into electric energy by the
transmitter, and to be reconstituted into
intelligible language by the receiver. In time,
the five elements of the model were renamed
Fragmentation
and
problems
of
interdisciplinary outlook have generated a
wide range of discussion concerning the ways
in which communication occurs and the
processes it entails. Most speculation on
these matters admits, in one way or another,
that the communication theorist's task is to
answer as clearly as possible the question,
"Who says what to whom with what effect?"
(This query was originally posed by the U.S.
political
scientist
Harold
D.
Lasswell.)
Obviously, all of the critical elements in this
so as to specify components for other types
of
communication
transmitted
in
various
manners. The information source was split
into
its
message)
components
to
provide
(both
a
source
wider
range
and
of
applicability. The six constituents of the
revised model are: (1) a source, (2) an
encoder, (3) a message, (4) a channel, (5) a
decoder, and (6) a receiver. For some
communication systems, the components are
as simple to specify as, for instance, (1) a
man on the telephone, (2) the mouthpiece of
question may be interpreted differently by
32
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
the
telephone,
(3)
the
words
the
man
despite distortion or a paucity of information,
speaks, (4) the electrical wires along which
both
the words (now electrical impulses) travel,
communication.
(5) the earpiece of another telephone, and
(6)
the
mind
of the listener. In other
communication systems, the components are
more
difficult
to
isolate;
e.g.,
the
communication of the emotions of a fine
artist by means of a painting to people who
may respond to the message long after the
artist's death.
Begging
a
the
Although
intent
rarely
and
content
shown
on
of
the
diagrammatic
models of this version of the communication
process,
redundancy--the
repetition
of
elements within a message that prevents the
failure of communication of information--is
the
greatest
antidote
to
entropy.
Most
written and spoken languages, for example,
are roughly half-redundant. If 50 percent of
multitude
aesthetic,
and
concerning
the
of
psychological,
sociological
exact
nature
the words of this article were taken away at
questions
random,
of
intelligible--although
each
there
would
still
remain
somewhat
an
peculiar--
component, the linear model appeared, from
essay. Similarly, if one-half of the words of a
the commonsense perspective, at least, to
radio news commentator
explain in general terms the ways in which
certain classes of communication occurred. It
did not indicate the reason for the inability of
certain communications--obvious in daily life-to fit its neat paradigm.
are heard, the broadcast can usually be
understood.
Redundancy
is
apparently
involved in most human activities, and,
because it helps to overcome the various
forms of entropy that tend to turn intelligible
messages into unintelligible ones (including
ENTROPY,
NEGATIVE
ENTROPY,
AND
REDUNDANCY
psychological entropy on the part of the
receiver), it is an indispensable element for
effective communication.
Messages
are
therefore
susceptible
to
Another concept, first called by Shannon a
considerable
"noise source" but later associated with the
Entropy distorts, while negative entropy and
notion of entropy (a principle derived from
redundancy
physics),
the
differentially in the communication process,
communication model. Entropy is analogous
the chances of the message being received
in most communication to audio or visual
and correctly understood vary. Still, the
static--that is, to outside influences that
process
diminish the integrity of the communication
conceptually
and, possibly, distort the message for the
fundamentally concerned with
was
imposed
upon
receiver. Negative entropy may also occur in
instances in which incomplete or blurred
messages are nevertheless received intact,
either because of the ability of the receiver
(and
modification
clarify;
the
as
model
static,
and
mediation.
each
of
it)
because
occurs
remains
it
is
messages sent from point to point, and not
with their results or possible influences upon
sender and receiver.
to fill in missing details or to recognize,
33
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION NONVOCAL
may indicate the presence of an individual in
COMMUNICATION
a
room,
his
disagreement
impatience,
agreement,
with
aspect
some
of
or
his
environment or, in the case of a scream for
Signals, signs, and symbols, three related
help, a critical situation demanding attention.
components
Coded
of
communication
processes
to
refer
to
spoken
or
written
found in all known cultures, have attracted
language, their potential to communicate
considerable scholarly attention because they
language is extremely great.
do
not
relate
primarily
to
the
usual
conception of words or language. Each is
apparently an increasingly more complex
ENCYCLOPEEDIA
modification of the former, and each was
COMMUNICATION SIGNS
probably
developed
in
the
depths
BRITANNICA
of
prehistory before, or at the start of, man's
While signs are usually less germane to the
early experiments with
development of words than signals, most of
vocal language.
them contain greater amounts of meaning of
and by themselves. Ashley Montagu, an
anthropologist, has defined a sign as a
SIGNALS
"concrete denoter" possessing an inherent
specific meaning, roughly analogous to the
an
sentence "This is it; do something about it!"
interruption in a field of constant energy
The most common signs encountered in daily
transfer. An example is the dots and dashes
life are pictures or drawings, although a
that open and close the electromagnetic field
human posture like a clenched fist, an
of a telegraph circuit. Such interruptions do
outstretched arm, or a hand posed in a
not require the construction of a man-made
"Stop" gesture may also serve as signs. The
field;
the
main difference between a sign and a signal
tapping of a pencil in a silent room, or puffs
is that a sign (like a policeman's badge)
of smoke rising from a mountain top) may
contains meanings of an intrinsic nature;-a
produce the same result. The basic function
signal (like a scream for help) is merely a
of such signals is to provide the change of a
device by which one is able to formulate
single
extrinsic
A
signal
may
be
interruptions
considered
in
environmental
nature
factor
in
as
(e.g.,
order
to
meanings.
Their
difference
is
attract attention and to transfer meaning. A
illustrated by the observation that many
code system that refers interruptions to
types of animals respond to signals, while
some form of meaningful language may
only a few intelligent and trained animals
easily be developed with a crude vocabulary
(usually dogs and apes) are competent to
of dots, dashes, or other elemental audio and
respond even to simple signs.
visual articulations. Taken by themselves,
All known cultures utilize signs to convey
the interruptions have a potential breadth of
relatively
meaning that seems extremely small; they
conveniently. Signs may depend for their
simple
messages
swiftly
and
34
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
meaning upon their form, setting, colour, or
meanings
location. In the United States, traffic signs,
unwarranted cognitions and emotions. Upon
uniforms, badges, and barber poles are
examination each symbol system reflects a
frequently
specific cultural logic, and every symbol
encountered
signs.
Taken
en
and
to
evoke
functions
up
between members of the culture in much the
rich
vocabulary
of
colourful
communicate
odd,
masse, any society's lexicon of signs makes
a
to
seem
information
same way as, but in a more subtle manner
communications.
than, conventional
SYMBOLS
language.
Although
a
symbol may take the form of as discrete an
object as a wedding ring or a totem pole,
Symbols are more difficult than signs to
symbols tend to appear in clusters and
understand and to define because, unlike
depend upon one another for their accretion
signs and signals, they are intricately woven
of meaning and value. They are not a
into an individual's ongoing perceptions of
language of and by themselves; rather they
the world. They appear to contain a dimly
are devices by which ideas too difficult,
understood capacity that (as one of their
dangerous, or inconvenient to articulate in
functions), in fact, defines the very reality of
common language are transmitted between
that world. The symbol has been defined as
people who have acculturated in common
any device with which an abstraction can be
ways. It does not appear possible to compile
made. Although far from being a precise
discrete vocabularies of symbols, because
construction, it leads in a profitable direction.
they
The abstractions of the values that people
present
imbue in other people and in things they own
necessary for explicit definitions.
lack
the
in
precision
natural
and
regularities
language
that
are
and use lie at the heart of symbolism. Here is
a
process,
according
to
the
British
philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, whereby
some components of [the mind's] experience
elicit consciousness, beliefs, emotions, and
usages
respecting
other
components
opinion,
symbols
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
COMMUNICATION
ICONS
of
experience.
In
Whitehead's
are
analogues or metaphors (that may include.
written and spoken language as well as
visual objects) standing for some quality of
reality that is enhanced in importance or
value by the process of symbolization itself.
Rich
clusters
of
related
and
unrelated
symbols are usually regarded as icons. They
are actually groups of interactive symbols,
like the White House in Washington, D.C., a
funeral
painting.
ceremony,
Although
or
in
an
Impressionist
examples
such
as
these, there is a tendency to isolate icons
Almost every society has evolved a symbol
and
system whereby, at first glance, strange
symbolic communication is so closely allied
objects and odd types of behaviour appear to
to all forms of human activity that it is
the
generally
outside
observer
to
have
irrational
individual
and
symbols
for
nonconsciously
examination,
used
and
35
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
treated
by
important
most
people
aspect
of
as
the
most
communication
in
language"
consists
of
of
nonverbal
such
culturally
interactions
written
themselves
closeness maintained between individuals,
constitute symbolic metaphors, their critical
the body heat they give off, odours they
roles in the worlds of science, mathematics,
perceive in social situations, angles of vision
literature, and art can be understood. In
they maintain while talking, the pace of their
addition, with these symbols, an individual is
behaviour, and the sense of time appropriate
able to define his own identity.
for communicating under differing conditions.
and
numbers
the
physical
determined
society. With the recognition that spoken and
words
as
communications
distance
or
By comparing matters like these in the
behaviour of different social classes (and in
GESTURES
varying relationships), Hall elaborated and
codified a number of sophisticated general
Professional actors and dancers have known
since antiquity that body gestures may also
generate a vocabulary of communication
more or less unique to each culture. Some
U.S.
scholars
have
tried
to
develop
a
vocabulary of body language, called kinesics.
The results of their investigations, both
amusing
and
potentially
practical,
may
eventually produce a genuine lexicon of
American gestures similar to one prepared in
detail by Frangois Delsarte, a 19th-century
French
teacher
of
pantomime
and
gymnastics who described the ingenious and
principles
that
demonstrate
how
certain
kinds of nonverbal communication occur.
Although Hall's most impressive arguments
are almost entirely empirical, and many of
them are open to question, the study of
proxemics does succeed in calling attention
to
major
features
of
communication
dynamics rarely considered by linguists and
symbologists. Students of words have been
more
interested
in
objective
formal
vocabularies than in the more subtle means
of discourse unknowingly acquired by the
members of a culture.
complex language of contemporary face and
body positions for theatrical purposes.
PROXEMICS
Of more general, cross-cultural significance
are the theories involved in the study of
"proxemics"
anthropologist,
developed
Edward
by
Hall.
a
U.S.
Proxemics
involves the ways in which people in various
cultures utilize both time and space as well
as 3ody positions and other factors for
purposes of communication. Hall's "silent
36
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
Not only is the origin of speech disputed
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA
among experts but the precise reasons for
COMMUNICATION
the existence of the numerous languages of
VOCAL COMMUNICATION
the world are also far from clear. In the
1920s, an American linguistic anthropologist,
Edward
Sapir,
and,
later
Benjamin
Lee
Significant differences between nonvocal and
Whorf, centred attention upon the various
vocal communication are matters more of
methods of expression found in different
degree than of kind. Signs, signals, symbols,
cultures. Drawing their evidence primarily
and possibly icons may, at times, be easily
from the languages of primitive societies,
verbalized, although most people tend to
they
think of them as visual means of expression.
observations
Kinesics and proxemics may also, in certain
probably
written)
language.
First,
man's
instances,
language
reflects
in
ways
those
accompaniments to nonverbal phenomena or
matters
of
relevance
and
as somehow integral to them. Be they
importance to the value system of each
grunts, words, or sentences, their function is
particular culture. Thus, language may be
to help in forwarding a communication that is
said to reflect culture, or, in other words,
fundamentally nonverbal.
people seem to find ways of saying what
Although there is no shortage of speculation
they need to say. A familiar illustration is the
on the issue, -the origins of human speech
many words (or variations of words) that
remain obscure at present. It is plausible
Eskimos use to describe whale blubber in its
that man is born with an instinct for speech.
various states; e.g., on the whale, ready to
A phenomenon supporting this belief is the
eat, raw, cooked, rancid. Another example is
presence of unlearned cries and gurgles of
the observation that "drunk" possesses more
infants
signs
synonyms than any other term in the English
directed to others the baby cannot possibly
language. Apparently, this is the result of a
be aware of. Some anthropologists claim that
psychological
within
and
somewhat nasty, uncomfortable, or taboo
proxemics are the virtual building blocks of
matter, a device also employed for other
spoken
words that describe seemingly important, but
involve
operating
the
vocalizations
as
crude,
vocabularies
language;
they
of
vocal
kinesics
postulate
as
that
primitive men made various and ingenious
made
some
very
concerning
necessity
spoken
subtle
greatest
significant
to
(and
euphemize
a
improper, behaviour or facets of culture.
inventions (including speech) as a result of
their need to communicate with others in
order to pool their intellectual and physical
ADAPTABILITY OF LANGUAGE
resources. Other observers suggest similar
origins of speech, including the vocalization
Other observations involve the discovery that
of physical activity, imitation of the sounds of
any known language may be employed,
nature,
Scientific
without major modification, to say almost
proof of any of these speculations is at
anything that may be said in any other
and
sheer
serendipity.
present impossible.
37
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
language. A high degree of circumlocution
and some nonverbal vocalization may be
required to accomplish this end, but, no
matter how alien the concept to the original
ENCYCLOPIEDIA BRITANNICA
COMMUNICATION
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COMMUNICATION
language, it may be expressed clearly in the
language of another culture. Students of
linguistic anthropology have been able to
describe
adequately
in
English
esoteric
linguistic propositions of primitive societies,
just
as
it
has
anthropologists
been
to
possible
describe
details
for
of
Western technology to natives in remote
cultures. Understood as an artifact of culture,
spoken
language
considered
as
a
may
therefore
universal
channel
be
of
communication into which various societies
dip differentially in order to expedite and
specify
the
numerous
points
of
contact
Language remains, however, a still partially
understood phenomenon used to transact
several types of discourse. Language has
classified
criteria.
One
categories
on
on
the
scheme
the
basis
of
several
established
basis
of
four
informative,
dynamic, emotive, and aesthetic functions.
Informative
communication
deals
largely
with narrative aspects of meaning; dynamic
discourse
concerns
have,
since
World War II, shown considerable interest in
the ways in which communications occur.
Behaviourists
have
been
prone
to
view
communication in terms of stimulus-response
relationships
between
sources
of
communications and individuals or groups
that receive them. Those who subscribe to
Freud's analysis of group psychology and ego
theory
tend
to
regard
interactions
in
communication as reverberations of family
group dynamics experienced early in life.
the
transaction
of
settled largely on the persuasive aspects of
various types of messages. Psychologists
have
attempted
general
factor
variably
personality
persuasible and
a
called
that, at times,
factors of personality are related to this
quality.
recipients
language
whether
qualifications, that individuals are indeed
the
of
of
discover
at large. It would appear, though with
Other
employment
to
"persuasibility" might be identified in people
dispositions such as opinions and attitudes;
emotive
psychologists
By the middle 1950s, psychological interest
between individuals.
been
Contemporary
psychologists
of
have
studied
communication,
the
evolving
involves the evocation of feeling states in
concepts of "selective perception," "selective
others in order to impel them to action; and
attention," and "selective retention" in order
aesthetic discourse, usually regarded as a
to explain not only the ways in which
poetic quality in speech, conveys stylistic
communication changed attitudes but also
aspects of expression.
the reasons for resistance to change. Among
their interests were the dynamics of the
communication of rumours, the effects of
"scare messages," the degree of credulity
that sources of prestige value provide, and
the
pressure
of
group
consensus
upon
38
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
seems to account fully for all of the effects of
individual perceptions of communications.
Some of the suggestions that emerged from
the work of certain modern psychologists
may be subsumed under a theory of what is
called "cognitive dissonance," which is based
upon
the
observation
that
most
communications
upon
people.
The
many
facets of communication offer substantial
problems
for
future
psychological
experimentation and theorizing.
people
cannot tolerate more than a specific degree
of inconsistency in the environments they
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
perceive. An example of cognitive dissonance
COMMUNICATION
may involve a person who considers himself
BIBLIOGRAPHY
a superb bowler but who on one occasion
earns an extremely low score. The dissonant
or inconsistent elements include the bowler's
Colin Cherry, On Human Communication,
knowledge of his skill and the fact of his poor
2nd
score. This produces tension. To reduce this
mathematically
tension--dissonance--the bowler may change
information theory and cybernetics as they
his behaviour or misinterpret or reinterpret
relate to meaning, including a treatment of
the dissonant elements in order to lessen the
the philosophical and practical implications of
difference between the facts. For example,
the logical analysis of communication; Edwin
he may blame his performance on the
Emery, P.H. Ault, and
bowling ball, the alley, or the temperature of
W.K.
the room. Thus he seeks a psychological
Communications,
equilibrium.
comprehensive history and survey of the
This modification of an individual's perception
press, radio, television, and films in modern
of reality is of fundamental interest to the
society, especially in the United States; G.N.
psychologist of communications. Because the
Gordon, The Languages of Communication
agreement
(1969), a detailed examination of the major
or
disagreement
of
a
ed.
(1966),
Agee,
scientifically
oriented
analysis
Introduction
3rd
ed.
Mass
(1970),
a
structure not only affects his behaviour but
communication, including consideration of
his perception as well, the major criterion for
their current cultural roles; G. N. Gordon,
the psychological analysis of communication
Persuasion: The Theory and Practice of -
is neither the message nor the medium but
Manipulative Communication (1971), a study
the expectation of the person receiving the
of
message.
beliefs,
theories of audience psychology offered to
date
(including
those
of
Gestaltists,
Freudians, Behaviourists, and others) lack
relevance
to
an
understanding
of
communication processes. None, however,
and
to
of
elements
It must not be assumed that any of the
mass
and
communication with an individual's cognitive
the
in
a
interpersonal
development
and
modification
of
attitudes,
and
opinions
by
propaganda, education, and instruments of
mass communication; E.T. Hall, The Hidden
Dimension
(1966),
an
unconventional
anthropological study of "proxemics" and
allied
concerns,
evidence,
illustrated
drawings,
and
by
empirical
photographs
39
COMMUNICATION_______________________________________________________
(written with style and humour for the
general reader); F.W. Matson and Ashley
Montagu
(eds.),
The
Human
Dialogue
(1967), a broad collection of articles that
touch almost every phase of communication
in contemporary society, including education,
religion,
and
contributors
social
ranging
problems,
from
popes
with
to
professors; J.R. Pierce, Symbols, Signals and
Noise
(1961),
a
lucid
guide
for
the
nonspecialist in the study of communication
processes, information theory, cybernetics,
mathematical
models
of
communications,
entropy, coding methods, and allied matters;
A.G.
Smith
(ed.),
Communication
and
Culture (1966), a comprehensive anthology
of specialized approaches to communication
theory
articles
and
practice,
on
including
language,
numerous
nonverbal
communication, mass communication, and
other aspects of the subject, written by
authorities in various fields; A.N. Whitehead,
Symbolism (1927, reissued 1958), a short,
definitive study of the origins, uses, and
ramifications of symbolism, both from the
perspective of the individual and from the
historical-social viewpoint.
40
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA
DANIEL CASSANY, MARTA LUNA, GLORIA SANZ
Cassany, Daniel, Marta Luna y Gloria Sanz,
"Las habilidades lingüísticas. Introducción, en
Enseñar
lengua,
Barcelona,
Grao
(117),
1998, pp.
ortografía, la morfosintaxis y el léxico de la
lengua. La palabra clave que aglutinaba
todos esos conocimientos era gramática. La
finalidad de la clase de lengua era aprender
83-99.
la estructura de la lengua: la gramática.
Saber lengua quería decir tener muchos
conocimientos cognitivos de este tipo y se
CONOCIMIENTO Y USE DE LA LENGUA
L
demostraba
realizando
determinadas
actividades gramaticales, como el análisis
a
concepci6n
de
la
lengua
que
tenemos a finales del siglo XX difiere
mucho
de
la
que
hemos
sintáctico,
la
trascripción
fonética,
los
dictados, las conjugaciones verbales, etc.
tenido
durante el resto de este siglo y parte del
anterior. A partir de los años 60 y gracias a
las aportaciones de varias disciplinas, como
la filosofía del lenguaje, la sociolingüística, la
didáctica de las segundas lenguas y, mis
modernamente, la lingüístico del texto, se ha
A partir de los años 60, varios filósofos
(Austín, Scarle; pero también Wittgenstein
bastante antes) empiezan a poner énfasis en
el uso de la lengua, en su funcionalidad y en
lo que se consigue utilizándola.
y
En definitiva, entienden la lengua como una
ha
forma de acción o de actividad que se realiza
revolucionado tanto la investigación como la
con alguna finalidad concreta. La lengua es
enseñanza y aprendizaje de idiomas. De
un instrumento múltiple, un instrumento que
hecho, no se concibe un método didáctico
sirve
moderno o un nuevo proyecto educativo sin
encargar
este marco de referencia. Asimismo, los
manifestar
programas de la reforma educativa adoptan
protestar, saludar, pedir información y darla,
decididamente
etc. Por ejemplo, basta con pronunciar las
desarrollado
una
comunicativa
de
este
visión
la
funcionalista
lengua,
nuevo
que
planteamiento
conseguir
una
mil
comida,
y
una
poner
agradecimiento,
cosas:
gasolina,
quejarse,
palabras un cortado, por favor en el contexto
comunicativo.
Hasta los años 60, la lengua se había
consideración básicamente como materia de
conocimiento, como un conjunto cerrado de
contenidos
para
que
había
que
analizar,
memorizar y aprender: la fonética y la
adecuado, en un bar, ante un camarero, para
conseguir que alguien prepare un café con un
poco de leche y nos lo sirva.
Cada acción lingüística mediante la cual
conseguimos algunos de estos objetivos es
41
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
un acto de habla y consiste en la codificación
Competencia
o descodificación de un mensaje oral o
pragmática
escrito. El conjunto de los actos de habla es
Otros
el conjunto de acciones verbales que se
enseñanza/aprendizaje de lenguas son los de
pueden realizar con una lengua, y también
competencia
constituye
comunicativa y competencia pragmática
el
aprendizaje.
corpus
Se
de
han
objetivos
realizado
de
varias
clasificaciones de actos de habla, que los
agrupan en grandes grupos genéricos de
funciones u objetivos a conseguir: pedir
información,
disculparse,
saludar,
despedirse, etc.
El
lingüística,
conceptos
primer
contexto
comunicativa
importantes
lingüística,
concepto
de
la
se
y
en
competencia
enmarca
lingüística
en
el
generativo-
transformacional de Noam Chomsky (1957).
Según esta teoría, la competencia es el
sistema de reglas lingüísticas, interiorizadas
por
los
hablantes,
que
conforman
sus
La palabra clave que define esta nueva visión
conocimientos verbales y que les permiten
de la lengua y que se opone a la anterior es
entender un número infinito de enunciados
use (o también comunicación). El uso y la
lingüísticos. La competencia engloba, pues,
comunicación son el auténtico sentido último
la fonología, la morfología, la sintaxis y el
de
de
léxico, o sea, el conjunto de la gramática.
planteamiento,
Además, competencia se opone a actuación
aprender lengua significa aprender a usarla,
lingüística, que es la ejecución efectiva de la
a comunicarse, o, si ya se domina algo,
competencia en una situación concreta, es
aprender
en
decir: la utilización que cada hablante hace
situaciones más complejas o comprometidas
de la lengua en todos sus usos. Competencia
que las que ya se dominaban. La gramática y
y actuación forman una pareja de conceptos
el
instrumentos
paralelos
este
estructuralista F. Saussure.
la
lengua
aprendizaje.
léxico
técnicos
a
y
Según
el
objetivo
este
comunicarse
pasan
a
ser
los
para
conseguir
mejor
real
y
último
propósito.
a
los
de
lengua
y
habla
del
El concepto de competencia comunicativa fue
Así pues, es importante distinguir entre
propuesto por el etnógrafo Hymes (1967),
conocimiento y use de la lengua, y también
para explicar que se necesita otro tipo de
entre aprendizaje de uno y del otro. Esta
conocimientos, aparte de la gramática, para
distinción tiene implicaciones trascendentales
poder usar el lenguaje con propiedad. Hay
en la escuela. Hace ya algunos años se podía
que saber que registro conviene utilizar en
leer en el metro de Barcelona un anuncio de
cada situación, que hay que decir, qué temas
inglés muy sintomático sobre este aspecto.
son apropiados, cuales son el momento, el
Un chico escriba algo así: "he estudiado
lugar y los interlocutores adecuados, las
inglés durante muchos años, pero no se
rutinas
hablarlo. Apúntate a la academia X para
competencia comunicativa es la capacidad de
poder aprenderlo realmente." Al igual que
usar el lenguaje apropiadamente en las
este chico, podemos aprender muchas cosas
diversas situaciones sociales que se nos
sobre una lengua, sin llegar a ser capaces de
presentan cada día.
usarla nunca.
comunicativas,
etc.
Así,
la
Finalmente, la pragmática es la rama de la
42
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
semiótica y de la lingüística que se encarga
ejercicios
de estudiar todos aquellos conocimientos y
comunicación;
habilidades
necesidades lingüísticas y los intereses o
que
hacen
posible
el
uso
reales
o
se
tienen
adecuado de la lengua. Analiza los signos
motivaciones
verbales en relación al uso social que los
diferentes y personales; etc.
hablantes hacen de ellos: las situaciones, los
propósitos, las necesidades, los roles de los
interlocutores, las presuposiciones, etc. La
competencia gramática es el conjunto de
estos conocimientos no lingüísticos que tiene
interiorizados un usuario ideal. El siguiente
esquema relaciona los tres conceptos:
Los
de
verosímiles
diversos
los
en
cuenta
alumnos,
métodos
o
de
que
las
son
planteamientos
didácticos que siguen esta nueva visión de la
lengua, centrados en la comunicación, se
denominan
genéricamente
enfoques
comunicativos. Los primeros métodos de
estas características se desarrollaron durante
la década de los setenta con la finalidad de
facilitar el aprendizaje de segundas lenguas a
adultos. Seguramente el mis conocido es el
sistema nocional-funcional, promovido por el
Consejo de Europa, que ha generado cursos
multimedia bastante
conocidos en nuestro
país, como el inglés Follow me o el catalán
Digui, digui (1984), ambos emitidos por
Ahora
bien,
que
relación
guardan estos
televisión en mas de una ocasión.
conceptos con la didáctica de la lengua? A
A
grandes rasgos, la competencia lingüística se
planteamientos comunicativos han llegado
asocia con el conocimiento de la lengua, y la
ya, de una u otra forma, a todos los niveles
comunicativa con el uso. La enseñanza de la
educativos,
gramática se había planteado como objetivo,
propuestas didácticas de lengua incorporan
quizá con otras palabras, la adquisición de
esta
una
inmersión
buena
competencia
lingüística.
En
principios
de
y
visión.
los
años
noventa,
prácticamente
Tanto
los
lingüística
para
todas
programas
niños,
o
los
las
de
las
cambio, los planteamientos didácticos más
propuestas de trabajo de texto a partir de la
modernos
lingüística
se
basan
en
el
concepto
de
competencia comunicativa.
textual,
como
los
llamados
enfoques humanistas (ver apartado 7.1. "
Introducción al sistema de la lengua") tienen
un fondo comunicativo importante.
LOS ENFOQUES COMUNICATIVOS
Ahora
bien,
podemos
preguntarnos
que
puntos tienen en común estos métodos, tan
El objetivo fundamental de estos enfoques no
es ya aprender gramática, sino conseguir
que el alumno pueda comunicarse mejor con
la lengua. De este modo, las clases pasan a
ser mas activas y participativas; los alumnos
practican los códigos oral y escrito mediante
diferentes
entre
sí,
más
allí
de
dar
importancia a la comunicación y de fomentar
el uso de la lengua. ¿Que hace que un
método, un curso o un libro de texto sea
comunicativo
o
no?
¿Cuales
son
las
características básicas que debe presentar?
43
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
Resulta difícil plasmarlas en una lista, porque
organizar situaciones de comunicación en el
pueden existir variaciones importantes de
aula, además de ser uno de los puntos
planteamiento curricular, de programación
importantes de la renovación pedagógica en
de curso o de tipo de textos entre muchas
general.
más. A continuación se exponen algunos
rasgos generales a tomar en cuenta, que se
refieren
principalmente
a
la
forma
de
trabajar del alumno en clase:
- Los ejercicios de clase permiten que los
alumnos desarrollen las cuatro habilidades
lingüísticas de la comunicación.
- Los ejercicios de clase recrean situaciones
reales o verosímiles de comunicación, de
manera que las diversas etapas del proceso
CUATRO
GRANDES
HABILIDADES
LINGÜÍSTICAS
comunicativo se practican en clase durante la
realización de la actividad. Así, los alumnos
se implican totalmente en el trabajo, porque
tienen
alguna
información,
participan
motivación
interés
por
libremente
y
(vació
el
tema,
con
de
etc.),
creatividad
(pueden elegir que lenguaje utilizan, como se
comunican, etc.), intercambian entre ellos
algún tipo de información y reciben una
El
use
de
la
lengua
solamente
puede
realizarse de cuatro formas distintas, según
el papel que tiene el individuo en el proceso
de comunicación; o sea, según actué como
emisor o como receptor, y según si el
mensaje sea oral o escrito. Veámoslo en el
siguiente esquema de la comunicación:
evaluación (feedback) de la comunicación
realizada.
-
Los
ejercicios
de
clase
trabajan
con
unidades lingüísticas de comunicación, es
decir, con textos completos, y no solamente
con
palabras,
frases
o
fragmentos
entrecortados.
- La lengua que aprenden los alumnos es una
lengua real y contextualizada. Esto significa
que
los
alumnos
trabajan
que
han
auténticos,
no
con
sido
textos
creados
especialmente para la educación y tampoco
han
sido
Además,
la
excesivamente
lengua
que
manipulados.
se
enseña
es
heterogénea, real, la que se usa en la calle,
con dialectos, registros y argots, además del
estándar pertinente.
-
Los
alumnos
trabajan
Hablar, escuchar, leer y escribir son las
cuatro habilidades que el usuario de una
lengua
debe
comunicarse
dominar
con
eficacia
para
en
poder
todas
las
situaciones posibles. No hay otra manera de
utilizar
la
lengua
con
finalidades
comunicativas. Por eso también son cuatro
las habilidades que hay que desarrollar en
una
clase
de
lengua
con
un
enfoque
comunicativo. Aquí las llamamos habilidades
a
menudo
por
parejas o en grupos. Es la mejor manera de
lingüísticas,
nombres
pero
según
también
los
reciben
autores:
otros
destrezas,
44
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
capacidades
comunicativas
o,
también,
de las habilidades receptivas, pero es incapaz
macrohabilidades.
El nombre de macrohabilidades se utiliza
especialmente
para
grandes
básicas
y
distinguir
las
cuatro
habilidades
de
comunicación de otras destrezas también
lingüísticas pero más especificas y de orden
inferior, que se denominan microhabilidades.
Por ejemplo, la lectura en voz alta combina
la comprensión lectora con la elocución oral
del texto, pero se trata, sin duda, de una
actividad
menos
frecuente
y
bastante
especial. Del mismo modo, dentro de la
habilidad
destrezas
de
tan
el individuo en cuestión tiene cierto dominio
leer
podemos
diferentes
distinguir
como
la
comprensión global del texto, la comprensión
de detalles laterales o la capacidad de inferir
el significado de una palabra desconocida;
estas tres microhabilidades forman parte de
la macrohabilidad de la comprensión lectora.
Las habilidades lingüísticas se clasifican de la
siguiente forma, según el código oral o
escrito y el papel receptivo o productivo que
tengan en la comunicación:
de decir o de escribir algo en esa lengua (o
que entiende mucho mas de lo que 89 puede
decir o escribir). Seguramente debemos esta
denominación al hecho de que hablar y
escribir
son
observables
externamente
(podemos ver que el hablante mueve los
labios o el lápiz), mientras que no ocurre lo
mismo con la comprensión oral o lectora.
Parece que cuando hablan o escriben los
usuarios de la lengua estén más activos que
cuando escuchan o leen. Es evidente que
esta concepción es totalmente falsa y que la
oposición
pasivo/activo
no
es
acertada.
Como veremos mas adelante, escuchar y leer
son habilidades activas en tanto que el
individuo
tiene
operaciones
que
que,
realizar
aunque
muchas
no
sean
observables externamente, son complejas y
laboriosas.
Desde el otro punto de vista, el del canal o
código
lingüístico
comunicación,
que
se
se
utilice
distingue
en
entre
la
las
habilidades orales, que tienen como soporte
a las ondas acústicas, y las escritas, que se
vehiculan a través de la letra impresa o
manuscrita.
Globalmente,
el
doble
aparejamiento de habilidades orales/escritas
y receptivas/productivas determina algunas
afinidades y diferencias relevantes entre las
cuatro
destrezas,
implicaciones
las
cuales
importantes
tienen
en
la
comunicación real y, por añadidura, en la
didáctica de la lengua en el aula.
Finalmente, cuando queremos referirnos al
Hasta hace muy poco tiempo, las habilidades
receptivas se hablan denominado pasivas y
las productivas, activas. La expresión este
chico tiene mucho inglés pasivo significa que
mismo
tiempo
a
la
recepción
y
a
la
producción de mensajes utilizamos el verbo
procesar. El procesamiento de textos incluye
tanto la codificación como la descodificación,
45
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
escuchar el discurso en el momento en el
o la recepción y la producción.
que
se
pronuncia,
ni
tampoco
puede
escucharlo mas deprisa o mas despacio, ni
HABILIDADES ORALES Y ESCRITAS
volver a escucharlo (a no ser que to haya
grabado), ni darle un vistazo general -o,
Las diferencias entre la lengua oral y la
lengua escrita han sido objeto de numerosos
estudios, realizados desde ópticas diversas.
Por una parte, se encuentra la cuestión de la
relación
de
ambos
códigos
lingüísticos:
determinar si el oral es antes que el escrito,
si uno depende del otro o si se trata de dos
estilos de lengua diferentes. Esta discusión
tiene implicaciones didácticas importantes,
ya
que
el
codito
que
se
considere
preeminente y básico recibirá mejor trato en
el aula. Por ejemplo, la lingüística estructural
de Saussure consideraba que la lengua oral
es primera o primordial, y que la lengua
escrita
es
aquella;
una
por
simple
eso,
transcripción
los
de
métodos
estructuroglovales de aprendizaje de una
mejor
dicho:
un
autores
conocen
ambos
canales
oidazo!-.
estas
y
Además,
los
características
de
construyen
textos
preparados para ser percibidos de una u otra
forma. Quien escribe para ser leído es
conciso y estructurado: escribe las cosas una
sola vez y en el momento oportuno, las
explica de forma minuciosa y precisa, utiliza
un lenguaje especializado, etc. Quien prepara
textos
para
ser
escuchados,
o
quien
improvisa, es redundante y repite las cosas
mas de una vez, comenta solamente los
aspectos
mas
vocabulario
generales,
mas
utiliza
básico,
un
introduce
digresiones, hace paréntesis, etc. No evita
aclaraciones ni repeticiones, porque sabe que
el receptor 8no. puede repasar el texto.
segunda lengua, basados en esta lingüística,
Pero los hablantes no siempre acertamos al
concedían total importancia a la lengua oral
escoger las estrategias mas adecuadas para
y, en clase, trabajaban solamente la lengua
hablar o escribir en cada situación. Todos
escrita como refuerzo de la oral. Por el
hemos
contrario, la opinión mas extendida en la
comunicación fallida: un congreso aburrido
actualidad
signos
en el que las comunicaciones habían sido
sido
escritas para ser leídas y no escuchadas, un
grabados en un soporte fijo. La percepción
articulo (una exposición oral posteriormente
de textos escritos es global y simultanea.
transcrita y publicada en una revista) que no
(proceso
es
la
que
holistico),
todos
porque
los
han
sufrido
algunas
situaciones
de
puede esconder su origen oral y que repite
incansablemente
las
mismas
ideas
con
Estas diferencias determinan la aplicación de
diferentes palabras, un conferenciante que se
estrategias psicolinguisticas específicas para
explica como un libro, etc. En todos estos
cada proceso de percepción. El lector puede
casos,
escoger cuando desea leer el texto y de que
características
manera (dando un vistazo general en primer
canales oral y escrito son catastróficas. Lo
lugar, leyendo un capitulo después, repa-
más probable es que el receptor o el lector
sando mas de una vez algunos fragmentos,
se cansen del texto y que acaben por
etc.); pero quien escucha esta obligado a
abandonarlo.
las
consecuencias
de
la
de
olvidar
percepción
de
las
los
46
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
HABILIDADES
RECEPTIVAS
Y
PRODUCTIVAS
La
comparación
entre
los
procesos
de
recepción y de producción de textos solo ha
merecido recientemente el interés de los
investigadores
y,
por
consiguiente,
no
disponemos aun de un extenso corpus de
estudios.
sobre
Los
todo
primeros
las
análisis
similitudes
destacan
entre
ambos
procesos, haciendo hincapié en el papel
activo de un individuo cuando lee o escucha
y en las estrategias de interpretación del
discurso
que
utiliza.
De
hecho,
cuando
comprendemos un texto no hacemos más
que reconstruirlo, mentalmente, de forma
paralela
a
cuando
lo
elaboramos
INTEGRACIÓN DE HABILIDADES
para
escribirlo o decirlo.
A pesar de todo, se pueden apuntar algunas
diferencias
básicas
entre
receptivas y las productivas:
las
habilidades
Un primer aspecto importante a tener en
cuenta es que las habilidades lingüísticas no
funcionan corrientemente aisladas o solas,
sino que suelen utilizarse integradas entre si;
es
decir,
relacionas
unas
con
otras
de
múltiples maneras. El usuario de la lengua
intercambia con frecuencia los papeles de
receptor y emisor en la comunicación; por
ejemplo, en una conversación, tan pronto
escuchamos como hablamos, como volvemos
a hablar o a cortar la intervención del otro;
cuando escribimos nos damos un hartón de
leer sobre el tema que tratamos y de
consultar otros libros o textos que traten del
mismo.
ASCII, en una misma situación, sobre un
tema y con el mismo lenguaje, podemos
desplegar todas las habilidades lingüísticas
para procesar textos diferentes. Imaginemos
la situación de ir al cine a ver una película:
escuchamos la película, leemos el programa
47
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
de mano o la critica de la prensa, charlamos
con los amigos, la recomendamos en una
carta a un compañero, etc.
La transfusión de información y de lengua del
código oral al escrito y viceversa es muy
habitual. Muy a menudo hablamos de lo que
hemos leído o nos decidimos a escribir sobre
algún tema que hemos tratado en una
conversación informal. Otro ejemplo es el
léxico: ¿cuántas palabras de las que decimos
habitualmente
no
suelen
utilizarse
por
escrito, o al rebes? En definitiva, aunque
distingamos
entre
cuatro
habilidades
lingüísticas, que son diferentes entre si y que
estudiamos por separado, en la comunicación
actúa conjuntamente como si fueran varias
herramientas que se utilizan para llevar a
cabo una misma tarea: la comunicación.
Por
otra
parte,
algunas
comunicaciones
utilizan habilidades distintas de las que les
corresponderían
aparentemente.
Por
ejemplo, el boletín de noticias de la radio es
escrito y oralizado; una obra de teatro o una
película, que habitualmente se dicen y se
escuchan, mucho antes han silo escritas por
un autor e interpretadas (leídas) por unos
actores, que incluso to hacen con la voluntad
de esconder que se trata de un texto escrito.
Así, oral y escrito se mezclan de una forma
prácticamente
inextricable.
El
siguiente
En algunos casos incluso se hace difícil macar
el limite entre un tipo de comunicación y
otro. Por ejemplo, una misma exposición oral
puede llegar a ser totalmente escrita o, al
contrario,
absolutamente
improvisada
y
espontánea, segur el conferenciante actué de
una forma o de otra:
esquema distingue entre varios tipos de
comunicación y habilidades mixtas:
48
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
adaptaciones libres del escrito, etc. La visión
de
un
video
prepararse
cultural
con
tan
ejercicios
bien
puede
específicos
de
comprensión que hagan hincapié en aspectos
concretos del discurso oral, pero también a
través del debate organizado y la exposición
formal sobre el tema.
FRECUENCIA DE USE E IMPORTANCIA
La frecuencia de use y la importancia de
cada
habilidad
lingüística
varían
notablemente según el individuo y el tipo de
vida comunicativa que lleve. Si bien a finales
del siglo XX, en Occidente, parece imposible
vivir sin tenor que leer o escribir (impresos,
La decisión de escoger uno de los seis tipos
de
exposiciones
depende
de
las
características de la situación: la audiencia,
la
especificidad
conocimiento
del
que
tema,
tenga
el
el
grado
de
orador,
su
seguridad y experiencia, etc. En cualquier
caso, el acierto en la elección es decisivo
para el éxito de la comunicación.
cartas, documentos administrativos, etc.),
todavía podríamos encontrar personas que
mantienen escasos contactos con la letra
escrita, junto a otras que, por motivos de
trabajo o por necesidad -y también por
placer- escriben o leen constantemente. Del
mismo modo, hay oficios que requieren
aplicar
principalmente
alguna
de
las
habilidades (telefonista, locutor, corrector,
Por todo esto, la didáctica de las habilidades
administrativo, etc.), y también personas a
lingüísticas en clase debe ser igualmente
las que les gusta alguna de ellas y la utilizan
integrada. El desarrollo de las capacidades
preferentemente. A pesar de todo, resulta
de comprensión y de expresión tiene que ser
ilustrativo reflexionar sobre el tiempo que
equilibrado. Seria absurdo e irreal trabajar
dedicamos a utilizar cada habilidad y sobre
cada habilidad de forma aislada, al margen
su importancia.
de
las
demás.
habilidades
La
orales
y
interrelación
escritas
entre
debe
ser
estrecha. Es lógico que un texto escrito (una
noticia, un artículo o un fragmento literario)
se trabaje desde la comprensión, mediante
ejercicios de lectura intensiva, y también
desde la expresión, mediante comentarios de
texto,
redacciones,
reconstrucciones
o
Rivers y Temperley (1978) y Gauquelin
(1982)
citan
algunos
datos
bastante
interesantes al respecto. En primer lugar,
recordemos
que
la
comunicación
ocupa
alrededor de un 80% del tiempo total de los
seres humanos, ya sea en periodo de trabajo
o de ocio. Hay que destacar o especialmente
este punto: no se trata solamente de que la
49
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
comunicación verbal sea un proceso básico
merecen las habilidades orales y su estudio.
para el desarrollo de la persona, que sea la
Es
fuente de la socialización y el aprendizaje,
prestigio social ni del mismo trato mimado
etc.
que
es,
además,
lo
que
hacemos
cierto
que
las
no
disfrutan
escritas.
del
mismo
Tradicionalmente,
se
continuamente mientras vivimos. En segundo
entende que el objetivo fundamental de la
lugar, este tiempo global se reparte de la
escuela era enseñar a leer y escribir; y se
siguiente
daba a entender que el niño y la niña ya
forma
entre
las
habilidades
lingüísticas (el cálculo se ha hecho sobre la
sabían
jornada
concepción
laboral
norteamericano;
de
no
un
se
profesional
especifica
su
hablar.
Es
evidente
ancestral
no
que
resiste
esta
ninguna
critica seria: todos sabemos que los alumnos
tienen importantes problemas de expresión
profesión ni su tipo de actividad):
(falta de fluidez y corrección, pobreza léxica
e inmadurez sintáctica) y que son incapaces
de llevar a cabo determinadas intervenciones
orales más complicadas, como realizar una
exposición monologada, hablar en publico o
leer en voz alta. Pero, además, resulta que
Los porcentajes confirman claramente que
este
las
también los diálogos, las entrevistas y los
habilidades
practicadas,
orales
con
una
son
las
notable
más
diferencia
tipo
de
debates
comunicaciones
organizados)
(as
son
como
las
más
respecto a las escritas. Es consecuencia
importantes en frecuencia y, por to tanto, las
lógica
que
del
carácter
más
espontáneo,
requerimos
más
a
menudo
la
escritas,
los
improvisado, interactivo y ágil del código
participación del alumno.
oral, en contraposición a la elaboración la
Respecto
preparación
el
bajísimos porcentajes (16% y 9%) parecen
escrito. Pero seguramente lo que puede
reafirmar la conciencia generalizada de que
sorprender mas es el destacado primer lugar
cada día leemos y escribimos menos. En
que ocupa la comprensión oral, bastante por
definitiva, que la cultura de la imagen (el
encima de la expresión. También se trata de
cine,
un hecho bastante comprensible, si nos
desplazando a la impresa, y esto se refleja
paramos a pensar un momento, porque la
también
vida
habilidades.
más
cotidiana
lenta
nos
que
ofrece
requiere
muchas
mas
la
a
las
habilidades
televisión,
en
el
el
uso
Pero
no
video,
etc.)
esta
cotidiano
de
hay
dejarse
que
las
posibilidades de escuchar que de hablar. En
engañar
una
por
curioso comparar estas estadísticas con otras
una
similares
reunión
ejemplo,
o
una
solamente
conversación,
puede
hablar
por
–¡si
las
apariencias.
las
hubiera!-,
cuando
los
Resultaría
de
épocas
persona cada vez, mientras el resto escucha
anteriores,
(dos personas pueden escuchar a la vez,
analfabetismo eran altos: seguramente no se
pero no pueden hablar al mismo tiempo).
podría llegar a ninguna constatación porque,
La primera conclusión a tomar, a la luz de
simplemente, ni se leía ni se escribía. Por
estos datos, es restituir en relevancia que
otra parte, al margen de la comparación con
índices
de
las habilidades orales, estos usos de la
50
ENSEÑANZA DE LA LENGUA_______________________________________________
lengua
escrita
tienen
una
importancia
cualitativa creciente.
338).
Por
lo
que
respecta
a
la
escuela,
las
habilidades escritas siempre han estado bien
La opinión generalizada que afirma que hoy
ya no se escribe come antes o que cada día
escribimos
menos
es
una
falacia.
El
argumento básico del teléfono, según el cual
este
aparato
comunicación
ha
reemplazado
escrita
más
a
la
usual:
la
correspondencia, esconde el fondo de la
cuestión.
Los
cambios
tecnológicos
y la
evolución de la vida moderna han modificado
sustancialmente
los
usos
y
las
comunicaciones escritas. Si reflexionamos un
poco al respecto, veremos que, en general,
incluso se han incrementado notablemente.
consideradas.
La
adquisición
de
la
lectoescritura siempre ha sido uno de los
objetivos fundamentales de la escolarización.
Solamente hay que añadir algunos matices a
este planteamiento. En primer lugar, hay que
enfocar el trabajo de la escritura hacia la
comunicación, es decir, hacia la recepción y
producción de textos reales y cercanos al
alumno. En segundo lugar, también conviene
integrar
orales,
las habilidades escritas con
en
un
equilibrado.
No
tratamiento
podemos
las
conjunto
olvidar
que
y
la
capacidad de comunicarse es la suma de las
cuatro
habilidades
lingüísticas
y
no
Por una parte, las exigencias sociales hacen
solamente el dominio por separado de cada
que sea prácticamente imposible hacer algo
una de ellas.
sin haber rellenado un impreso de solicitud,
una matriculación o redactado una instancia
o un informe. Además, la preparación y la
formación que se exige a los profesionales es
tan elevada que continuamente tenemos que
estudiar y reciclarnos; y estos estudios se
vehiculan
lengua
principalmente a
escrita.
través
Finalmente,
de la
determinados
avances tecnológicos, como el procesador de
textos, el telex o el fax, también incrementan
rápidamente la utilización de la escritura.
En general, el uso de la comunicación escrita
se ha desplazado del ámbito personal a los
Para leer más
GAUQUELIN, Fransoise. Saber comunicarse.
Bilbao. Mensajero. 1982. Manual bastante
completo sobre temas de comunicación: las
cuatro
habilidades
y
comunicativo de la enseñanza de la lengua.
Barcelona. Paidos. 1993.
ya
enseñanza/aprendizaje
familiares
(nos
cartas
o
felicitaciones
telefoneamos),
pero
la
LOMAS, Carlos; OSORO, Andrés. El enfoque
Una
escribimos
"secretos",
etc.
ámbitos laboral y académico. Efectivamente,
no
sus
fisiología humana, técnicas de comunicaci6n,
sucinta
introducción
funcional
a
la
de
la
lengua.
redactamos informes, instancias y memorias
en el trabajo, y también hacemos resúmeles,
tomamos apuntes y nos presentamos a
exámenes escritos para nuestra formación
permanente (ver "Textos académicos", Pág.
Enciclopedia
Británica,
"Language",
200
[Documento tomada de la página de Internet
http://www.britanni com]
51
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
LANGUAGE
written
1. Every physiologically and mentally normal
symbols by means of which human beings, as
person acquires in childhood the ability to
members of
make use, as both speaker and hearer, of a
A
system
of
4
conventional
spoken
or
social group and participants in its
culture, communicate.
system
of
vocal
communication
that
comprises a circumscribed set of noises
resulting from movements of certain organs
CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE
within his throat and mouth. By means of
DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE
these ie is able to impart information, to
express feelings and emotions, to influence
M
any definitions of language have
been proposed. Henry Sweet, an
English phonetician and language
scholar, stated: "Language is the expression
the activities of others, and to comport
himself with varying degrees of friendliness
or hostility toward persons who make use of
substantially the same set of noises.
speech-sounds
2. Different systems of vocal communication
combined into words. Words are combined
constitute different languages; the degree of
into sentences, this combination answering
difference needed to establish a different
to that of ideas into thoughts." The U.S.
language cannot be stated exactly. No two
linguists _ Bernard Bloch and George L.
people speak exactly alike; hence, one is
Trager formulated the following definition: "A
able to recognize the voices of friend$ over
language is a system of arbitrary vocal
the telephone and to keep distinct a number
symbols by means of which a social group
of unseen speakers in a radio broadcast. Yet,
cooperates."
of
clearly, no one would say that they speak
language makes a number of presuppositions
different languages. Generally, systems of
and begs; 'a number of questions. The first,
vocal
for
different
of
ideas
by
example,
means
Any
puts
of
succinct
definition
excessive.
weight
on
communication
languages
are
if
recognized
they
cannot
as
be
"thought," and the second uses "arbitrary" in
understood without specific learning by both
a specialized, though legitimate, way (see
parties, though the precise limits of mutual
below).
intelligibility are hard to draw and belong on
a scale rather than on either side of a
definite dividing line. Substantially different
A number of considerations enter into a
systems of communication that may impede
proper
but; do not prevent mutual comprehension
subject:
understanding
of
language
as
a
are called dialects of a language. In order to
52
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
describe in detail the actual different speech
reference, the ability to communicate about
patterns of individuals, the term idiolect,
things
meaning
spatial contiguity, which is fundamental to
the
speech
habits
of
a
single
person, has been coined.
3.
Normally,
people
outside
immediate
temporal
and
speech, is found elsewhere only in the soacquire
a
single
called language, of bees.
language initially--their first language, or
Bees are able, by carrying out
mother tongue, the language spoken by their
conventionalized movements (referred to as
parents or by those with whom they are
bee dances) in or nea- the hive, to indicate to
brought
up
Subsequent
others the locations and strengths of nectar
"second" languages are learned to different
sources. But nectar sources are the only
degrees
various
known theme of this communication system.
conditions, but the majority of; the world's
Surprisingly, however, this system, nearest
population
to human language in function, belongs to a
of
Complete
from
infancy.
various
competence
remains
largely
species remote from man in the animal
designated as bilingualism; in a few special
kingdom and is achieved by very different
cases--such
parents
physiological activities from those involved in
home--
speech. On the other hand, the animal
speakers grow up as bilinguals, but ordinarily
performance superficially most like human
the learning, to any extent, of a second or
speech, the mimicry of parrots and of some
other language is an activity superimposed
other birds that lave been kept in the
on the prior mastery of one's first language
company of humans, is wholly derivate and
and is a different process intellectually.
serves
as
different
of
two
monolingual.
is
speaking
mastery
under
languages
upbringing
languages
by
at
4. Language, as described above, is speciesspecific to man. Other members of the
animal
kingdom
have
the
ability
to
communicate, through vocal noises or by
other means, but the most important single
no
independent
communicative
function. Man's nearest relatives among the
primates,
though
possessing
a
vocal
physiology very similar to that of humans,
have not developed anything like a spoken
language.
feature characterizing human language (that
Language interacts with every other aspect
is, every individual language), against every
of human life in society, and it can be
known mode of animal communication, is its
understood only if it is considered in relation
infinite productivity and creativity. Human
to society. This article attempts to survey
beings are unrestricted in what they can talk
language (both spoken and written) in this
about; no ariea of experience is accepted as
light and to consider its various functions and
necessarily incommunicable, though it may
the purposes it can and has been made t
be necessary to adapt one's language in
serve. Because ea h language is both a
order to cope with new discoveries or new
working system of communication in tie
modes of thought.
period and in the community wherein it is u,
Animal
communication
systems
are
by
contrast very tightly circumscribed in what
may be communicated. Indeed, displaced
~ed and also the product of its past history
and the source of its future development, an
account of language must consider it from
53
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
perhaps universal taboos on naming directly
both these points of view.
The
science
of
language
is
known
as
linguistics. It includes what are generally
distinguished as descriptive linguistics and
historical linguistics. Linguistics is now a
highly technical subject; it embraces, both
things considered obscene, blasphemous, or
very fearful. Indeed, use of euphemistic
substitutes for words referring to death and
to certain diseases actually seems to be
increasing in some civilized! areas.
descriptively and historically, such major
Not
divisions
and
independent traditions ascribe a divine or at
as
phonetics,
grammar,
surprisingly,
therefore,
several
these
least a supernatural origin to language or to
various aspects of language. For a full
tie language of a particular community. The
account
biblical account, representing ancient Jewish
semantics,
of
dealing
the
in
detail
theory
and
with
methods
of
beliefs, of Adam's naming the creatures of
linguistic science, see the article linguistics.
the Earth under God's guidance is well
known:
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA
So out of the ground the Lord God formed
LENGUAGE
every beast of the field and every bird of the
HISTORICAL
ATTITUDES
TOWARD
air, and brought them to the man to see
what he would call them; and whatever the
LANGUAGE
man called every living creature, that was its
name (Gen. 2:19).
As is evident from above, human life in its
present
form
would
be
impossible
and
inconceivable without the use of language,
People have long recognized the force and
Norse mythology preserves a similar story of
significance of language. Naming--applying a
divine
word to pick out and refer to a fellow human
language, and in India the god Indra is sad
being, an animal, an object, or a class of
to have invented articulate speech. In the
such beings or objects--is only one part of
much more sophisticated debate on the
participation
in
the
creation
of
the use of language, but it is an essential
nature and origin of language given in Plato's
and prominent part. In many cultures men
Socratic dialogue Cratylus, Socrates is made
have seen in the ability to name an ability to
to speak of the gods as those responsible for
control or to possess; this explains the;
first fixing the names of things in the proper
reluctance, in several primitive and other
way.
communities, with which names are revealed
to strangers and the taboo restrictions found
in several parts of the world on using the
names of persons recently dead. Lest it be
thought that attitudes like this have died out
in
modern
civilized
communities,
it
is
instructive to considerithe widespread and
A similar divine aura pervades early accounts
of the origin of writing. The Norse god Odin
was held responsible for the invention of the
runic alphabet. The inspired stoke of genius
whey by the ancient Greeks adapted a
variety of the Phoenician consonantal script
so as to represent the distinctive consonant
54
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
and
vowel
el
sounds
of
Greek,
thus
producing the first alphabet such as is known
n today, was linked with the mythological
figure Cadmus, who, co ing from Phoenicia,
was
said
to
have
founded
Thebes
and
introduced writing into Greece. The Arabs
had a traditional account of their script,
together with the language itself, being given
to Adam by God.
linguistic fossils man can hope to have, go
back no more than about 4,000 or
5,000 years. Attempts to derive human
speech from imitations of the cries of animals
and birds or from mere ejaculations of joy
and grief, as if onomatopoeia were the
essence of language, were ridiculed for their
inadequacy by the Oxford philologist F. Max
Muller in the 19th century and have been
The later biblical tradition of the Tower of
dubbed
Babel
theories.
(Gen.
11;1-9)
exemplifies
three
aspects of early thought about language: (1)
divine interest in and control over its se and
development, (2) a recognition of the power
the
bowwow
and
pooh-pooh
On several occasions attempts have been
made to identify one
it gives to m n in relation to his environment,
particular existing language as representing
and (3) an explanation f linguistic diversity,
the original or oldest tongue of mankind, but,
of
adjacent
in fact, the universal process of linguistic
communities speak different and mutually
change rules out any such hopes from the
unintelligible
start. The Greek historian Herodotus told a
the
fact
that
people
languages,
in
together
with
a
survey of the various speech communities of
story
the world known at the time to the Hebrews.
caused a child to be brought up without ever
The origin of language has never failed to
provide a subject for speculation, and its
inaccessibility
informed
adds
to
investigations
its
of
fascination.
the
probable
conditions under which language might have
originated and developed Tare seen in the
late-18th-century
essay
of
the
German
philosopher Johann Gottfried von Herder,
"Abhandlung
Sprache"
uber
("Essay
Language"),
and
den
Ursprung
on
in
the
der
King
Psammetichus
of
Egypt
hearing a word spoken in its presence. On
one occasion it ran up to its guardian as he
brought it some bread, calling out "bekos,
bekos"; this, being said to be the Phrygian
word for bread, proved that Phrygian was the
oldest language of mankind. The naïveté to
and absurdity of such an account have not
prevented its repetition elsewhere and at
other times.
of
In Christian Europe the position of Hebrew as
other
the language of the Old Testament gave valid
Origin
numerous
that
treatments. But people have tried to go
grounds
further,
regarding Hebrew, the language in which
to
discov
r
or
to
reconstruct
through
of man's first language. This lies forever
language
beyond the reach of science, in that spoken
continued to be expressed even well into the
language in some form is almost certainly
19th century. Only since the' mid-1800s has
coeval
with
Homo
linguistic science made sufficient progress
records
of
written
The
language,
earliest
the
only
finally
to
all
clarify
as
mankind.
the
the
for
God
of
Adam,
centuries
something like the actual forms and structure
sapiens.
addressed
many
Such
parent
a
view
impracticability
of
55
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
cooperation in everyday life has highlighted
speculation along these lines'
When people have begun to reflect o g'
language, its relation to thinking becomes a
central
concern.
Several
cultures
have
independently viewed the main functi6n of
language
as
the
expression
of
thought.
Ancient Indian grammarians speak', of the
soul apprehending things with the intellect
and inspiring the mind with a desire to
speak; and in the Greek intellectual tradition
Aristotle
declared,
"Speech
is
the
representation of the experiences of the
mind" (On Interpretation). Such an attitude
passed into Latin theory and thence into
medieval
envisaged
process:
doctrine.
three
things
Medieval
stages
in
in
the
grammarians
the
world
speaking
exhibit
the many and varied functions of language in
all cultures, apart from the functions strictly i
evolved in the communication of thought,
which had been the main focus of attention
for those who approached language from the
standpoint of the philosopher. To allow "for
the full range of language used by speakers,
more comprehensive definitions of language
have been proposed in recent years on the
lines iof the second one q joted above (i.e.,
"A language is a system of arbitrary vocal
symbols by means of which a social group
cooperates").
A rather different criticism of accepted views
on language began to be made in the 18th
century,
most
notably
by
the
French
properties; these properties are understood
philosopher Etienne Bonnot de Condillac in
by the mind of man; and, in the manner in
"Essai
which they have been understood, so they
humaines" (1746; "Essay on the Origin of
are communicated to others by the resources
Human Knowledge") and by Johann Gottfried
of language.
von Herder. These en were concerned with
Rationalist writers on language in the,17th
century gave essentially a similar account:
speaking is expressing thoughts by signs
invented for the purpose, and words of
different classes ( he different parts of
speech) came into being to correspond t the
different aspects of thinking.
sur
l'origine
des
connaissances
the origin and development of language i
relation to thought in a way that earlier
students had not been. The medieval and
rationalist views implied that man as a
rational, thinking creature invented language
to express his thoughts, fitting words to an
already developed structure of intellectual
competence. With the examination of the
Such a view of language continued to be
actual and the probable historical relations
accepted as generally adequate and gave
between thinking and speaking, it became
rise to the sort of definition proposed by
more plausible to say that language emerged
Henry Sweet and quoted above. The main
not as the means of expressing already
objection to it is that it either gives so wide
formulated judgments, questions, and the
an interpretation to thought as virtually to
like but as the means of thought itself, and
empty the word of any specific content or
that mania s rationality developed together
gives
with the development of his capacity for
such
a
narrow
interpretation
of
language as to exclude a great deal of
normal usage. A recognition of the part
played by speaking and writing in social
speaking.
The relations between thought and speech
56
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
are certainly not fully explained today, and it
structures.
is clear that it a great oversimplification to
complicated any language is when trying to
define thought as subvocal speech, in the
learn it as a second language. If one tries to
manner of some behaviorists. But it is no
frame an exhaustive description of all the
less clear that propositions and other alleged
rules embodied in one's language--the rules
logical structures cannot be wholly separated
by means of which a native speaker is able
fro ' the language structures said to express
to produce and to understand an infinite
them. Even the symbolizations of modern
number of correct, well-formed sentences--
formal logic are ultimately derived from
one cal easily appreciate the complexity of
statements made in some natural language
the
and are interpreted in that light.
mastering
The intimate connection between language
and thought, as opposed to the earlier
assumed unilateral dependence of language
on thought, opened the way to a recognition
of the possibility that different language
structures might in part favour or event
determine different ways of understanding
and thinking about the world. Obviously, all
people inhabit a broadly similar world, or
they would be unable to translate from one
language to another; but, equally obviously,
One
knowledge
soon
acquired
his
mother
realizes
by
a
how
child
tongue.
in
The
descriptions of languages written so far are
in most cases excellent as far as they go, but
trey still omit more than they contain of an
explicit
account
of
a
native
speaker's
competence in his language. By virtue of
which one calls him a speaker of English,
French, Swedish, or Swahili. The most recent
developments in the study of language have
served to reveal just how much more there is
to do to bring palpable fact within systematic
statement.
they do not all inhabit a world exactly t e
A
same in all particulars, and translation is not
linguistics
detailed
treatment
merely a matter of substituting different but
linguistics). Here it is proposed simply to give
equivalent labels for the content of the same
a brief outline of the way language or
inventory. From this stem the notorious
languages can be considered and described
difficulties in translation, especially when the
from different points of view, or at different
systematizations of science, law, morals,
levels,
social structure, and so on are involved. The
essential and unique to a full understanding
extent of the interdependence of language
of the subject.
is
each
found
+
of
the
science
elsewhere
contributing
of
(see
something
and thought--linguistic relativity, as it has
been termed--is still a matter of debate, but
the fact of such interdependence can hardly
fail to be acknowledged.
WAYS OF STUDYING LANGUAGE
Languages
are
immensely
complicated
57
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
ENCYCLOPAEDIA
BRITANNICA
JARGON
LANGUAGE
DIALECTS
Sometimes, as in the case of criminal argots,
part of the function of special languages is
deliberately to mislead and obstruct the rest
It has already been pointed out that no two
of society and the authorities in particular;
persons speak exactly alike, and within the
they may even become wholly impenetrable
area
speech
to outsiders. But this is not the sole or main
communities (groups of people speaking the
purpose of most specialized varieties of
same language) there are subdivisions of
language. Professions whose members value
recognizably different types of language,
their standing in society and are eager to
called dialects, that do not, however, render'
render their services to the public foster their
intercommunication impossible nor markedly
own vocabulary and usage, partly to enhance
difficult. Because intercomprehensibility lies
the dignity of their profession and the skills
along a scale, the degree required for two or
they represent but partly also to increase
more forlms of speech to qualify as dialects
their efficiency. An example of this is the
of
language of the! law and of lawyers.
a
of
all
single
but
the
language,
smallest
instead
of
being
regarded as separate languages, is not easy
to quantify or to lay down in advance, and
the actual cutoff point must in the last resort
be arbitrary. In practice, however, the terms
dialect and language can be used with
reasonable
agreement.
One
speaks
of
different dialects of English (Southern British
English, Northern British English, Scottish
English, Midwest Ame rican English, New
England
American
English,
Australian
English, and so on, with, of curse, many
more
delicately
distinguished
subdialects
within these very general categories), but no
one would speak of Welsh and English or of
Irish and English as dialects of a single
language, although they are spoken within
the same areas and often by people living in
the same villages as each other.
(Ro.H.R.)
(Ed.)
The
cultivation
and
maintenance
of
specialized types of language by certain
professions
should
not
be
regarded
as
trivially or superficially motivated. In general
usage, languages are necessarily imprecise,
or they would lack the flexibility and infinite
extensibility demanded of them. But for
certain
purposes
in
restricted
,situations
much greater precision is required, arid part
of the function of the particular style and
vocabulary
of
legal
language
is
the
avoidance, so far as may be possible, of all
ambiguity and the explicit statement of all
necessary distinctions. This is why legal texts
when read out of their context, seem so
absurdly pedantic and are an easy target for
ridicule. Similar provision for detail and,
clarity characterizes the specialist jargons of
medicine and of the sciences in general and
also of philosophy. Indeed, one might regard
the formulas of modern symbolic logic as he
result
of
specialized
a
consciously
written
developed
language
for
and
making
58
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
precise
the
relations
of
implication
and
language,
taught
by
priests
to
their
inference between statements that, when
successors, lest the ritual become invalid. In
couched in everyday language, are inexact
ancient India the preservation in all its
and open to misinterpretation. Some would
supposed purity of the language used in the
go
performance
as
far
as
to
say
that
traditional
of
certain
religious
rituals
metaphysics is no more than the result of
(Sanskrit) gave rise to one of the world's
misunderstanding everyday discourse and
most important schools of linguistics and
,
that the main purpose of philosophy is to
phonetics. In the Christian churches one can
resolve the puzzles that arise from such
observe the value placed by Church of
misunderstandings.
England and Episcopalian churchmen on the
The use of specialized types of language in
fostering unity is also evidenced in the
stereotyped forms of vocabulary employed in
the playing of certain games. Tennis scores
use the sequence "love, 15, 30, 40, and
formal English of the Authorized Version of
the Bible and of The Book of Common
Prayer, despite recent attempts at replacing
these ritual forms of language by forms
taken from modern spoken vernaculars.
game"; cricketers verbally appeal to the
umpire when a batsman may be out by
calling "How's that?" and the ways of being
out are designated by stereotypes, "run out,"
"leg before wicket," "stumped," and so forth.
ENCYCLOPEEDIA
BRITANNICA
LANGUAGE
PIDGINS AND CREOLES
The esoteric language of horse racing and its
associated wagering of money is well known,
though not readily understood by outsiders.
Some specialized languages were developed
to
keep
the outsider at
circumstances,
bay.
languages
have
been
deliberately
power of language is apparent in the respect
communication with outsiders. This happens
for correctness in the use of language in any
when
sphere
languages have to work together, usually in
life
having
supernatural
people
speaking
to
other
The ancient but persistent recognition of the
of
created
In
two
facilitate
different
such
some form of trade relation or administrative
connections employ special formulas and
routine. In such situations the so-called
rigidly prescribed modes of diction; examples
pidgins arise, more or less purposively made
of the language of magic and of magicians
up of vocabulary items from each language,
are widespread, ranging from the usages of
with mutual abandonment of grammatical
shamans and witch doctors to the ritual
complexities that would cause confusion to
"abracadabra" of the mock magic displayed
either party. Pidgins have been particularly
by conjurors at children's parties.
associated with areas settled by European
connections.
Those
credited
with
The efficacy of religious worship and of
prayers is frequently associated with the
strict
maintenance
of
correct
forms
of
traders;
Jargon,
examples
a
lingua
have
been
franca
based
Chinook
on
an
American Indian language and English and
formerly used in Washington and Oregon,
59
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
and Beach-la-mar, an English-based pidgin
which the term is used in a peripheral and
of parts of the South Seas.
derivative sense.
Sometimes,
as
the
result
of
relatively
the intermixture of two speech communities,
a pidgin becomes the first language, or
tongue,
ultimately
of
later
displacing
both
generations,
the
original
languages. First languages arising in this way
from artificially created pidgins are called
creoles.
Notable
among
individuals
speak,
they
do
not
normally confine themselves to the mere
permanent settlement and
mother
When
creoles
is
the
language of Haiti, Haitian Creole, built up
from the French of the settlers and the
African language of the former slaves; it
shows lexical and grammatical features of
both':: sources.
emission
of
speech
sounds.,
Because
speaking usually involves at least two parties
in sight of each other, a great deal of
meaning is conveyed by facial expression,
tone of voice, and movements and postures
of the whole body but especially of the
hands;
these
are
collectively
known
as
gestures. The contribution of bodily gestures
to the total meaning of a conversation is in
part culturally determined and differs in
different communities. Just how important
these visual symbols are may be seen when
one considers how much less effective to
Creoles differ from pidgins in that, as first
telephone conversation is as compared with
languages, they are subject to the natural
conversation face to ace; the experience of
processes of change like any other language
involuntarily
(see below Linguistic change); and, despite
receiver and immediately realizing that this
the
the
will convey nothing to the hearer at the other
original pidgin, in the course of generations
end of the line is common. Again, the part
creoles develop their own complexities. The
played in emotional contact and in the
reason is plain to see. The restricted uses to
expression of feelings by facial expressions
which pidgins were first put and for which
and tone of voice, quite independently of the
they were devised did not require any great
words used, has been shown in tests in
flexibility. Once such a language becomes
which subjects have been asked to react to
the first or only language of many people; it
sentences
must perforce acquire the resources (i.e., the
inviting when read but are spoken angrily
complexity) to respond adequately to all the
and, conversely, to sentences that appear as
requirements of a natural language.
hostile but are spoken with friendly facial
deliberately
simplified
form
of
smiling
that
at
appear
the
as
telephone
friendly
and
expressions. It is found that it is the visual
accompaniments and tone of voice that elicit
NONVERBAL LANGUAGE
the main emotional response. A good deal of
what goes finder the heading of sarcasm
Speech
and
writing
are,
indeed,
the
exploits these contrasts.
fundamental faculties and activities referred
Just as there are paralinguistic activities such
to
as facial expressions and bodily gestures
by
the
term
language.
There
are,
however, areas of human behaviour for
integrated
with
and
assisting
the
60
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
communicative function of spoken language,
music" or even of "the grammar of music."
so there are vocally produced noises that
The terms language and grammar are here
cannot be regarded as part of any language,
being used metaphorically, however, if only
though they help in communication and in
because
the expression of feeling. These include
language has the same potential of infinite
laughter, shouts and screams of joy, fear,
productivity, extension, and precision.
pain,
and
so
forth,
and
conventional
expressions of disgust, triumph, and so on,
traditionally spelled "ugh!," "ha ha!," etc., in
English. Such nonlexical ejaculations differ in
important respects from language: they are
much more similar in form and meaning
throughout mankind as a whole, in contrast
to the great diversity of languages; they are
far less arbitrary than most of the lexical
components of language; and they are much
nearer the cries of animals produced under
similar circumstances and, as far as is
known,
serve
similar
expressive
and
communicative purposes. As noted above,
some people have tried to trace the origin of
language itself to them.
no
symbol
system
other
than
Languages are used by human beings to talk
and
write
to
other
human
beings.
Derivatively, bits of languages may be used
by humans to control machinery, as when
different buttons and switches are marked
with words or phrases designating their
functions.
A
recent
and
specialized
development of man-machine language is
seen in the various "computer languages"
(Cobol, Algol, and Fortran, for example) now
in use. These are referred to as programming
languages, and they provide the means
whereby sets of "instructions" and data of
various kinds can be supplied to computers
in
forms
Various
acceptable
types
these
such
languages
are
purposes.
The
employed
regarded, because of its infinite flexibility and
development and use of computer languages
productivity,
par
must now be regarded as a distinct science
symbol
in itself (for more information, see computer
excellence.
But
the
symbol
there
are
system
other
systems recognized and institutionalized in
different
machines.
A language is a symbol system. It may be
as
for
of
to
science: Programming languages).
the different cultures of mankind. Examples
of these exist on maps and blueprints and in
the conventions of representational art (e.g.,
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
the golden halos around the heads of saints
LANGUAGE
in religious paintings). Other symbol systems
are musical notation and dance notation,
wherein graphic symbols designate musical
pitches
and
performance
other
and
features
the
of
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL BASIS
OF SPEECH
musical
movements
of
For an adequate understanding of human
formalized dances. More loosely, because
language, it is necessary to keep in mind the
music itself can convey and arouse emotions
absolute primacy of speech. In societies in
and certain musical forms and structures are
which
often associated with certain types of feeling,
language teaching at school begins with
literacy
is
all
but
universal
and
one frequently reads of the "language of
61
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
reading and writing in the mother tongue,
languages of literate civilizations. The lexical
one is apt to think of language as a writing
content
system that may be pronounced. In point of
according to the culture and the needs of
fact,
their speakers, but observation bears out the
language
is
a
system
of
spoken
of
languages
various ways in writing.
linguist Edward Sapir made in 1921: "When
in the emergence of Homo sapiens as a
U.S.
course,
statement
in some sense a speaking animal from early
the
of
communication that may be represented in
The human being has almost certainly been
that
varies,
anthropological
it comes to linguistic form, Plato walks with
the Macedonian swineherd, Confucius with
the head-hunting savage of Assam."
recognizably distinct species. The earliest
All
known systems of writing go back perhaps
composition of language and of all languages
some 5,000 years. This means that for many
have been conditioned by the requirements
hundreds
human
of speech, not those of writing. Languages
languages were transmitted from generation
are what they are by virtue of their spoken,
to generation and were developed entirely as
not their written, manifestations. The study
spoken means of communication. Moreover,
of language must be based on a knowledge
in the world as it is today, literacy is still the
of the physiological and physical nature of
privilege of a minority in many language
speaking and hearing. The details of these
communities.
is
aspects of language are covered in phonetics
remain
and speech; only the essentials are given
of
widespread,
thousands
Even
some
of
years
when
literacy
languages
unwritten if they are not economically or
culturally
important
enough
to
this
means
that
the
structure
and
here.
justify
creating an alphabet for them and teaching
them; then literacy is acquired in a second
SPEECH PRODUCTION
language learned at school. Such is the case
with
many
speakers
of
South
American
Indian languages, who become literate in
Spanish or Portuguese. A similar situation
prevails in some parts of Africa, where
reading and writing are taught in languages
spoken over relatively wide areas. In all
communities, speaking is learned by children
before writing, and all people act as speakers
and hearers much more than as writers and
readers.
Speaking is in essence the by-product of a
necessary bodily process, the expulsion from
the lungs of air charged with carbon dioxide
after it has fulfilled its function in respiration.
Most of the time one breathes out silently;
but
it
is
possible,
by
adopting
various
postures and by making various movements
within the vocal tract, to interfere with the
egressive airstream so as to generate noises
of different sorts. This is what speech is
made of.
It is, moreover, a total fallacy to suppose
The vocal tract comprises the passage from
that the languages of illiterate or so-called
the trachea (windpipe) to the orifices of the
primitive peoples are less structured, less
mouth and nose; all the organs used in
rich in vocabulary, and less efficient than the
speaking lie in this passage. Conventionally,
62
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
these are called the organs of speech, and
is technically called voice, or voicing. These
the use in several languages of the same
vibrations
word for the tongue as a part of the body
contrasting the sounds of f and v or of s and
and
awareness
z as usually pronounced; "five" and "size"
people have of the role played by this part of
each begin and end with voiceless and voiced
the mouth in speaking. But few if any of the
sounds, respectively, which are otherwise
major organs of speech are exclusively or
formed alike, with the tongue and the lips in
even mainly concerned with speaking. The
the same position. Most consonant sounds
lips, the tongue, and the teeth all have
and all vowel sounds in English and in the
essential functions in the bodily economy,
majority of languages are voiced, and voice,
quite
for
in this sense, is the basis of singing and of
example, of the tongue as an organ of
the rise and fall in speaking that is called
speech in the same way that the stomach is
intonation, as well as of the tone distinctions
regarded
is
in tone languages. The vocal cords may be
function
drawn together more or less tightly, and the
superimposed on these organs, and the
vibrations will be correspondingly more or
material of speech is a waste product, spent
less frequent. A rise in frequency causes a
air, exploited to produce perhaps the most
rise in perceived vocal pi- tch. Speech in
wonderful by-product ever created.
which voice is completely excluded is called
for
language
apart
from
as
fallacious.
shows
the
talking;
the
organ
Speaking
to
of
is
think,
digestion
a
Relatively few types of speech sounds are
can
be
readily
observed
by
whispering.
produced by other sources of air movement;
Above the larynx, places of articulation in
the clicks in some South African languages
frequent use are between the back of the
are examples, and so is the fringe linguistic
tongue and the soft palate, between the
sound used in English to express disapproval,
blade of the tongue and the ridge just behind
conventionally spelled "tut." In all languages,
the upper front teeth, and between the lips.
however,
speech
Stoppage and release (technically, plosion)
sounds have their origin in air expelled
at these places form the k (often written as
through the contraction of the lungs. Air
c, "cat"), t, and p sounds in English and,
forced
or
when voicing is also present, the g (as in
the
great
through
a
majority
narrow
of
passage
released
"gay"), d, and b sounds. Obstruction at these
creates noise, and characteristic components
and other places sufficient to cause noise
of speech
gives rise to what are called fricative sounds;
momentarily
blocked
and
then
sounds are types of noise produced by
blockage or narrowing of the passage at
different places.
in
English
these
include
the
normal
pronunciations of s, z, f, and v and the th
sounds in "thin" and "then." A vowel is
characterized as the product of the shape of
If the vocal cords (really more like two
the entire tract between the lips and larynx,
curtains) are held taut as
without local obstruction though usually with
the air passes through them, the resultant
voicing from the vocal cords. It is contrasted
regular vibrations in the larynx produce what
with a consonant, though the exact division
between these two categories of speech
63
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
sound is not always easy to draw. Different
voiced sounds.
shaping of the tract produces the different
vowel sounds of languages.
The soft palate may be raised or lowered. It
is lowered in breathing and allows air to pass
The
in and out through the nose. In the utterance
frequencies of speech, provided they retain
of most speech sounds it is raised, so that air
enough energy, or amplitude (i.e., are still
passing through the mouth alone forms the
audible). The different speech sounds that
sound; if it is lowered, air passes additionally
make up the utterances of any language are
or alternatively through the nose, producing
the result of the different impacts on one's
nasal sounds. All but a few languages have
ears made by the different complexes of
nasal consonants (the English sounds m, n,
frequencies
and ng as in "sing"), and some, such as
different articulatory processes. As the result
French, have nasalized vowels as well. A few
of careful and detailed observation of the
people regularly allow air to pass through
movements of the vocal organs in speaking,
their nasal passages while they speak; such
aided by various instruments to supplement
persons are said to "speak through the
the naked eye, a great deal is now known
nose."
about the processes of articulation. Other
All articulatory movements, including the
initial expulsion of air from the lungs, may be
made with greater or less vigour, giving rise
to louder or softer speech or to greater
loudness on one part of
responds
in
the
to
waves
the
different
produced
by
instruments have provided much information
about
the
nature
of
the
sound
produced by articulation. Speech
waves
sounds
have been described and classified both from
an articulatory viewpoint, in terms of how
they are produced, and from an acoustic
viewpoint, by reference to the resulting
what is said.
Every different configuration and movement
of the vocal tract creates corresponding
differences in the air vibrations that comprise
and transmit sound. These vibrations, like
those of all noises, extend outward in all
directions
eardrum
from
the
source,
gradually
decreasing to zero or to below the threshold
of audibility. They are called sound waves,
and they consist of rapid -rises and falls in air
pressure. The speed at which pressure rises
and falls is the frequency. Speech sounds
involve complex waves containing vibrations
sound waves (their frequencies, amplitudes,
and so forth). Articulatory descriptions are
more readily understood, being couched in
terms such as nasal, bilabial lip-rounded, and
so
on.
Acoustic
terminology
requires
a
knowledge of the technicalities involved for
its comprehension. In that almost every
person is a speaker and a hearer, it is clear
that
both
sorts
of
description
and
classification are important, and each has its
particular value for certain parts of the
scientific study of language.
at a number of different frequencies, the
lowest being the voice pitch of singing and
intonation, produced by the vocal cords in
64
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
Almost all mammals and many other animal
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA
species
make
vocal
noises
and
evince
LANGUAGE
feelings thereby and keep in contact with
LANQUAGE ACQUISITION
each other through a rudimentary sort of
communication, but those members of the
animal
In
regard
to
the
production
of
speech
sounds, all humans are physiologically alike.
It has been shown repeatedly that children
learn the language of those who bring them
up from infancy. In most cases these are the
biological parents, especially the mother, but
one's
first
language
environment
and
is
acquired
learning,
from
not
from
physiological inheritance. Adopted infants,
whatever their race or physical type and
whatever
parents,
the
language
acquire
the
of
their
language
actual
of
the
adoptive parents.
kingdom
nearest
to
humans
genetically, the great apes, lack the anatomic
apparatus necessary for speech.
The development of speech has been linked
to upright posture and the freeing of the
vocal cords from the frequent need to "hold
one's
breath"
in
using
the
arms
for
locomotion. Certainly, speaking and hearing-as a primary means of communication-have
a
number
of
striking
advantages:
speech does not depend on daylight or on
mutual
visibility,
it
can
operate
in
all
directions over reasonably wide areas, and it
can be adjusted in loudness to cope with
Different shapes of lips, throat, and other
distance. As is seen in crowded rooms, it is
parts of the vocal tract have an effect on
possible to pick out some one person's voice
voice quality; this is part of the individuality
despite a good deal of other noise and in the
of each person's voice referred to above.
midst of other voices speaking the same
Physiological differences, including size of
language. Also, the physical energy required
throat
in
in speaking is extremely small in relation to
relation to the rest of the vocal tract, are
the immense power wielded by speech in
largely responsible for the different pitch
human life, and scarcely any other activity,
ranges characteristic of men's, women's, and
such as running, walking, or tool using,
children's speech. These differences do not
interferes seriously with the process.
and
larynx,
both
overall
and
affect one's ability or aptitude to speak any
particular language.
The characteristics just outlined pertain to all
of the world's languages. What is more a
Speech is species-specific to humankind.
matter of controversy is the extent to which
Physiologically,
communications
biological inheritance is involved in language
systems are of all sorts. The animal sounds
acquisition and language use. The fact that
superficially most resembling speech, the
language traditionally has been viewed as
imitative cries of parrots and some other
species-specific to human beings argues an
birds,
different
essential cerebral or mental component, and
physiological means: birds have no teeth or
in the 19th century certain aspects of speech
lips but vocalize by means of the syrinx, a
control and use were located in a particular
modification of the windpipe above the lungs.
part
are
animal
produced
by
very
of
the
human
brain
(Broca's
65
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
communities, and much the same number of
convolution).
Whether or not the great apes have the
mental
capacity
to
acquire
at
least
a
rudimentary form of language has developed
into an area of active research. While apes
years of childhood is taken up by the
process. Thus, it would appear that all
languages are roughly equal in complexity
and in difficulty of mastery.
are
It is, therefore, clear that all normal humans
necessary for the vocalization of human
bring into the world an innate faculty for
speech,
language
lack
the
anatomic
many
structures
investigators
that
nevertheless
acquisition,
language
use,
and
claim to have taught chimpanzees, gorillas,
Grammar construction. The last phrase refers
and orangutans to communicate in languages
to the internalization of the rules of the
whose "words" are composed of hand signs
grammar of one's first language from a more
or geometric symbols. These claims have
or less random exposure to utterances in it.
been hotly disputed, with critics arguing that
Human
the
construct
apes
have
language
not
demonstrated
acquisition
understanding
the
in
the
"words"
true
sense
as
children
new,
are
very
soon
grammatically
able
to
acceptable
of
sentences from material they have already
symbolic
heard; unlike the parrot in human society,
abstractions that can be used in new and
they are not limited to mere repetition of
grammatically
utterances.
meaningful
constructions.
Researchers working with the apes, however,
maintain that at least some of the apes have
learned to understand and manipulate the
"words" as abstractions.
What is under debate is the part played by
this innate ability and its exact nature. Until
the
1950s
scholars
considered
language
acquisition to be carried out largely by
analogical creation from observed patterns of
No one inherits the ability to speak a
particular language, but normal children are
born with the ability and the drive to acquire
a language--namely, the one to which they
are predominantly exposed from infancy.
Children
bring
to
this
task
considerable
innate ability, because their exposure is
largely to a random selection of utterances
(apart from any attempts at systematic
teaching that they may encounter) occurring
within earshot or addressed to them. Yet by
late
childhood
progressive
they
stages,
have,
acquired
through
the
basic
vocabulary of the language, together with its
phonological and grammatical structure. This
is substantially the same situation the world
over,
among
literate
and
illiterate
sentences occurring in utterances heard and
understood by the child. Such a view, much
favoured by persons inclined to a behaviorist
interpretation of human learning processes
(e.g., the U.S. linguist Leonard Bloomfield),
stressed
between
the
the
very
evident
structures
differences
of
different
languages, particularly on the surface. Since
the late 1950s, a number of linguists have
been placing much more emphasis on the
inherent grammar-building disposition and
competence of the human brain, which is
activated by exposure to utterances in a
language, especially during childhood, in
such a way that it fits the utterances into
predetermined
general
categories
and
structures. Such linguists, inheritors of the
66
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
17th- and 18th-century interest in "universal
indicates
grammar," put their stress on the underlying
similar worlds of experience in their various
similarities of all languages, more especially
languages.
in the deeper areas of grammatical analysis
(for the distinction between deep structure
and surface structure in grammar, see the
article
linguistics:
Transformational-
generative grammar).
that
people
are
talking
about
Languages in part create the world in which
men live. Of course, many words do name
existing bits and pieces of earth and heaven:
"stone,"
"tree,"
"dog,"
"woman,"
"star,"
"cloud," and so on. Others, however, do not
so much pick out what is there as classify it
ENCYCLOPIEDIA
BRITANNICA
LANGUAGE
and organize one's relations with it and with
each other with regard to it. A range of living
creatures are mammals or are vertebrates,
LEXICAL MEANING
because people classify them in these ways,
among others, by applying selected criteria
The other component of sentence meaning is
word meaning, the individual meanings of
the words in a sentence, as lexical items. The
concept of word meaning is a familiar one.
Dictionaries list words and in one way or
another state their meanings. It is regarded
and so determining the denotation of the
words mammal and vertebrate. Plants are
vegetables or weeds according as groups of
people classify them, and different plants are
included and excluded by such classifications
in different languages and different cultures.
as a sensible question to ask of any word in
a language, "What does it mean?" This
Time and its associated vocabulary ("year,"
question, like many others about language,
"month,"
is easier to ask than to answer.
"yesterday," "tomorrow," and so on) do not
It is through lexical resources that languages
refer to discrete sections of reality but enable
maintain
open-ended
people to impose some sort* of order, in
commitments demand. Every language has a
agreement with others, on the processes of
vocabulary of many thousands of words,
change observed in the world. Personal
though not all are in active use, and some
pronouns pick out the persons speaking,
are known only to relatively few speakers.
spoken to, and spoken about; but some
Perhaps
in
languages make different distinctions in their
considering vocabularies is the assumption
pronouns from those made in English. For
that the words of different languages, or at
example, in Malay, kita, which means "we,"
least their nouns, verbs, and adjectives, label
including the person addressed, is distinct
the same inventory of things, processes, and
from kami, a form for "we" that includes the
qualities in the world but unfortunately label
speaker and a third person or persons but
them with different labels from language to
excludes the person addressed. In Japanese
language. If this were so, translation would
and in several other languages, a variety of
be easier than it is; but the fact that
words denoting the 1st and 2nd persons
translation, though often difficult, is possible
indicate
the
the
flexibility
their
commonest
delusion
"day,"
additionally
"hour,"
the
"minute,"
observed
or
67
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
intended
social
relationship
of
those
has been traced in several languages.
involved.
Other
"small" for expressing things of small size
word
meanings
are
even
more
All this, however, is a very small part of the
in
vocabulary of any language. For by far the
consequence harder to translate. "Right" and
largest number of words in a language there
"wrong," "theft," "inheritance," "property,"
is no direct association between sound and
"debt," "sin," and "crime" (as different sorts
meaning. English "horse," German Pferd,
of wrongdoing) are just a few of the words
French cheval, Latin equus, and Greek hippos
regulating one's conduct and relations with
are all unrelated to the animal so named,
one's
culture.
except that these words are so used in the
Translation becomes progressively harder as
languages concerned. This is what is meant
one moves to languages of more remote
by the term arbitrary in the second definition
cultures, and it has been said that it requires
of language quoted at the beginning of this
"a unification of cultural context." Insofar as
article.
a person's understanding of the universe and
arbitrary, because the greater part of the
of the relations between himself and other
world and of man's experience is not directly
people is closely linked with the language he
associated with any kind of noise, and it is a
speaks,
the
contingent, though universal, fact of history
evidence confirms this assumption, that the
and biology that sound and not the material
child
of some other sense is the basis of human
language
and
fellows
it
culture
in
must
a
be
progressively
bound,
and
particular
assumed,
and
acquires
such
Vocabulary
has
to
be
largely
understanding along with his language.
language.
The great majority of word shapes bear no
The relations between sentence structure
direct relation to their lexical meanings. If
and structural meanings are also largely
they did, languages would be more alike.
arbitrary and tacitly conventional. Though
What are called onomatopoeic words are
loudness and stress for emphasis and certain
rather similar in shape through different
linguistic indications of anger, excitement,
languages: French coucou, English "cuckoo,"
and
and German Kuckuck directly mimic the call
nonlinguistic ejaculations and are somewhat
of the bird. English "dingdong" and German
similar
bim-bam share several sound features in
intonations and features such as word order,
common that partially resemble the clanging
word inflection, and grammatical particles,
of bells. More abstractly, some direct "sound
used in maintaining distinctions in structural
symbolism" has been seen between certain
meaning,
sound types and visual or tactile shapes.
languages.
the
like
across
are
more
language
differ
closely
akin
divisions,
markedly
in
to
actual
different
Most people agree that the made-up word
"oomboolu" would better designate a round,
bulbous object than a spiky one. In addition,
SEMANTIC FLEXIBILITY
the appropriateness of the vowel sound
represented by ee in English "wee" and i in
French
petit
"small"
and
Italian
piccolo
Not
only
are
word
meanings
somewhat
different in different languages; they are not
68
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
fixed for all time in any one language.
colour
Semantic changes take place all along (see
however, recent research by Brent Berlin and
below), and at any moment the semantic
Paul Kay has tried to show that "there exist
area covered by a word is indeterminately
universally
bordered and differs from context to context.
perceptual color categories" that serve as
This is a further aspect and condition of the
reference points for the colour words of a
inherent
language,
and
necessary
flexibility
of
vocabularies
for
of
languages
humans
whatever
differ,
eleven
number
basic
may
be
regularly employed at any time.
language.
Ordinarily,
GENERAL AND SPECIFIC DESIGNATIONS
considerable
indeterminate
areas
designation
in
of
colour
vocabulary and in other fields are tolerated;
between "red" and "purple" and between
A person can be as precise or as imprecise as
"purple" and "blue" there are hues that one
he needs or wishes to be. In general, words
would hesitate to assign firmly to one or the
are
other
fairly
imprecise;
yet
for
particular
and
on
which
there
would
be
purposes their meanings can be tightened
considerable personal disagreement. When
up, usually by bringing in more words or
greater precision than normal is required--
phrases to divide up a given field in more
as, for example, in listing paint or textile
detail. "Good" contrasts generally with "bad";
colours--all kinds of additional terms can be
but one can, for example, grade students as
brought into service to supplement the usual
"first-class," "excellent," "very good," "good,"
vocabulary:
"fair," "poor," and "failed" (or "bad"). In this
"lemon," "blush pink," and so on.
case, "good" now covers a restricted and
The vocabulary of kinship terms varies from
relatively low place in a field of associated
language
terms. Colour words get their meanings from
differences. English distinguishes the nearer
their mutual contrasts. The field of visually
kinsfolk by sex: "mother, father"; "sister,
discriminable hues is very large and goes far
brother"; "aunt, uncle"; and others. Other
beyond the resources of any vocabulary as it
languages, such as Malay, make a lexical
is normally used. Children learn the central
distinction of age the primary one, with
or basic colour words of their language fairly
separate words for elder brother or sister
early and at the same time; such terms as
and younger brother or sister. Still other
red and green are normally learned before
languages--for
subdivisions such as crimson and scarlet or
Indian ones--use different words for the
chartreuse. It is well known that languages
sister of a man and for the sister of a
make their primary divisions of the spectrum
woman. But beyond this any language can
of colours in different places; Japanese aoi
be as precise as the situation demands in kin
covers many of the hues referred to in
designation. When it is necessary, English
English by "green" and "blue," while "blue"
speakers
covers much of the range of the two Russian
"female
words goluboy and siny. While the actual
category it is possible to distinguish "first and
to
can
"off-white,"
language,
cousin,"
and
cream,"
reflecting
example,
specify
"light
some
cultural
American
"elder
sister"
within
the
and
overall
69
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
second
once
change very quickly both in word stock and
removed," distinctions that it is ordinarily
in word meanings. Consider as an example
pedantic to make.
the changes wrought by modern technology
The
cousins"
best
and
example
"cousins
of
infinite
precision
available from a strictly limited lexical stock
is in the field of arithmetic. Between any two
whole
numbers
a
further
fractional
or
decimal number may always be inserted, and
this may go on indefinitely: between 10 and
1
11, 10
1
in the vocabularies of all European languages
since 1945. Before that date "transistor" and
"cosmonaut" did not exist, and "nuclear
disarmament" would scarcely have had any
clear meaning.
Every language can alter its vocabulary very
1/8
easily, which means that every speaker can
the
without effort adopt new words, accept or
mathematician or the physical scientist is
,invent new meanings for existing words, and
able
of
of course, cease to use some words or cease
to
his
to use them in certain meanings. Dictionaries
importance
of
list some words and some meanings as
quantitative statements in the sciences--any
"obsolete" or "obsolescent" to indicate this
thermometric
more
process. No two speakers share precisely the
are
same vocabulary of words readily used and
reasonably available in the vocabulary of a
readily understood, though they may speak
language ("hot," "warm," "cool," "tepid,"
the
"cold,"
naturally have the great majority of words in
/2 (10.5), 10
(10.125),
to
and
so
achieve
quantitative
purposes;
distinctions
on.
any
of
and
contains
temperature
so
degree
appropriate
the
scale
Thus,
desired
precision
hence
/4 (10.25), 10
on).
For
far
than
this
reason
mathematics has been described as the ideal
use of language, but for many purposes in
everyday life the very imprecision of natural
languages is the source of their strength and
adaptability.
same
dialect.
They
will,
however,
their vocabularies in common.
Languages
have
various
resources
for
effecting changes in vocabulary. Meanings of
existing words may change. With the virtual
disappearance of falconry as a sport in
England, "lure" has lost its original meaning
ENCYCLOPEEDIA
BRITANNICA
LANGUAGE
of a bunch of feathers on a string by which
hawks were recalled to their handler and is
used now mainly in its metaphorical sense of
NEOLOGISMS
enticement.
The
additional
meaning
of
"nuclear" has already been mentioned; one
Every living language can readily be adapted
to meet changes occurring in the life and
culture of its speakers, and the main weight
may list it with words such as computer and
jet, which acquired new ranges of meaning in
the mid-20th century.
vocabulary.
All languages have the means of creating
Grammatical and phonological structures are
new words to bear new meanings. These can
relatively stable and change noticeably over
be new creations; "Kodak" is one such,
centuries rather than decades (see below
invented at the end of the 19th century by
Linguistic
George Eastman; "chortle," now in general
of
such
changes
change);
falls
but
on
vocabularies
can
70
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
use, was a jocular creation of the English
dolichokephalikos ever having been used in
writer
Ancient Greek. The same is true of Latinate
and
mathematician
Lewis
Carroll
(creator of Alice in Wonderland); and "gas"
creations
was formed in the 17th century by the
"longiverbosity." The long tradition of looking
Belgian chemist and physician Jan Baptist
to Latin and, since the Renaissance, to Greek
van
also
Helmont
as
a
technical
term
in
such
as
as
the
"reinvestment"
languages
chaos
mostly
formation of learned and scientific vocabulary
languages follow definite patterns in their
in English and other European languages
innovations. Words can be made up without
from these sources. The dependence on the
limit from existing words or from parts of
classical languages in Europe is matched by
words; the sources of "railroad," "railway,"
a similar use of Sanskrit, words for certain
and "aircraft" are obvious, and so are the
parts of learned vocabulary in some modern
sources of "disestablishment," first cited in
Indian
1806 and thereafter used with particular
classical
reference to the status of the Church of
phenomena are examples of loanwords, one
England. The controversy over the relations
of
between church and state in the 19th and
extension.
But
languages
the
(Sanskrit
language
readiest
the
European
civilization,
void").
alive
of
chemistry, loosely modelled on the Greek
("formless
keeps
and
of
sources
continuing
being
India).
for
the
Such
vocabulary
early 20th centuries gave rise to a chain of
new
words
as
the
debate
proceeded:
Loanwords are words taken into a language
"disestablishmentarian,"
from another language (the term borrowing
"Antidisestablishmentarian"
"antidisestablishmentarianism." Usually, the
bits and pieces of words used in this way are
those found in other such combinations, but
this is not always so. The technical term
permafrost (terrain that never thaws, as in
the Arctic) contains a bit of "permanent"
probably not hitherto found in any other
occurs when new things come into speakers'
experiences as the result of contacts with
speakers of other languages. This is part of
the history of every language, except for one
spoken by an impossibly isolated community.
"Tea" from Chinese, "coffee" from
Arabic,
word.
A particular source of technical neologisms in
European languages has been the words and
word elements of Latin and Greek. This is
part
is used for the process). Most obviously, this
of
the
cultural
history
of
western
Europe, in so many ways the continuation of
Greco-Roman civilization. "Microbiology" and
"dolichocephalic"
are
words
well
formed
according to the rules of Greek as they would
be taken over into English, but no records
survive
of
mikrobiologia
and
and
"tomato,"
"potato,"
and
"tobacco" from American Indian languages
are
familiar
examples
of
loanwords
designating new products that have been
added to the vocabulary of English. In more
abstract areas, several modern languages of
India and Pakistan contain many words that
relate to government, industry, and current
technology taken in from English. This is the
result of British rule in these countries up to
independence and the worldwide use of
English as a language of international science
71
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
since then.
In
no more than subvocal speech, as some
general,
completely
loanwords
are
assimilated
to
rapidly
the
and
prevailing
grammatical and phonological patterns of the
borrowing
language.
The
German
word
Kindergarten, literally "children's garden,"
was borrowed into English in the middle of
the 19th century to designate an informal
school for young children. It is now regularly
pronounced as an English word, and the
plural is kindergartens (not Kindergarten, as
in German). Occasionally, however, some
loanwords
retain
marks
of
their
foreign
origin: examples include Latin plurals such as
cacti and narcissi (as contrasted with native
patterns such as cactuses and narcissuses).
Languages
differ
in
their
acceptance
behaviourists have proposed; most people
can think pictorially and in simple diagrams,
some to a greater degree than others, and
one
has
rationally
intervening
century
the
experience
to
external
of
stimuli
verbalization.
thinkers
saw,
responding
But,
man's
without
as
18th-
rationality
developed and still goes hand in hand with
his use of language, and a good deal of the
flexibility of languages has been exploited in
man's
progressive
understanding
and
conceptualizing of the world he lives in and
of his relations with other men. Different
cultures and different periods have seen this
process
differently
developed.
The
anthropological linguist Edward Sapir put it
of
well: "The 'real world' is to a large extent
loanwords. An alternative way of extending
unconsciously built up on the language habits
vocabulary to cope with new products is to
of the group."
create a descriptive compound from within
one's own language. English "aircraft" and
."aeroplane". are, respectively, examples of
a native compound and a Greek loan creation
for the same thing. English "potato" is a
loan;
French
"apple
of
pomme
the
earth")
de
terre
is
a
(literally,
descriptive
compound. Chinese is particularly resistant
to
loans;
"aircraft,"
"railway,"
and
"telephone" are translated by newly formed
compounds meaning literally "fly machine,"
"fire
vehicle,"
and
"lightning
(electricity)
language."
Much
of
this
lies
in
the
irrecoverable
prehistory of languages. The idea that there
are
still
some
primitive,
almost
"fossil"
languages, embodying a very low level of
conceptualization, is a vain one. All that can
be said is that languages are different and
that, in part, the world is seen differently
through the eyes of speakers of different
languages. But, in some cases, part of the
lexical
adaptation
of
a
language
to
developing thought patterns can be followed
through. Ancient Greece saw a wholly unique
growth and flowering of civilization in the 1st
millennium BC, which has put virtually the
LANGUAGE AND CONCEPTUALIZATION
entire civilized world in its debt ever since. In
Greek, along with the emergence of certain
abstract concepts and ways of thinking, one
The ability to speak and the ability to
can follow some of the changes of word
conceptualize are very closely linked, and the
meanings and the coining of new words that
child learns both these skills together at the
accompanied this. As an example, the word
same time. This is not to say that thinking is
dike originally meant "way" or "manner";
72
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
thereafter, it acquired the meaning of the
right way of doing something, the right way
of behaving, and finally abstract right. Its
derivative dikaiosyne, traditionally translated
"justice," became the subject of philosophical
debate
and
analysis
by
the
Greek
philosophers and covered almost the whole
range of moral obligation involved in the
relations
of
one
person
with
others
in
society. Similar debate and refinement of key
terms in the various branches of thought
covered by Greek philosophy can be followed
through; indeed, the term philosophy is
European languages and some others.
An American Indian language is reported not
to do this nearly so readily; it uses cardinal
numbers only for discrete, countable objects.
A
separate
class
of
words
aligns
the
vocabulary of sequential time with that of
intensity, so that repetition of the same
activity again and again (to a European) is
rather the intensification of a single activity.
Certain differences in cultural attitudes and
world outlook are said to accompany this
kind of linguistic difference.
directly. taken from Greek philosophia, a
Spatial terms are also freely used in the
compound formed not later than the 5th
expression
century BC from philo- (compare philein "to
relationships: "higher temperature," "higher
love") and sophia "wisdom" to refer to
quality," "lower expectations," "summit of a
abstract
a
career," "far removed from any sensible
fundamental nature about the world and
course of action," "a distant relationship,"
man's place in it.
"close friends," "over and above what had
speculation
and
debate
of
More recently, the development of the lexical
resources of the languages of civilization can
be observed, in one way or another, as they
keep up with the scientific progress that
dominates contemporary life.
of
other,
more
abstract
been said." It has been theorized that the
linguistic
forms
most
closely
associated
semantically with the expression of relations-case inflections in languages exhibiting this
category--are originally and basically spatial
in meaning. This "localist" theory, as it has
An examination of the lexical structure of
been called, has been debated since the
languages throws some light on the relations
beginning of the 19th century and probably
among
man's
cannot be accepted as it stands, but the fact
conceptualization. Spatial relations and their
that it can be proposed and argued shows
expression seem to lie very deep in the
the dominant position that spatial relations
content of vocabulary. Words referring to
hold
time are drawn metaphorically from spatial
verbalization of relations in other realms of
words with great frequency: "a long/short
thought.
time,"
various
"the
aspects
near
of
future,"
"far
ahead/separated in time." Although time is a
continuum, people readily divide it up into
bits and record it rather as they do materials
extended
in
space:
"five
years,"
"three
months," "six seconds." This last use of
vocabulary may be a particular trait of
in
the
conceptualization
and
It has been maintained that the human brain
has a preference for binary oppositions, or
polarities. If this is so, it will help explain the
numerous pairs of related antonyms that are
found: "good, bad"; "hot, cold"; "high, low";
"right, wrong"; "dark, light"; and so on. For
finer discriminations, these terms can be put
73
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
into more narrowly specified fields containing
matter of what they are saying. They are
more than two terms taken together, but
also able to conceal such feelings as one
their most general use is in binary contrasts.
form of linguistic deception, though this is
Here, however, one term seems to represent
usually a harder task. These same resources
the
are also exploited to arouse appropriate
fundamental
semantic
category
in
question. In asking about size, one asks
feelings
"How big is it?"; about weight, "How heavy is
independently of any factual content. This is
and
it?"; and about evaluation, "How good is it?"
the chosen field of the propagandist, the
It is possible to ask how small, how light, or
preacher, the orator, the barrister, and the
how bad something is, but such questions
advertiser.
All
presuppose that the thing in mind has
intonation
and
already been graded on the small side, on
different ways; a person can produce and
the light side, or on the bad side.
recognize the intonation and type of voice
employed
responses
in
in
others,
languages
voice
make
qualities
coaxing,
in
again
use
in
of
these
pleading,
in
browbeating, and in threatening, in pleasure,
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
and in anger, as well as those appropriate for
LANGUAGE
matter-of-fact statements and the exposition
of details about which the speaker has little
STYLE
or no emotional involvement. To describe
exactly which phonetic features are brought
The capacity for conceptualization possessed
into play is quite another matter, involving
and developed by languages is by no means
advanced
the only purpose language serves. A person's
discrimination and analysis. This is one of the
speech, supplemented by facial expression
areas of speech about which all too little is
and gesture when speaker and hearer are
currently known.
mutually in sight, indicates and is intended to
Grammar
and
indicate a great deal more than factual
involved,
though
differently
in
information, inquiries, and requests. The fact
language.
English
speakers
know
that some of these other functions are
difference between "Come and give me a
performed by parts of a language usually
hand!" and "Could you possibly come and
mastered later by foreign learners gives rise
help me?"; "He's got the gift of gab" and "He
to misinterpretation and often makes foreign
is
speakers appear rude or insensitive when
speaker" are each appropriate for different
they are, in actuality, simply deploying fewer
occasions. By greetings and leave-takings a
resources in the language.
great deal of intended interpretation of the
Within the range of the structural and lexical
social relations between individuals can be
possibilities of a language, speakers are able
expressed.
to convey their emotional attitudes and
manners" taught to children and expected of
feelings toward the person or persons they
adults; these aspects of language behaviour
are
vary from culture to culture, but in none are
addressing
and
toward
the
subject
competence
undoubtedly
in
vocabulary
a
Much
fluent
of
this
phonetic
are
and
is
equally
each
the
persuasive
the
"good
they wholly absent. It is, of course, equally
74
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
possible to be deliberately bad mannered or
deliberately to flout a linguistic convention or
expectation, but this can be done only by
knowing what is expected in the situation.
The
refinements
of
rudeness,
like
the
refinements of politeness, insofar as the use
of language is involved, require a very good
knowledge of a language if it is other than
one's mother tongue.
feelings.
Stylistic
differences
mature
native
are
available
speakers
and
in
to
all
literate
communities to all writers, as well as to
foreigners who know a second language
really well. But there is undoubtedly a
considerable range of skills in exploiting all
the resources of a language, and, whereas all
normal
adults
are
expected
to
speak
Written language is no less adapted to
correctly and, if literate, to write correctly,
conveying
communities have always recognized and
more
than
just
factual
information, asking factual questions, and
usually
giving instructions. Intonation and tone of
preeminently skilled in particular styles, as
voice are clearly not reproducible in existing
orators,
orthographic systems, but part of the skill of
scribes, belletrists, and so forth. This is the
a novelist or a reporter is to convey these
material of literature. Once it is realized that
features
descriptions.
oral literature is just as much literature as
Additionally, grammatical and lexical choices
the more familiar written literature, it can be
are available to the writer, as reading the
understood that there is no language devoid
examples above will show, and everyone
of its own literature.
of
speech
in
his
knows the special artistry and techniques
involved in composing written memorandums
or letters if they are to achieve precisely the
purpose for which they are intended.
have
preachers,
as
poets,
been
considered
study,
and
worthy
of
cultivation.
In
though
not
all
written
material is deliberately preserved; much of it
is deliberately destroyed, and, although the
time a person speaks or writes he does so in
chance survival of inscriptions on stone or
one or another style, deliberately chosen
clay
with the sort of considerations in mind that
archaeologist and historian, a good deal of
have just been mentioned, even though in
such material was never intended to survive.
speech the choice may often be routine.
Literature, on the other hand, is essentially
Sometimes style, especially in literature, is
regarded as of permanent worth. Printing
contrasted with "plain, everyday language."
and,
In using such plain, unmarked types of
manuscripts are the means of preserving
speaking or writing, however, one is no less
written literature. In illiterate communities
choosing a particular style,; even though it is
certain persons memorize narratives, poems,
the most commonly used one and the most
songs, prayers, ritual texts, and the like, and
neutral in that it conveys and arouses the
these are passed on, with new creations in
least
such styles, to succeeding generations. Such
or
of
easy,
a
involvement
dialect
fairly
language, may be referred to as steles. Each
emotional
any
individuals
writing, the nature of written surfaces makes
a
within
storytellers,
preservation,
this
or
certain
In all languages certain forms of utterance
These variations, written and spoken, within
language
respected
personal
is
in
of
the
earlier
greatest
days,
value
the
to
copying
the
of
75
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
skills, preservative as well as creative, are
likely to be lost along with much of the
surrounding culture under the impact of
literacy. Here, modern technology in the
guise of the tape recorder has come to the
rescue, and many workers in the field of
unwritten languages are recording specimens
of oral literatures with transcriptions and
translations
requisite
while
speakers
knowledge
and
having
skills
are
the
still
available. A great amount of such material,
however, must have been irretrievably lost
from
illiterate
cultures
before
the
20th
century.
language into another.
The special vocabularies and linguistic forms
used in several games have already been
mentioned. Here one may point to the
widespread
existence
of
verbal
games
themselves, based on the accidental features
of a particular language. English-speaking
children are accustomed to riddles, puns,
and spelling games: "I spy with my little eye
something beginning with p" (notice the
regular formula with which this opens).
These and similar word games have been
found all over the world. Homer records the
ounninq use by Odysseus of No-man (Greek
All languages have a literature, but different
Outis) as his name when he was about to
types
different
attack Cyclops, who then roared out "No-
languages and in different cultures. A warrior
of
man is killing me!" and so failed to attract
caste
any help (Odyssey 9:366-408). In some
or
literature
a
flourish
general
respect
in
for
martial
prowess fosters heroic verse or prose tales;
languages
strongly
mystery
distinctive tones, tone puns (words alike but
cults favour ritualistic types of oral or written
for having different tones) are a form of word
literature; urban yearnings for the supposed
play.
joys
developed
of
country
magical
life
and
encourage
the
development of pastoral poetry, itself an
outgrowth of the songs of shepherds and
rural workers; and the same sense of the
jadedness of city life is the best ground for
the cultivation of satirical verse and prose, a
form of literature probably confined largely
to urban civilizations. Every language has the
resources to meet these and other cultural
requirements
in
its
literature
as
the
occasions arise, but some literary forms are
more deeply involved in the structure of the
language itself; this is made clear by the
relative difficulty of translating certain types
of literature and literary styles from one
language to another. Poetry, in particular, is
closely
bound
to
the
structure
of
the
language in which it is composed, and poetry
that
make
use
of
lexically
As an intellectual challenge, the crossword
puzzle
in
all
its
varieties,
originally
an
American development early in the 20th
century, has maintained and indeed greatly
increased its popularity over much of the
literate
world
that
employs
the
Latin
(Roman) alphabet. Crossword-puzzle solvers
rely heavily on the relative probabilities of
letter sequences in written words to suggest
an answer to a partly filled line; and,
depending on the particular style of the
originator, crossword clues make use of
many
sorts
of
formal
features,
in
the
language, among them spelling puns, spoken
puns, and accidental letter sequences in
words and phrases. To be able to solve a
crossword
puzzle
in
a
second
language
is notoriously difficult to translate from one
76
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
shows a high degree of skill and knowledge
definition
of
culture
by
the
English
therein.
anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tvlor. As
thus defined and envisaged, culture covers a
very wide area of human life and behaviour;
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA LANGUAGE
and language is manifestly a part, probably
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
the most important part, of it.
Although the faculty of language acquisition
It has been seen that language is much more
than
the
external
communication
formulated
expression
of
internal
independently
verbalization.
In
and
thoughts
of
their
demonstrating
the
inadequacy and inappropriateness of such a
view of language, attention has already been
drawn to the ways in which one's mother
tongue is intimately and in all sorts of details
related
to
the
rest
of
one's
life
in
a
community and to smaller groups within that
community. This is true of all peoples and all
languages;
it
is
a
universal
fact
about
language.
and language use is innate and inherited,
and there is legitimate debate over the
extent of this innateness, every individual's
language is "acquired by man as a member
of society," along with and at the same time
as other aspects of that society's culture in
which he is brought up. Society and language
are mutually indispensable. Language can
have developed only in a social setting,
however this may have been structured, and
human society in any form even remotely
resembling
what
is
known
today
or
is
recorded in history could be maintained only
among people speaking and understanding a
language in common use.
Anthropologists
speak
of
the
relations
between language and culture. It is, indeed,
more in accordance-with reality to consider
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
language as a part of culture. "Culture" is
LANGUAGE
here being used, as it is throughout this
article, in the anthropological sense, to refer
to all aspects of human life insofar as they
are
determined
or
conditioned
eats or drinks is not in itself cultural; it is a
biological necessity that he does so for the
preservation of life. That he eats particular
and
refrains
from
eating
other
substances, though they may be perfectly
edible and nourishing, and that he eats and
drinks at particular times of day and in
certain
places
are
matters
of
culture,
something "acquired by man as a member of
society,"
according
to
the
OF
LANGUAGE
AND
CULTURE
by
membership in a society. The fact that a man
foods
TRANSMISSION
now-classic
Language is transmitted culturally; that is, it
is learned. 'To a lesser extent it is taught,
when parents deliberately encourage their
children to talk and to respond to talk,
correct their mistakes, and enlarge their
vocabulary. But it must be emphasized that
children very largely acquire their mother
tongue
(i.e.,
their
first
language)
by
"grammar construction" from exposure to a
random collection of utterances that they
77
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
encounter. What is classed as language
behaviour has materially altered during the
teaching in school either relates to second-
period available for the study of human
language
it
history, say the last 5,000 years or so,
concerns the pupils' first language, is in the
except, of course, when man's intervention
main directed at reading and writing, the
by
study of literature, formal grammar, and
interference has itself brought about such
alleged standards of correctness, which may
alterations. Nor do members of the same
not be those of all the pupils' regional or
species differ markedly in behaviour over
social dialects. All of what goes under the
widely scattered areas, again apart from
title
differences
acquisition
of
language
or,
insofar
teaching
as
at
school
domestication
or
other
resulting
forms
from
of
human
prior
interference. Bird songs are reported to differ
knowledge of a first language in its basic
somewhat from place to place within species,
vocabulary and essential structure, acquired
but there is little other evidence for areal
before school age.
divergence. By contrast with this unity of
presupposes
and
relies
on
the
If language is transmitted as part of culture,
it is no less true that culture as a whole is
transmitted very largely through language,
insofar as it is explicitly taught. The fact that
mankind has a history in the sense that
animals do not is entirely the result of
animal behaviour, human cultures are as
divergent as are human languages over the
world, and they can and do change all the
time, sometimes with great rapidity, as
among the industrialized nations of the 20th
century.
language. So far as researchers can tell,
The processes of linguistic change and its
animals learn through spontaneous imitation
consequences will be treated below. Here,
or through imitation taught by other animals.
cultural change in general and its relation to
This does not exclude the performance of
language will be considered. By far the
quite complex and substantial pieces of
greatest part of learned behaviour, which is
cooperative
a
what culture involves, is transmitted by vocal
beaver's dam or an. ants' nest, nor does it
instruction, not by imitation. Some imitation
preclude the intricate social organization of
is clearly involved, especially in infancy, in
some species, such as bees. But it does
the learning process, but proportionately this
mean that changes in organization and work
is hardly significant.
will
be
physical
the
gradual
work,
result
such
of
as
mutation
cumulatively reinforced by survival value;
those groups whose behaviour altered in any
way
that
increased
their
security
from
predators or from famine would survive in
greater numbers than others. This would be
an extremely slow process, comparable to
the
evolution
of
the
different
species
themselves.
There is no reason to believe that animal
Through the use of language, any skills,
techniques,
products,
modes
of
social
control, and so on can be explained, and the
end results of anyone's inventiveness can be
made available to anyone else with the
intellectual ability to grasp what is being
said. Spoken language alone would thus
vastly
extend
the
amount
of
usable
information in any human community and
speed up the acquisition of new skills and the
78
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
adaptation
of
techniques
to
changed
unconscious
and
involuntary
process
of
circumstances or new environments. With
acculturation, but the importance of the
the invention and diffusion of writing, this
linguistic manifestations of social status and
process
of social hierarchies is not lost on aspirants
widened
immediately,
and
the
relative permanence of writing made the
for
diffusion of information still easier. Printing
societies. The deliberate cultivation of an
and the increase in literacy only further
appropriate
dialect,
intensified this process. Modern techniques
grammatical,
and
for almost instantaneous transmission of the
been the self-imposed task of many persons
written and spoken word all over the globe,
wishing "to better themselves" and the butt
together with the rapid translation services
of unkind ridicule on the part of persons
now available between the major languages
already feeling themselves secure in their
of the world, have made it possible for
social status or unwilling to attempt any
usable knowledge, of all sorts to be made
change in it. Much of the comedy in George
accessible to people almost anywhere in the
Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion turns on Eliza's
world in a very short time. This accounts for
need to unlearn her native Cockney if she is
the great rapidity of scientific, technological,
to rise in the social scale. Conversely, it is
political,
the
readily apparent today that middle class
contemporary world. All of this, whether
people, mostly adolescents, who for some
ultimately for the good or ill of mankind,
reason want to "opt out" of the social group
must be attributed to the dominant role of
of
language in the transmission of culture.
abandon the distinctive aspects of the social
and
social
change
in
personal
their
advancement
parents
in
phonetic
make
in
stratified
its
lexical,
features,
every
has
effort
to
dialect that would mark them, along with
dress and general behaviour, as members of
LANGUAGE
AND
SOCIAL
DIFFERENTIATION AND ASSIMILATION
a group whose mores they are, at least
temporarily, affecting to reject. Culturally
and subculturally determined taboos play a
The
part
language
played
in
by
variations
differentiating
within
social
a
and
occupational groups in a society has already
been
referred
transmission
to
above.
this
tends
In
to
language
be
self-
perpetuating unless deliberately interfered
with. Children are in general brought up
within the social group to which their parents
and immediate family circle belong, and they
part in all this, and persons desirous of
moving up or down in the social scale have
to learn what words to use and what words
to avoid if they are to be accepted and to
"belong" in their new position. All through
the ages, a good part of the material for
"comedies of manners" has come from the
social role of language variation within a
society.
learn the dialect and speaking styles of that
The same considerations apply to changing
group along with the rest of the subculture
one's language as to changing one's dialect.
and behavioral traits and attitudes that are
Language
changing
is
characteristic
individual
and
generally
of
it.
This
is
a
largely
is
harder
for
a
the
rarer
occurrence, but it is likely to be widespread
79
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
in any mass immigration movement. In the
make such geographical factors of less and
19th and early 20th centuries, the eagerness
less account. More potent for much of the
with which immigrants and the children of
20th century were political restrictions on the
immigrants from continental Europe living in
movement of people and of ideas, such as
the United States learned and insisted on
divided
speaking English is an illustration of their
Communist eastern Europe; the frontiers
realization that English was the linguistic
between these two political blocs represented
badge of
much more of a cultural dividing line than
full membership
in their new
homeland at the time when the country was
western
Europe
from
formerly
any other European frontiers.
proud to consider itself as the melting pot in
which people of diverse linguistic and cultural
origins would become citizens of a unified
The distribution of the various components of
community.
cultures
The same sort of self-perpetuation, in the
absence of deliberate rejection, operates in
the special languages of games and of trades
and professions (these are in the main
concerned with special vocabularies). Game
learners,
apprentices,
and
professional
students learn the locutions together with
the rest of the game or the job. The specific
words and phrases occur in the teaching
process and are observed in use, and the
novice is only too eager to display an easy
competence with such phraseology as a mark
of his full membership of the group; e.g.,
golfers are keen to talk of birdies, fairways,
and slicing.
differs,
languages
may
and
the
differ
distribution
from
that
of
of
nonlinguistic cultural features. This results
from the varying ease and rapidity with
which changes may be acquired or enforced
and
from
the
historical
circumstances
responsible for these changes. In mid- to
late-20th-century Europe, as the result of
World War II, a major political and cultural
division had cut across an area of relative
linguistic unity in East and West Germany. It
is significant, however, that differences of
vocabulary and usage were soon noticeable
in the German speech from each side,
overlying earlier differences attributed to
regional dialects; although the two countries
were unified in 1990, the east-west division
Languages and variations within languages
may have marked a definite dialect boundary
play both a unifying and a diversifying role in
within the German language as well.
human society as a whole. Language is a
part of culture, but culture is a complex
totality containing many different features,
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
and the boundaries between cultural features
LANGUAGE
are not clear-cut, nor do they all coincide.
Physical
barriers
mountains,
and
such
as
oceans,
wide
rivers
high
LANGUAGE LEARNING
constitute
impediments to human intercourse and to
Every physiologically and mentally normal
culture contacts, though modern technology
person has learned the main structure and
in the fields of travel and communications
basic vocabulary of his mother tongue by the
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
end of childhood. It has been pointed out
as speakers. The credit that some individuals
that the process of first-language acquisition
acquire in certain
as a spoken medium of communication is
largely
achieved
from
random
exposure.
There is legitimate controversy, however,
over the nature and extent of the positive
contribution that the human brain brings to
the activity of grammar construction, the
activity by which the child develops an
communities for "speaking correctly" is a
different
matter,
speaking
as
usually
one's
the
mother
result
of
tongue
a
prestigious standard dialect among people
most of whom speak another, less favoured
one.
indefinitely creative competence from the
finite
data
that
make
up
his
actual
BILINGUALISM
experience of the language. Creativity is
what must be stressed as the product of
first-language acquisition. By far the greater
The
number of all the sentences anyone hears
subsequently acquired language is quite a
and utters during his lifetime are new; that
different matter. Except for one form of
is, they have not occurred before in his
bilingualism (see below), it is a deliberate
personal experience. But individuals find no
activity undertaken when one has already
difficulty at all in understanding at once
nearly or fully acquired the basic structure
almost everything they hear nor for the most
and vocabulary of one's first language. Of
part in producing sentences to suit the
course,
requirements of every situation. This very
significantly
ease
linguistic
language. It is only in encountering a second
competence makes it hard to realize its
language that one realizes how complex
extent.
reproduced
language is and how much effort must be
sentences in most speakers' experience are
devoted to subsequent acquisition. It has
the stereotyped forms of greeting and leave-
been said that the principal obstacle to
taking and certain formalized responses to
learning a language is knowing one already,
recurrent
shopping,
and it may also be that the faculty of
cooperative activities in repetitive jobs, the
grammar construction exhibited in childhood
stylized parts of church services, and the
is one that is gradually lost as childhood
like.
recedes.
Yet, despite this really immense achievement
Whereas every normal person masters his
that the progressive mastery of one's first
mother
language constitutes, it arouses no comment
people vary in their ability to learn additional
and attracts no credit. It is simply part of
languages,
what is expected of one in growing up.
intellectual activities. Situational motivation,
Different people may be singled out for
however, appears to be by far the strongest
praise in certain uses of their language, as
influence on the speed and apparent ease of
good public speakers, authors, poets, tellers
this
of tales, and solvers of puzzles, but not just
experienced by those who learn because
of
creativity
The
only
situations,
in
man's
regularly
such
as
learning
of
many
a
people
more
tongue
just
learning.
second
as
The
never
than
with
and
of
do
their
they
vary
greatest
master
own
unconscious
in
any
first
ease,
other
difficulty
is
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
they are told to or are expected to, without
does, and indeed it probably occupies a
supporting reasons that they can justify.
separate
Given
external
equipment. The question of speed of general
task
is
learning by bilinguals and monolinguals must
achieved much more easily (this, of course,
be left open. It is quite a separate matter
is an observation in no way confined to
from the job of learning, by teaching at
language learning). In Welsh schools it is
home or in school, to read and write in two
found that English children make slower
languages; this undoubtedly is more of a
progress in Welsh when their only apparent
labour than the acquisition of monolingual
reason for learning Welsh is that there are
literacy.
a
motive
compulsion
or
other
than
expectation,
the
Welsh classes. Welsh children, on the other
hand, make rapid progress in English, the
language of most further education, the
newspapers, most television and radio, most
of the better paid jobs, and of any job
outside
Welsh-speaking
areas.
Similar
differences in motivation have accounted for
the excellent standardof
English, French,
and German acquired by educated persons in
the Scandinavian countries and in Holland,
small
countries
whose
languages,
being
spoken by relatively few foreigners, are of
little use in international communication. This
attainment may be compared with the much
poorer
acquisition
showing
among
in
second-language
comparably
educated
persons in England and America, who have
for long been able to rely on foreigners
accommodating
to
their
ignorance
by
speaking and understanding English.
Two
part
types
of
of
the
child's
bilingualism
mental
have
been
distinguished, according to whether the two
languages
were
acquired
from
the
simultaneous experience of the use of both in
the same circumstances and settings or from
exposure to each language used in different
settings (an example of the latter is the
experience of English children living in India
during
the period
of
British
ascendancy
there, learning English from their parents
and an Indian language from their nurses
and family servants). However acquired,
bilingualism leads to mutual interference
between
the
bilingualism
sometimes
two
languages;
within
held
extensive
a
community
is
partly
responsible
for
linguistic change (see below). Interference
may
take
place
in
pronunciation,
in
grammar, and in the meanings of words.
Bilinguals often speak their two languages
It is often held that children brought up
each with "an accent"; i.e., they carry into
bilingually in places in which two languages
each certain pronunciation features from the
are regularly in use are slower in schoolwork
other. The German word order in "He comes
than comparable monolingual children, as a
tomorrow home" has been reported as an
greater amount of mental effort has to be
example of grammatical interference; and in
expended in the mastery of two languages.
Candian
This is by no means proved; and, because
acquired from English the additional meaning
much of a child's language acquisition takes
"introduce,
place in infancy and in the preschool years, it
metropolitan French is presenter).
French
make
the
verb
introduire
acquainted"
(which
has
in
does not represent an effort in the way that
consciously learning a language in school
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
ENCYCLOPLEDIA
BRITANNICA
LANGUAGE
until
the
20th
conferences
century.
among
At
important
representatives
of
different nations, it is usually agreed which
languages shall be officially recognized for
THE
CONTROL
CULTURAL
FOR
registering the decisions reached; and the
SECOND-LANGUAGE
provisions of treaties are interpreted in the
OF
ENDS
LANGUAGE
light
LEARNING
of
texts
in
a
limited
number
of
languages, those of the major participants.
Language, no less than other aspects of
human behaviour, is subject to purposive
Since World War II the dominance of the
interference.
English-speaking
When
people
with
different
peoples
in
science
and
languages need to communicate, various
technology and in international commerce
expedients are open to them, the most
has led to the recognition of English as the
obvious being second-language learning and
major international language in the world of
teaching.
practical
This
takes
time,
effort,
and
affairs,
with
more
and
more
organization, and, when more than two
countries making
languages are involved, the time and effort
English the first foreign language to be
are that much greater. Most people are
taught and thus producing a vast expansion
monolingual,
working
of English-language-teaching programs all
knowledge of three or four languages are
over the world. Those whose native language
much fewer than those with a competence in
is English do not sufficiently realize the
just one second language. Other expedients
amount of effort, by teacher and learner
may also be applied. Ad hoc pidgins for the
alike, that is put into the acquisition of a
restricted
working knowledge of English by educated
and
those
purposes
with
of
a
trade
and
administration were mentioned above. Tacit
or deliberate agreements have been reached
whereby
one
international
language
purposes
is
when
chosen
for
speakers
of
several different languages are involved. In
the Roman Empire, broadly, the western half
used Latin as a lingua franca, and the
eastern half used Greek. In western Europe
during the middle Ages, Latin continued as
the
international
language
of
educated
people, and Latin was the second language
taught
in
schools.
Later,
the
cultural,
diplomatic, and military reputation of France
made French the language of European
diplomacy.
This
use
of
French
as
the
language of international relations persisted
first speakers of other languages.
As
an
alternative
to
the recognition
of
particular natural languages as international
in status, attempts have been made to
invent and propagate new and genuinely
international
languages,
devised
for
the
purpose. Of these, Esperanto, invented by
the Polish-Russian doctor L.L. Zamenhof in
the 19th century, is the best known. Such
languages are generally built up from parts
of the vocabulary and grammatical apparatus
of the better known existing languages of the
world. The relationship between the written
letter
and
systematic
its
than
pronunciation
with
many
is
more
existing
83
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
orthographies (English spelling is notoriously
equal status of English and Irish in public
unreliable as an indication of pronunciation),
notices and official documents, but, despite
and care is taken to avoid the grammatical
such encouragement and the official teaching
irregularities to which all natural languages
of
are subject and also to avoid sounds found
motivation
difficult by many speakers (e.g., the English
disappeared, and the language is giving
th sounds, which most Europeans, apart
ground to English under the international
from
pressures referred to above.
English
speakers,
dislike).
These
artificial languages have not made much
progress, though an international society of
Esperanto speakers does exist.
Irish
in
the
for
state
its
schools,
use
and
a
study
main
has
For the same reasons, a language may be a
target for attack or suppression, if the
authorities
associate
it
with
what
they
consider a disaffected or rebellious group or
NATIONALISTIC
INFLUENCES
ON
LANGUAGE
even just a culturally inferior one. There
have been periods when American Indian
children were forbidden to speak a language
other than English at school and when pupils
Deliberate
course
interference
with
linguistic
changes
of
the
natural
and
the
were not allowed to speak Welsh in British
state
schools
in
Wales.
Both
these
distribution of languages is not confined to
prohibitions have been abandoned. Since the
the facilitating of international intercourse
Spanish Civil War of the 1930s ,Basque
and cooperation. Language as a cohesive
speakers have been discouraged from using
force for nation-states and for linguistic
their language in public, as a consequence of
groups within nation-states has for long been
the strong support given by the Basques to
manipulated for political ends. Multilingual
the republican forces. Interestingly, on the
states can exist and prosper; Switzerland is a
other side of the Franco-Spanish frontier,
good example. But linguistic rivalry and strife
French Basques are positively encouraged to
can
have
keep their language in use, if only as an
occurred in Belgium between French and
object of touristic interest and consequent
Flemish speakers and in parts of India
economic benefit to the area.
be
disruptive.
Language
riots
between rival vernacular communities. A
language can become or be made a focus of
loyalty for a minority community that thinks
itself suppressed, persecuted, or subjected to
discrimination.
Canada
example.
in
The
the
In
French
mid-20th
the
19th
language
century
and
early
is
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
in
an
20th
West
Germanic
language
of
the
Indo-
centuries Gaelic, or Irish, came to symbolize
European language family that is closely
Irish patriotism and Irish independence from
related to Frisian, German, and Netherlandic
Great
independence,
languages. English originated in England and
government policy continues to insist on the
is now widely spoken on six continents. It is
Britain.
Since
the primary language of the United States,
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
Australia,
Modern English is analytic (i.e., relatively
Ireland, New Zealand, and various small
uninflected), whereas Proto-Indo-European,
island nations in the Caribbean Sea and the
the ancestral tongue of most of the modern
the
United
Kingdom,
Canada,
Pacific Ocean. It is also an official language
of India, the Philippines, and many countries
in sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa.
European languages (e.g., German, French,
Russian, Greek), was synthetic, or inflected.
During the course of thousands of years,
English words have been slowly simplified
ORIGINS AND BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
from the inflected variable forms found in
Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Russian, and German,
toward invariable forms, as in Chinese and
English belongs to the Indo-European family
Vietnamese. The German and Chinese words
of languages and is therefore related to most
for "man" are exemplary. German has five
other
forms:
languages
spoken
in
Europe
and
Mann,
Mannes,
Manne,
Manner,
western Asia from Iceland to India. The
Mannern. Chinese has one form: jen. English
parent tongue, called Proto-Indo-European,
stands in between, with four forms: man,
was
man's, men, men's. In English only nouns,
spoken about 5,000
nomads
believed
to
years ago by
have
roamed
the
pronouns, and verbs are inflected. Adjectives
southeast European plains. Germanic, one of
have
the language groups descended from this
determiners "this, these" and "that, those."
ancestral
(The endings -er, -est, denoting degrees of
speech,
is
usually
divided
by
no
inflections
(Burgundian, Vandal, and Gothic, all extinct),
noninflectional suffixes.) English is the only
North
Norwegian,
European language to employ uninflected
(German,
adjectives; e.g., "the tall man," "the tall
Netherlandic [Dutch and Flemish], Frisian,
woman," compared to Spanish el hombre
English). Though closely related to English,
alto and la mujer alta. As for verbs, if the
German remains far more conservative than
Modern English word ride is compared with
English in its retention of a fairly elaborate
the corresponding words in Old English and
system of inflections. Frisian, spoken by the
Modern German, it will be found that English
inhabitants of the Dutch province of Friesland
now has only five forms (ride, rides, rode,
and
of
riding, ridden), whereas Old English ridan
nearly
had 13, and Modern German reiten has 16
Swedish,
the
Schleswig,
Danish),
islands
is
and
off
the
the
West
west
language
coast
most
regarded
the
comparison,
Faeroese,
better
from
scholars into three regional groups: East
(Icelandic,
are
aside
as
related to Modern English. Icelandic, which
forms.
has changed little over the last thousand
In addition to this simplicity of inflections,
years, is the living language most nearly
English has two other basic characteristics:
resembling
flexibility
structure.
Old
English
in
grammatical
of
function
and
openness
of
vocabulary.
Flexibility of function has grown over the last
five centuries as a consequence of the loss of
inflections. Words formerly distinguished as
85
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
nouns or verbs by differences in their forms
are now often used as both nouns and verbs.
One can speak, for example, of "planning a
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
table" or "tabling a plan," "booking a place"
CHARACTERISTICS
or "placing a book," "lifting a thumb" or
ENGLISH
"thumbing a lift." In the other Indo-European
PHONOLOGY
OF
MODERN
languages, apart from rare exceptions in
Scandinavian, nouns and verbs are never
identical because of the necessity of separate
British
noun and verb endings. In English, forms for
definition, the usual speech of educated
traditional pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs
people living in London and southeastern
can also function as noun; adjectives and
England, is one of the many forms of
adverbs as verbs; and nouns, pronouns, and
standard
speech.
adverbs as adjectives. One speaks in English
although
not
of the Frankfurt Book Fair, but in German
acceptable
one must add the suffix -er to the place-
conversational levels.
name and put attributive and noun together
The
as a compound, Frankfurter Buchmesse. In
Received Pronunciation, as defined above,
French one has no choice but to construct a
and a variety of American English, such as
phrase involving the use of two prepositions:
Inland Northern (the speech form of western
Foire du Livre de Francfort. In English it is
New
now possible to employ a plural noun as
popularly referred to as General American,),
adjunct (modifier), as in "wages board" and
are in the pronunciation of certain individual
"sports editor"; or even a conjunctional
vowels
group, as in "prices and incomes policy" and
American
"parks and gardens committee."
semiconsonantal final glides (i.e., sounds
Openness of vocabulary implies both free
resembling initial w, for example, or initial
admission of words from other languages
y). Aside from the final glides, this American
and the ready creation of compounds and
dialect shows four divergences from British
derivatives. English adopts (without change)
English: (1) the words cod, box, dock, hot,
or adapts (with slight change) any word
and not are pronounced with a short (or half-
really needed to name some new object or to
long) low front sound as in British "bard"
denote some new process. Like French,
shortened (the terms front, back, low, and
Spanish, and Russian, English frequently
high refer to the position of the tongue); (2)
forms scientific terms from Classical Greek
words such as bud, but, cut, and rung are
word elements.
pronounced with a central vowel as in the
English possesses a system of orthography
that does not always accurately reflect the
pronunciation of words; this is discussed
below in the section Orthography.
Received
chief
in
Other
their
and
are
own
right
Inland
on
British
derivatives,
diphthongs.
by
entirely
between
its
vowels
(RP),
pronunciations,
standard,
differences
England
and
Pronunciation
often
Northern
sometimes
have
unstressed final syllable of "sofa"; (3) before
the fricative sounds s, f, and 8 (the last of
these is the th sound in "thin") the long low
back
vowel
a,
as
in
British
"bath,"
is
pronounced as a short front vowel a, as in
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
British "bad".; (4) high back vowels following
merula). The verbs "permit" and "record"
the alveolar sounds t and d and the nasal
(henceforth
sound n in words such as tulips, dew, and
marked)
news are pronounced without a glide as in
corresponding nouns "permit" and "record."
British English; indeed, the words sound like
A feeling for antepenultimate (third syllable
the British "two lips," "do," and "nooze" in
from the end) primary stress, revealed in
"snooze."
such
(In
several
American
dialects,
may
The 24 consonant sounds comprise six stops
(plosives): p, b, t, d,
primary
be
five-syllable
longitudinal,
however, these glides do occur.)
k, g; the fricatives f, v,
only
stresses
contrasted
words
with
as
notoriety,
are
their
equanimity,
opportunity,
parsimonious, pertinacity, and vegetarian,
causes stress to shift when extra syllables
are added, as in "historical," a derivative of
8
(as in "thin"), [eth]
"history" and "theatricality," a derivative of
(as in "then"), s, z, I (as in "ship"), 3 (as in
"theatrical." Vowel qualities are also changed
"pleasure"), and h; two affricatives: tI (as in
here and in such word groups as period,
"church") and d3 (as the j in "jam"); the
periodical,
nasals m, n, rj (the sound that occurs at the
photography, photographical. French stress
end of words such as "young"); the lateral l;
may be sustained in many borrowed words;
the
e.g., bizarre, critique, duress, hotel, prestige,
vibrant
or
retroflex
r;
and
the
semivowels j (often spelled y) and w. These
remain fairly stable, but Inland Northern
American differs from British English in two
respects: (1) r following vowels is preserved
in words such as "door,"
"flower," and
"harmony," whereas it is lost in British; (2) t
between vowels is voiced, so that "metal"
and "matter" sound very much like British
"medal"
and
"madder,"
although
the
pronunciation of this t is softer and less
aspirated, or breathy, than the d of British
English. Like Russian, English is a strongly
stressed language. Four degrees of stress
may be differentiated: primary, secondary,
tertiary, and weak, which may be indicated,
respectively, by acute ('), circumflex and
grave (') accent marks and by the breve (∎).
Thus, "Tell me the truth" (the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth) may be contrasted
with "Tell me the truth" (whatever you may
tell other people); "black bird" (any bird
black in colour) may be contrasted with
"blackbird"
(that
particular
bird
Turdus
periodicity;
photograph,
and technique.
Pitch, or musical tone, determined by the
rate of vibration of the vocal cords, may be
level,
falling,
rising,
or
falling-rising.
In
counting "one," "two," "three," "four," one
naturally gives level pitch to each of these
cardinal numerals. But if a person says "I
want two, not one," he naturally gives "two"
falling pitch and "one" falling-rising. In the
question "One?" rising pitch is used. Word
tone is called pitch, and sentence tone is
referred
to,
as
intonation.
The
end-of-
sentence cadence is important for meaning,
and it therefore varies least. Three main endof-sentence intonations can be distinguished:
falling,
rising,
and
falling-rising.
Falling
intonation is used in completed statements,
direct commands, and sometimes in general
questions unanswerable by "yes" or "no";
e.g., "I have nothing to add." "Keep to the
right." "Who told you that?" Rising intonation
is frequently used in open-ended statements
made
with
some
reservation,
in
polite
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
requests,
and
in
particular
questions
answerable by "yes" or "no": "I have nothing
pronouns have distinctive forms for subject
and object.
more to say at the moment." "Let me know
how you get on." "Are you sure?" The third
first
The forms of verbs are not complex. Only the
falling and then rising pitch, is used in
substantive verb ("to be") has eight forms:
sentences
or
be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been.
contrasts: "Some people do like them" (but
Strong verbs have five forms: ride, rides,
others do not). "Don't say I didn't warn you"
rode, riding, ridden. Regular or weak verbs
(because that is just what I'm now doing).
customarily have four: walk, walks, walked,
Intonation is on the whole less singsong in
walking. Some that end in a t or d have
American than in British English, and there is
three forms only: cut, cuts, cutting. Of these
a narrower range of pitch. American speech
three-form verbs, 16 are in frequent use.
may seem more monotonous but at the
In addition to the above inflections, English
same time may sometimes be clearer and
employs
more readily intelligible. Everywhere English
(structural)
is spoken, regional dialects display distinctive
composition--and two subsidiary ones--back-
patterns of intonation.
formation and blend.
MORPHOLOGY INFLECTION
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
type
of
end-of-sentence
that
imply
intonation,
concessions
two
other
main
morphological
processes--affixation
and
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Modern English nouns, pronouns, and verbs
are
inflected.
Adjectives,
AFFIXATION
adverbs,
prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections
Affixes, word elements attached to words,
are invariable.
Most English nouns have plural inflection in
(-e)s, but this form shows variations in
pronunciation in the words cats (with a final
s sound), dogs (with a final z sound), and
horses (with a final iz sound), as also in the
3rd person singular present-tense forms of
verbs: cuts (s), jogs (z), and forces (iz).
Seven
nouns
have.
mutated
(umlauted)
plurals: man, men; woman, women; tooth,
teeth; foot, feet; goose, geese; mouse,
mice; louse, lice. Three have plurals in -en:
ox, oxen; child, children; brother, brethren.
Some remain unchanged; e.g., deer, sheep,
moose, grouse. Five of the seven personal
may either precede, as prefixes (do, undo;
way, subway), or follow, as suffixes (do,
doer; way, wayward). They may be native
(overdo, waywardness), Greek (hyperbole,
thesis),
or
Latin
(supersede,
pediment).
Modern technologists greatly favour the neoHellenic prefixes macro-"long, large," micro"small," para- "alongside," poly- "many," and
the Latin mini-, with its antonym maxi-.
Greek and Latin affixes have become so fully
acclimatized that they can occur together in
one and the same word, as, indeed, in "acclimat-ize-d," just used, consisting of a Latin
prefix plus a Greek stem plus a Greek suffix
plus an English inflection. Suffixes are bound
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
more closely than prefixes to the stems or
and juncture, "cloverleaf" from "clover leaf"
root
for
in stress, and "gentleman" from "gentle
instance, the wide variety of agent suffixes in
man" in phonology, stress, and juncture. In
the nouns actor, artisan, dotard, engineer,
describing the structure of compound words
financier,
merchant,
it is necessary to take into account the
scientist, secretary, songster, student, and
relation of components to each other and the
worker. Suffixes may come to be attached to
relation
stems quite fortuitously, but, once attached,
components. These relations diverge widely
they are likely to be permanent. At the same
in,
time, one suffix can perform many functions.
icebreaker,
The suffix -er denotes the doer of the action
loving, and paperback. In "cloverleaf" the
in the words worker, driver, and hunter; the
first
instrument in chopper, harvester, and roller;
modifies the second, as also in the terms
and the dweller in Icelander, Londoner, and
aircraft, beehive, landmark, lifeline, network,
Trobriander. It refers to things or actions
and vineyard. "Icebreaker," however, is a
associated with the basic concept in the
compound made up of noun object plus
words breather, "pause to take breath";
agent noun, itself consisting of verb plus
diner, "dining car on a train"; and fiver,
agent
"five-pound note." In the terms disclaimer,
bridgebuilder,
misnomer, and rejoinder (all from French)
minelayer, and timekeeper. The next type
the suffix denotes one single instance of the
consists of verb plus object. It is rare in
action expressed by the verb. Usage may
English, Dutch, and German but frequent in
prove capricious. Whereas a writer is a
French, Spanish, and Italian. The English
person, a typewriter is a machine. For some
"pastime" may be compared, for example,
time a computer was both, but now, with the
with
invention and extensive use of electronic
pasatiempo, and the Italian passatempo.
apparatus, the word is no longer used of
From French comes "passport," meaning
persons.
"pass (i.e., enter) harbour." From Italian
elements
of
hireling,
words.
Consider,
magistrate,
of
for
the
whole
example,
the
words
breakwater,
component
comes
compound
suffix,
French
noun
as
is
also
peace-
attributive
in
passe-temps,
meaning
its
cloverleaf,
blackbird,
landowner,
"portfolio,"
to
the
and
words
metalworker,
the
Spanish
"carry
leaf."
Other words of this type are daredevil,
COMPOSITION
scapegrace,
and
scarecrow.
As
for
the
"blackbird" type, consisting of attributive
Composition, or compounding, is concerned
with free forms. The primary compounds
"already,"
"cloverleaf,"
and
"gentleman"
show the collocation of two free forms. They
differ
from
phonology,
word
stress,
groups
or
or
phrases
juncture
or
by
in
a
combination of two or more of these. Thus,
"already" differs from "all ready" in stress
adjective plus noun, it occurs frequently, as
in the terms bluebell, grandson, shorthand,
and wildfire. The next type, composed of
object noun and a present participle, as in
the
terms
(German
fact-finding,
herzzerreissend),
heart-rending
life-giving
(German lebenspendend), painstaking, and
time-consuming, occurs rarely. The last type
89
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
is seen in barefoot, bluebeard, hunchback,
nuclear electronics, nucleonics. In cablese a
leatherneck, redbreast, and scatterbrain.
question mark is a quark; in computerese a
binary unit
is
a
bit.
In
astrophysics
a
quasistellar source of radio energy becomes
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
a quasar, and a pulsating star becomes a
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
pulsar.
BACK-FORMATIONS AND BLENDS
Simple
shortenings,
such
as
"ad"
for
"advertisement," have risen in status. They
are listed in dictionaries side by side with
Back-formations and blends are becoming
their full forms. Among such fashionable
increasingly popular. Back-formation is the
abbreviations are exam, gym, lab, lib, op,
reverse of affixation, being the analogical
spec, sub, tech, veg, and vet. Compound
creation of a new word from an existing word
shortenings, after the pattern of Russian
falsely assumed to be its derivative. For
agitprop for agitatsiya propaganda, are also
example, the verb "to edit" has been formed
becoming fashionable. Initial syllables are
from
joined as in the words fortran, for formula
the noun "editor" on the reverse
analogy of the noun "actor" from "to act,"
and similarly the verbs automate, bulldoze,
commute, escalate, liaise, loaf, sightsee, and
televise are backformed from the nouns
(computer) translation; mascon, for massive
(lunar) concentration; and Tacomsat, for
Tactical Communications Satellite.
automation, bulldozer, commuter, escalation,
liaison,
From
loafer,
the
sightseer,
single
noun
and
television.
"procession"
SYNTAX
are
backformed two verbs with different stresses
in
Sentences can be classified as (1) simple,
procession," and process, "to subject food
containing one clause and predication: "John
(and other material) to a special operation."
knows
and
meanings:
process,
"to
walk
Blends fall into two groups: (1) coalescences,
such as "bash" from "bang" and "smash";
and
(2)
telescoped
forms,
called
portmanteau words, such as "motorcade"
from "motor cavalcade." In the first group
are the words clash, from clack and crash,
and geep, offspring of goat and sheep. To
the second group belong dormobiles, or
dormitory automobiles, and slurbs, or slum
suburbs. A travel monologue becomes a
travelogue and a telegram sent by cable a
cablegram.
Aviation
electronics
becomes
avionics; biology electronics, bionics; and
this
compound,
country";
(2)
containing
two
multiple
or
or
more
coordinate clauses: "John has been here
before, and he knows this country"; and (3)
complex,
clauses
containing
and
one
one
or
or
more
more
main
subordinate
clauses: "John, who has been here before,
knows this country" or, "Because he has
been here before, John knows this country."
Simple, declarative, affirmative sentences
have two main patterns with five subsidiary
patterns within each. Verb and complement
together form the predicate. "Complement"
is here used to cover both the complement
and the object of traditional grammarians
90
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
Apart from these fundamental rules of word
(see table).
In (1) the complement is the direct object of
a transitive verb; in (2) it is a predicative
nominal
group
forming
the
second
component of an equation linked to the first
part by the meaningléss copula is; in (3) it is
a predicative noun linked with the subject by
the meaningful copula becomes; in (4) it is a
predicative adjective; and in (5) it is a
predicative past participle.
order, the principles joverning the positions
of adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions call
for brief comment. For attributive adjectives
the rule is simple: single words regularly
precede the noun, and word groups follow-e.g., "an unforgettable experience" but "an
experience never to be forgotten." There is a
growing tendency, however, to abandon this
principle, to switch groups to front position,
and
to
say
"a
never
to
be
forgotten
In the next table each sentence contains four
experience." In the ordering of multiple
components:
two
epithets, on the other hand, some new
complements, first and second, or inner and
principles are seen to be slowly emerging.
outer. In (6) inner and outer complements
Attributes
consist
stand nearest their head nouns: "long, white
of
subject,
indirect
verb,
and
object
(without
denoting
permanent
qualities
preposition) followed by direct object; in (7)
beard,"
these complements are direct object and
order in multiple attribution tends to be as
appositive noun; in (8) direct object and
follows: determiner; quantifier; adjective of
predicative adjective; in (9) direct object and
quality; adjective of size, shape, or texture;
predicative past participle; in (10) direct
adjective of colour or material; noun adjunct
object and predicative infinitive.
(if any); head noun. Examples include: "that
One can seldom change the word order in
one solid, round, oak dining table," "these
these 10 sentences without doing something
many fine, large, black race horses," "those
else--adding or subtracting a word, changing
countless memorable, long, bright summer
the meaning. There is no better way of
evenings."
appreciating the importance of word position
Adverbs are more mobile than adjectives.
than
Nevertheless, some tentative principles seem
by
illustrated.
scrutinizing
If,
for
the
instance,
10
in
frames
(6)
"six-lane
elevated
freeway."
The
one
to be at work. Adverbs of frequency tend to
reverses inner and outer complements, one
come immediately after the substantive verb
adds "to" and says, "John gives a ring to
("You are often late"), before other verbs
Mary"; one does not say "John gives a ring
("You never know"), and between auxiliaries
Mary." Some verbs, such as "explain" and
and full verbs ("You can never tell"). In this
"say," never omit the preposition "to" before
last instance, however, American differs from
the indirect object: "John's father explained
British usage. Most Americans would place
the details to his son." "He said many things
the adverb before the auxiliary and say "You
to him." If, in (10), the inner and outer
never can tell." (In the title of his play of that
complements are reversed (e.g., "We want
name,
to know you"), the meaning is changed as
Bernard Shaw avowedly followed American
well as the structure.
usage.) Adverbs of time usually occur at the
first
performed
in
1899,
George
beginning or end of a sentence, seldom in
91
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
the middle. Particular expressions normally
dangerous" or (2) "It is dangerous to fly
precede more general ones: "Neil Armstrong
planes."
set foot on the Moon at 4 o'clock in the
morning on July 21, 1969." An adverb of
place or direction follows a verb with which it
is semantically bound: "We arrived home
after dark." Other adverbs normally take end
positions in the order of manner, place, and
time: "Senator Smith summed it all up most
adroitly [manner] in Congress [place] last
night [time]."
Two ways in which "John gives Mary a ring"
can be stated in the passive are: (1) "A ring
is given to Mary by John" and (2) "Mary is
given a ring by John." Concerning this same
action,
four
types
of
question
can
be
formulated: (1) "Who gives Mary a ring?"
The information sought is the identity of the
giver. (2) "Does John give Mary a ring?" The
question may be answered by "yes" or "no."
In spite of its etymology (Latin prae-positio
(3) "John gives Mary a ring, doesn't he?"
"before
may
Confirmation is sought of the questioner's
sometimes follow the noun it governs, as in
belief that John does in fact give Mary a ring.
"all the world over," "the clock round," and
(4) "John gives Mary a ring?" This form,
"the whole place through." "This seems a
differing from the declarative statement only
good place to live in" seems more natural to
by the question mark in writing, or by rising
most speakers than "This seems a good
intonation in speech, calls, like sentences (2)
place in which to live." "Have you anything to
and (3), for a "yes" or "no" answer but
open this can with?" is now more common
suggests doubt on the part of the questioner
than "Have you anything with which to open
that the action is taking place.
placing"),
a
preposition
this can?"
The above are principles rather than rules,
and in the end it must be agreed that English
syntax lacks regimentation. Its structural
laxity makes English an easy language to
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
VOCABULARY
speak badly. It also makes English prone to
ambiguity.
approach
"When
up
walking
wind,"
a
snipe
always
shooting
manual
The
vocabulary
of
Modern
English
is
directs. The writer intends the reader to
approximately half Germanic (Old English
understand, "When you are walking to flush
and Scandinavian) and half Italic or Romance
snipe always approach them up against the
(French
wind." "John kept the car in the garage" can
increasing
mean either (1) "John retained that car you
science and technology and with considerable
see in the garage, and sold his other one" or
borrowings from Dutch, Low German, Italian,
(2) "John housed the car in the garage, and
Spanish, German, Arabic, and many ether
not
be
languages. Names of basic concepts and
dangerous" is ambiguous because it may
things come from Old English or Anglo-
mean either (1) "Planes that fly can be
Saxon: heaven and earth, love and hate, life
elsewhere."
"Flying
planes
can
and
Latin),
with
importations
copious
from
Greek
and
in
and death, beginning and end, day and
92
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
night, month and year, heat and cold, way
shareholder." From Scandinavian come the
and path, meadow and stream. Cardinal
common nouns axle (tree), band, birth,
numerals come from Old English, as do all
bloom, crook, dirt, egg, gait, gap, girth,
the ordinal numerals except "second" (Old
knife, loan, race, rift, root, score, seat, skill,
English other, which still retains its older
sky, snare, thrift, and window; the adjectives
meaning in "every other day"). "Second"
awkward,
comes
"following,"
rugged, sly, tight, ugly, weak, and wrong;
through French second, related to Latin sequi
and many verbs, including call, cast, clasp,
"to follow," as in English "sequence." From
clip, crave, die, droop, drown, flit, gape,
Old English come all the personal pronouns
gasp, glitter, life, rake, rid, scare, scowl,
(except "they," "their," and "them," which
skulk, snub, sprint, thrive, thrust, and want.
from
Latin
secundus
are from Scandinavian), the auxiliary verbs
(except the marginal "used," which is from
French), most simple prepositions, and all
conjunctions.
flat,
happy,
ill,
loose,
rotten,
The debt of the English language to French is
large. The terms president, representative,
legislature,
congress,
constitution,
and
parliament are all French. So, too, are duke,
Numerous nouns would he identical whether
marquis, viscount, and baron; but king,
they came from Old English or Scandinavian:
queen, lord, lady, earl,
father, mother, brother (but not sister);
English. City, village, court, palace, manor,
man,
grass;
mansion, residence, and domicile are French;
summer, winter; cliff, dale. Many verbs
but town, borough, hall, house, bower, room,
would
especially
and home are English. Comparison between
monosyllabic verbs--bring, come, get, hear,
English and French synonyms shows that the
meet, see, set, sit, spin, stand, think. The
former are more human and concrete, the
same is true of the adjectives full and wise;
latter more intellectual and abstract; e.g.,
the colour names gray, green, and white; the
the terms freedom and liberty, friendship and
disjunctive possessives mine and thine (but
amity, hatred and enmity, love and affection,
not ours and yours); the terms north and
likelihood and probability, truth and veracity,
west (but not south and east); and the
lying
prepositions over and under. Just a few
French cooking is duly recognized by the
English and Scandinavian doublets coexist in
adoption of such culinary terms as boil, broil,
current speech: no and nay, yea and ay,
fry, grill, roast, souse, and toast. "Breakfast"
from and fro, rear (i.e., to bring up) and
is English, but "dinner" and "supper" are
raise, shirt and skirt (both related to the
French.
adjective
From
"quarry," "scent," and "track" is French.
Scandinavian, "law" was borrowed early,
Craftsmen bear names of English origin:
whence "bylaw," meaning "village law," and
baker, builder, fisher (man), hedger, miller,
"outlaw," meaning "man outside the law."
shepherd,
"Husband" (hus-bondi) meant "householder,"
weaver,
whether single or married, whereas "fellow"
artisans, however, are French: carpenter,
(fe-lagi) meant one who "lays fee" or shares
draper, haberdasher, joiner, mason, painter,
property with another, and so "partner,
plumber, and tailor. Many terms relating to
wife;
also
ground,
be
short),
land,
tree,
identical,
less
and
loose.
and
mendacity.
"Hunt"
is
The superiority
English,
shoemaker,
or
and knight
webber.
but
of
of
"chase,"
wainwright,
Names
are
and
skilled
93
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
dress and fashion, cuisine and viniculture,
Ever since the 12th century, when merchants
politics and diplomacy, drama and literature,
from the Netherlands made homes in East
art and ballet come from French.
Anglia, Dutch words have infiltrated into
In the spheres of science and technology
many terms
through
come from Classical
French
or
directly
from
Greek
Greek.
Pioneers in research and development now
regard Greek as a kind of inexhaustible
quarry from which they can draw linguistic
material at will. By prefixing the Greek
adverb te_le "far away, distant" to the
existing
compound
writing,"
they
photography,
create
"telephotography"
the
to
precise
denote
"light
term
the
Midland speech. For centuries a form of Low
German was used by seafaring men in North
Sea ports. Old nautical terms still in use
include buoy, deck, dock, freebooter, hoist,
leak, pump, skipper, and yacht. The Dutch in
New
Amsterdam
(later
New
York)
and
adjacent settlements gave the words boss,
cookie, dope, snoop, and waffle to American
speech. The Dutch in Cape Province gave the
terms apartheid, commandeer, commando,
spoor, and trek to South African speech.
photographing of distant objects by means of
The contribution of High German has been on
a special lens. By inserting the prefix micro-
a different level. In the 18th and 19th
"small" into this same compound, they make
centuries it lay in technicalities of geology
the new term "photomicrography," denoting
and mineralogy and in abstractions relating
the electronic photographing of bacteria and
to literature, philosophy, and psychology. In
viruses. Such neo-Hellenic derivatives would
the
probably have been unintelligible to Plato
sometimes
and Aristotle. Many Greek compounds and
"meaningful" echoed German unklar and
20th
century
been
this
contribution
indirect.
"Unclear"
has
and
derivatives have Latin equivalents with slight
bedeutungsvoll, or sinnvoll. "Ring road" (a
or considerable differentiations in meaning
British term applied to roads encircling cities
(see table).
or parts of cities) translated Ringstrasse;
At first sight it might appear that some of
these equivalents, such as "metamorphosis"
and
"transformation,"
are
sufficiently
synonymous to make one or the other
redundant.
In
"metamorphosis"
therefore
fact,
is
more
more
however,
technical
restricted
and
century," die Jahrhundertwende. The terms
"classless society," "inferiority complex," and
"wishful thinking" echoed die klassenlose
Gesellschaft, der Minderwertigkeitskomplex,
and das Wunschdenken.
than
"transformation." In mythology it signifies a
magical shape changing; in nature it denotes
a postembryonic development such as that of
a tadpole into a frog, a cocoon into a
silkworm, or a chrysalis into a butterfly.
Transformation, on the other hand, means
any kind of change from one state to
another.
"round trip," Rundfahrt; and "the turn of the
Along with the rest of the Western world,
English has accepted Italian as the language
of
music.
performers,
The
names
of
instruments,
voices,
parts,
forms
of
composition, and technical directions are all
Italian. Many of the latter--allegro, andante,
cantabile,
crescendo,
diminuendo,
legato,
maestoso, obbligato, pizzicato, staccato, and
94
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
vibrato--are also used metaphorically. In
seraph; jubilee, leviathan, and shibboleth;
architecture, the terms belvedere, corridor,
and, more recently, kosher, and kibbutz.
cupola, grotto, pedestal, pergola, piazza,
pilaster,
and
rotunda
are
accepted;
in
literature, burlesque, canto, extravaganza,
stanza, and many more are used.
English has freely adopted and adapted
words from many other languages, acquiring
them sometimes directly and sometimes by
devious routes. Each word has its own
From Spanish, English has acquired the
history.
words
origins of a number of English words: Welsh-
armada,
cannibal,
guerrilla,
matador,
tornado,
and
cigar,
mosquito,
vanilla,
some
galleon,
The
quadroon,
-flannel,
of
eisteddfod;
these
following
coracle,
lists
cromlech,
Cornish--gull,
the
penguin,
brill,
dolmen;
Irish--shamrock,
brogue,
loanwords going back to the 16th century,
Gaelic
when sea dogs encountered hidalgos on the
leprechaun, ogham, Tory, galore, blarney,
high seas. Many names of animals and plants
hooligan, clan, claymore, bog, plaid, slogan,
have
sporran, cairn, whisky, pibroch; Breton--
entered
English
from
indigenous
and
indicate
languages through Spanish: "potato" through
menhir;
Spanish
and
Finnish--sauna; Russian--kvass, ruble, tsar,
from
verst, mammoth, ukase, astrakhan, vodka,
"tomato"
patata
from
through
Taino
Spanish
batata,
tomate
Norwegian--ski,
tundra
(from
ombudsman;
Nahuatl tomat. Other words have entered
samovar,
from Latin America by way of Texas, New
pogrom,
Mexico, Arizona, and California; e.g., such
intelligentsia (from Latin through Polish),
words as canyon, cigar, estancia, lasso,
borscht, balalaika, sputnik, soyuz, salyut,
mustang, pueblo, and rodeo. Some have
lunokhod;
gathered
duma,
Sami),
soviet,
Polish--mazurka;
troika,
bolshevik,
Czech--robot;
bonanza,
Hungarian--goulash, paprika; Portuguese--
originally denoting "goodness," came through
marmalade, flamingo, molasses, veranda,
miners' slang to mean "spectacular windfall,
port (wine), dodo; Basque--bizarre; Turkish-
prosperity"; manana, "tomorrow," acquired
-janissary,
an undertone of mysterious unpredictability.
pasha, odalisque, fez, bosh; Hindi--nabob,
From
new
Arabic
connotations:
through
European
Spanish,
through French from Spanish, through Latin,
or occasionally through Greek, English has
obtained
the
terms
alchemy,
alcohol,
alembic, algebra, alkali, almanac, arsenal,
turban,
coffee,
kiosk,
caviar,
guru, sahib, maharajah, mahatma, pundit,
punch (drink), juggernaut, cushy, jungle,
thug, cheetah, shampoo, chit, dungaree,
pucka, gymkhana, mantra, loot, pajamas,
dinghy, polo;
Persian--paradise,
divan,
purdah,
lilac,
assassin,
attar,
azimuth,
cipher,
elixir,
mosque,
nadir,
naphtha,
sugar,
syrup,
bazaar, shah, caravan, chess, salamander,
zenith, and zero. From Egyptian Arabic,
taffeta, shawl, khaki; Tamil--pariah, curry,
English has recently borrowed the term
catamaran,
loofah (also spelled luffa). From Hebrew,
(Amoy),
directly or by way of Vulgate Latin, come the
kimono, mikado, tycoon, hara-kiri, gobang,
terms
judo,
amen,
messiah,
cherub,
pharisee,
hallelujah,
rabbi,
manna,
sabbath,
and
mulligatawny;
sampan;
jujitsu,
bushido,
Chinese--tea
Japanese--shogun,
samurai,
banzai,
tsunami, satsuma, No (the dance drama),
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LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
sago,
English Civil War, compositors adopted fixed
bamboo, junk, amuck, orangutan, compound
spellings for practical reasons, and in the
(fenced
order-loving 18th century uniformity became
karate,
Kabuki;
area),
tattoo;
Malay--ketchup,
raffia;
Polynesian--taboo,
Hawaiian--ukulele;
languages--chimpanzee,
goober,
African
more and more fashionable. Since Samuel
mumbo
Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language
jumbo, voodoo; Inuit--kayak, igloo, anorak;
(1755),
Yupik--mukluk; Algonquian--totem; Nahuatl-
stable. Numerous tacit changes, such as
-mescal;
"music" for "musick" (c. 1880) and "fantasy"
languages
hammock,
iguana;
of
hurricane,
Aboriginal
the
Caribbean--
tobacco,
maize,
Australian--kangaroo,
for
orthography
"phantasy"
accepted,
but
has
(c.
remained
1920),
spelling
has
have
fairly
been
nevertheless
corroboree, wallaby, wombat, boomerang,
continued to be in part unphonetic. Attempts
paramatta, budgerigar.
have been made at reform. Indeed, every
century has had its reformers since the 13th,
when an Augustinian canon named Orm
ORTHOGRAPHY
devised his own method of differentiating
short vowels from long by doubling the
The Latin alphabet originally had 20 letters,
the present English alphabet minus J, K, V,
W, Y, and Z. The Romans themselves added
K for use in abbreviations and Y and Z in
words
transcribed
adoption
by
the
from
Greek.
English,
this
After
its
23-letter
alphabet developed W as a ligatured doubling
of U and later J and V as consonantal
variants of I and U. The resultant alphabet of
26 letters has both uppercase, or capital, and
lowercase,
or
small,
letters.
(See
also
alphabet.)
succeeding consonants or, when this was not
feasible, by marking short vowels with a
superimposed
breve
mark
(0).
William
Caxton, who set up his wooden printing
press at Westminster in 1476, was much
concerned with spelling problems throughout
his working life. Noah Webster produced his
Spelling Book, in 1783, as a precursor to the
first
edition
(1828)
of
his
American
Dictionary of the English Language. The 20th
century
has
produced
many
zealous
reformers. Three systems, supplementary to
traditional spelling, are actually in use for
English spelling is based for the most part on
different purposes: (1) the Initial Teaching
that of the 15th century, but pronunciation
(Augmented Roman) Alphabet (ITA) of 44
has
then,
letters used by educationists in the teaching
and
of children under seven; (2) the Shaw
changed
especially
considerably
that
of
long
since
vowels
diphthongs. The extensive change in the
alphabet
pronunciation of vowels, known as the Great
implementation of the will of George Bernard
Vowel
Shaw; and (3) the International Phonetic
Shift,
Chaucer's
affected
seven
of
designed
in
Alphabet (IPA), constructed on the basis of
one symbol for one individual sound and
meaning of the message was clear, the
used by many trained linguists. Countless
spelling
seemed
other systems have been worked out from
unimportant. In the 17th century during the
time to time, of which R.E. Zachrisson's
words
and
letters,
for.
individual
vowels,
Geoffrey
48
Centuries spelling remained untidy. If the
of
long
all
of
96
LENGUAGE____________________________________________________________
"Anglic" (1930) and Axel Wijk's Regularized
English (1959) may be the best.
Meanwhile,
the
great
publishing
houses
continue unperturbed because drastic reform
remains
impracticable,
undesirable,
and
unlikely. This is because there is no longer
one criterion of correct pronunciation but
several
standards
throughout
the
world;
regional standards are themselves not static,
but changing with each new generation; and,
if spelling were changed drastically, all the
books in English in the world's public and
private libraries would become inaccessible
to readers without special study.
Encyclopedia
Britannica,
"Varieties
of
English", 2000 [Documento tornado de la
pagina
de
Internet
http://www.britannica.com]
97
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
T
(Received
dialect it is /u/, like the oo in "book." In the
Pronunciation) denotes the speech of
words bind, find, and grind, the received
educated people living in London and
standard pronunciation of the vowel sound is
the southeast of England and of other people
/ai/, like that in "bide"; in Northern, it is /i/,
elsewhere who speak in this way. If the
like the sound in "feet." The vowel sound in
qualifier educated be assumed, RP is then a
the words go, home, and know in the
regional (geographical) dialect, as contrasted
Northern dialect is /:/, approximately the
with London Cockney, which is a class
sound in "law" in some American English
(social) dialect. RP is not intrinsically superior
dialects. In parts of Northumberland, RP "it"
to other varieties of English; it is itself only
is still pronounced "hit," as in Old English. In
one particular regional dialect that has,
various Northern dialects the definite article
through the accidents of history, achieved
"the" is heard as t, th, or d. In those dialects
more extensive use than others. Although
in which it becomes both t and th, t is used
acquiring its unique status without the aid of
before consonants and th before vowels.
any established authority, it may have been
Thus, one hears "t'book" but "th'apple."
fostered by the public schools (Winchester,
When,
Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and so on) and the
reduced to t and the following word begins
ancient universities (Oxford and Cambridge).
with t or d, as in "t'tail" or "t'dog," it is
Other varieties of English are well preserved
replaced by a slight pause as in the RP
in spite of the levelling influences of film,
articulation of the first t in "hat trick." The RP
television, and radio. In the Northern dialect
/tJ/, the
RP /a: / (the first vowel sound in "father") is
becomes k, as in "thack," ("thatch, roof")
still pronounced /ae/ (a sound like the a in
and "kirk" ("church"). In many Northern
"fat") in words such as laugh, fast, and path;
dialects strong verbs retain the old past-
this pronunciation has been carried across
tense singular forms band, brak, fand, spak
the Atlantic into American English.
for RP forms bound, broke, found, and
he
abbreviation
RP
In the words run, rung, and tongue, the
received-standard pronunciation of the vowel
is /A/, like the u in "but"; in the Northern
however,
sound
the
definite
of the ch in
article
is
"church,"
spoke. Strong verbs also retain the past
participle
inflection
-en
as
in
"comen,"
"shutten," "sitten," and "getten" or "gotten"
for RP "come," "shut," "sat," and "got."
98
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
In some Midland dialects the diphthongs in
from Old English celan "to make cool" and
"throat" and "stone" have been kept apart,
kemban "to use a comb," whereas the
whereas in RP they have fallen together. In
corresponding RP verbs cool and comb come
Cheshire, Derby, Stafford, and Warwick, RP
from
"singing" is pronounced with a g sounded
respectively.
after
the
velar
nasal
sound
(as
in
the
adjective
and
the
noun,
RP
"finger"). In Norfolk one hears "skellington"
and "solintary" for "skeleton" and "solitary,"
In Wales, people often speak a clear and
showing
measured form of English with a musical
an
intrusive
n
just
as
does
"messenger" in RP from French messager,
intonation inherited from ancestral Celtic.
and
They tend to aspirate both plosives (stops)
"nightingale" from Old English nihtegala.
and fricative consonants very forcibly; thus,
Other East Anglian words show consonantal
"true" is pronounced with an audible puff of
metathesis (switch position), as in "singify,"
breath after the initial t.
and substitution of one liquid or nasal for
Lowland Scottish was once a part of Northern
another, as in "chimbly" for "chimney," and
English, but two dialects began to diverge in
"synnable"
the 14th century. Today Lowland Scots trill
"passenger"
from
for
French
passager,
"syllable."
"Hantle"
for
"handful" shows syncope (disappearance) of
their
an unstressed vowel, partial assimilation of d
diphthongs. A few Scottish words, such as
to t before voiceless f, and subsequent loss
bairn, brae, canny, dour, and pawky, have
of f in a triple consonant group.
made their way into RP. Lowland Scottish is
In South Western dialects, initial f and s are
not to be confused with Scottish Gaelic, a
often voiced, becoming v and z. Two words
Celtic language still spoken by about 90,700
with initial v have found their way into RP:
people (almost all bilingual) mostly in the
"vat" from "fat" and "vixen" from "fixen"
Highlands and the Western Isles. Thanks to
(female fox). Another South Western feature
Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, many
is the development of a d between / or n and
Scottish Gaelic words have been preserved in
r, as in "parlder" for "parlour" and "carnder"
English literature.
for "corner." The bilabial semivowel w has
Northern Ireland has dialects related in part
developed before o in "wold" for "old," and in
to Lowland Scottish and in part to the
"wom" for
southern
"home,"
illustrating a similar
r's,
shorten
Irish
vowels,
dialect
of
and
simplify
English.
Irish
development in RP by which Old English an
pronunciation is conservative and is clearer
has become "one," and Old English hal has
and more easily intelligible than many other
come to be spelled "whole," as compared
dialects. The influence of the Irish language
with
Western
on the speech of Dublin is most evident in
dialects "yat" comes from the old singular
the syntax of drama and in the survival of
geat, whereas RP "gate" comes from the
such picturesque expressions as "We are
plural gatu. Likewise, "clee" comes from the
after finishing," "It's sorry you will be," and
old nominative clea, whereas RP "claw"
"James do be cutting corn every day."
Northern
hale.
In
South
comes from the oblique cases. The verbs
keel and kemb have developed regularly
99
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
These boundaries, based on those of the
Linguistic Atlas of the United States and
Canada, are highly tentative. To some extent
AMERICAN AND CANADIAN ENGLISH
these regions preserve the traditional speech
of southeastern and southern England, where
The dialect regions of the United States are
most
clearly
marked
along
the
Atlantic
littoral, where the earlier settlements were
made.
Three
dialects
can
be
defined:
Northern, Midland, and Southern. Each has
its subdialects.
most of the early colonists were born. The
first settlers who came to Virginia (1607) and
Massachusetts (1620) soon learned to adapt
old words to new uses, but they were
content to borrow names from the local
Indian languages for unknown trees, such as
hickory and persimmon, and for unfamiliar
The Northern dialect is spoken
New
animals, such as raccoons and woodchucks.
England. Its six chief subdialects comprise
Later they took words from foreign settlers:
northeastern
New
"chowder" and "prairie" from the French,
Vermont),
"scow" and "sleigh" from the Dutch. They
(eastern
made new compounds, such as "backwoods"
New
Hampshire,
England
and
(Maine,
eastern
southeastern
New
Massachusetts,
eastern
in
England
Connecticut,
and
and "bullfrog," and gave new meanings to
Rhode Island), southwestern New England
such words as "lumber" (which in British
(western
Massachusetts
Connecticut),
the
inland
and
western
English denotes disused furniture, or junk)
north
(western
and "corn" (which in British English signifies
Vermont and upstate New York), the Hudson
Valley, and metropolitan New York.
any grain, especially wheat).
Before
the
Declaration
of
Independence
The Midland dialect is spoken in the coastal
(1776), two-thirds of the immigrants had
region from Point Pleasant, in New Jersey, to
come from England, but after that date they
Dover,
major
arrived in large numbers from Ireland. The
subdialects comprise the Delaware Valley,
in
potato famine of 1845 drove 1,500,000 Irish
the Susquehanna Valley, the Upper Ohio
to seek homes in the New World, and the
Valley, northern West Virginia, the Upper
European revolutions of 1848 drove as many
Potomac and Shenandoah, southern West
Germans to settle in Pennsylvania and the
Virginia
Middle West. After the close of the American
and
Delaware.
eastern
Its
seven
Kentucky,
western
Carolina, and eastern Tennessee.
Civil War, millions of Scandinavians, Slavs,
The Southern dialect area covers the coastal
and
region from Delaware to South Carolina. Its
eventually settled mostly in the North Central
five chief subdialects comprise the Delmarva
and Upper Midwest states. In some areas of
Peninsula,
the
Piedmont,
South Carolina and Georgia the American
northeastern
North
(Albemarle
Negroes who had been imported to work the
Sound and Neuse Valley), Cape Fear and Pee
rice and cotton plantations developed a
Dee valleys, and the South Carolina Low
contact language called Gullah,, or Geechee,
Country, around Charleston.
that made use of many structural and lexical
Virginia
Carolina
Italians
features
of
crossed
their
native
the
ocean
languages.
and
This
100
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
remarkable variety of English is comparable
continued existence is threatened. More than
to such "contact languages" as Sranan (Taki-
80 percent of the population is British. By the
Taki) and Melanesian Pidgin. The speech of
mid-20th century, with rapid decline of its
the Atlantic Seaboard shows far greater
Aboriginal
differences in pronunciation, grammar, and
rivals in Australia.
vocabulary than that of any area in the North
Central States, the Upper Midwest, the Rocky
Mountains,
or
the
Pacific
Coast.
Today,
urbanization, quick transport, and television
have tended to level out some dialectal
differences in the United States.
tongues,
English
was
without
During colonial times the new settlers had to
find names for a fauna and flora (e.g.,
banksia, iron bark, whee whee) different
from anything previously known to them:
trees that shed bark instead of leaves and
cherries with external stones. The words
with
Canada
nowhere
brush, bush, creek, paddock, and scrub
any
boundary
between
acquired wider senses, whereas the terms
dialects, and the influence of United States
brook, dale, field, forest, and meadow were
English is strong, being felt least in the
seldom used. A creek leading out of a river
Maritime
and entering it again downstream was called
The
boundary
corresponds
to
Provinces
and
Newfoundland.
Nevertheless, in spite of the effect of this
an
proximity
British
anatomy), or an anabranch, whereas a creek
influences are still potent in some of the
coming to a dead end was called by its native
larger cities; Scottish influences are well
name, a billabong. The giant kingfisher with
sustained
remains
its raucous bray was long referred to as a
bilingual. One-fourth of its people, living
laughing jackass, later as a bushman's clock,
mostly in the province of Quebec, have
but
French
Those
intractable that only roping could control
provinces in which French is spoken as a
them were said to be ropable, a term now
mother tongue by 10 percent or more of the
used as a synonym for "angry" or "extremely
population are described as "federal bilingual
annoyed."
as
to
in
the
United
Ontario.
their
States,
Canada
mother
tongue.
districts" in the Official Languages Bill of
1968.
anastomizing
now
it
is
branch
a
(a
term
kookaburra.
from
Cattle
so
A deadbeat was a penniless "sundowner" at
the very end of his tether, and a no-hoper
was an incompetent fellow, hopeless and
AUSTRALIAN
AND
NEW
ZEALAND
ENGLISH
helpless. An offsider (strictly, the offside
driver of a bullock team) was any assistant
or partner. A rouseabout was first an odd-job
man on a sheep station and then any kind of
Unlike Canada, Australia has few speakers of
handyman. He was, in fact, the "down-
European
English
under" counterpart of the wharf labourer, or
within its borders. There are still many
roustabout, on the Mississippi River. Both
Aboriginal
words originated in Cornwall, and many
languages
other
than
languages, though they are spoken by only a
few
hundred
speakers
each
and
their
other
came
terms,
now
ultimately
exclusively
from
British
Australian,
dialects.
101
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
"true,
popular with New Zealanders because it
"fair
makes no reference to New Zealand and
dinkum," or fair deal, of Lincolnshire dialect.
gives all the prominence, so they feel, to
"Fossicking" about for surface gold, and then
Australia. Between North and South Islands
rummaging about in general, perpetuated
there are observable differences. For one
the term fossick ("to elicit information, ferret
thing, Maori, which is still a living language
out the facts") from the Cornish dialect of
(related to Tahitian, Hawaiian, and the other
English. To "barrack," or jeer noisily, recalled
Austronesian
Irish "barrack" ("to brag, boast"), whereas
languages),
"skerrick" in the phrase "not a skerrick left"
speakers and more influence in North Island.
"Dinkum,"
for
instance,
authentic,
genuine,"
meaning
echoed
the
[Malayo-Polynesian]
has
a
greater
number
of
was obviously identical with the "skerrick"
meaning
"small
fragment,
particle,"
still
heard in English dialects from Westmorland
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
to Hampshire.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Some Australian English terms came from
THE ENGLISH OF INDIA-PAKISTAN
Aboriginal speech: the words boomerang,
corroboree (warlike dance and then any large
and noisy gathering), dingo (reddish-brown
In 1950 India became a federal republic
half-domesticated dog), galah (cockatoo),
within the Commonwealth of Nations, and
gunyah (bush hut), kangaroo, karri (dark-red
Hindi
eucalyptus
language.
tree),
nonda
(rosaceous
tree
was
declared
English,
it
the
first
national
was
stated,
would
yielding edible fruit), pokutukawa (evergreen
"continue to be used for all official purposes
bearing brilliant blossom), wallaby (small
until 1965." In 1967, however, by the terms
marsupial),
of the English Language Amendment Bill,
and
wallaroo
(large
rock
kangaroo). Australian English has slower
English
was
proclaimed
"an
alternative
rhythms and flatter intonations than RP.
official or associate language with Hindi until
Although there is remarkably little regional
such time as all non-Hindi states had agreed
variation throughout the entire continent,
to its being dropped." English is therefore
there
acknowledged to be indispensable. It is the
is
significant
social
variation.
The
neutral vowel 11 (as the a in "sofa") is
only
frequently used, as in London Cockney:
communication
"arches" and "archers" are both pronounced
government at New Delhi and states with
[a:tlz], and the pronunciations of RP "day"
non-Hindi speaking populations, especially
and "go" are, respectively, [di] and [gu].
with the Deccan, or "South," where millions
Although, New Zealand lies over 1,000 miles
away, much of the English spoken there is
similar to that of Australia. The blanket term
Austral English is sometimes used to cover
the language of the whole of Australasia, or
Southern Asia, but this term is far from
speak
practicable
means
between
Dravidian
languages--Telugu,
Malayalam.
of
English
day-to-day
the
central
(non-Indo-European)
Tamil,
is
Kannada,
widely
used
and
in
business, and, although its use as a medium
in higher education is decreasing, it remains
the principal language of scientific research.
102
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
In 1956 Pakistan became an autonomous
Afrikaans
language
began
to
diverge
republic comprising two states, East and
seriously from European Dutch in the late
West. Bengali and Urdu were made the
18th century and has gradually come to be
national
and
West
recognized as a separate language. Although
English
was
the English spoken in South Africa differs in
adopted as a third official language and
some respects from standard British English,
functioned
interstate
its speakers do not regard the language as a
communication. (In 1971 East Pakistan broke
separate one. They have naturally come to
away from its western partner and became
use
the independent state of Bangladesh.)
kopje, krans, veld, and vlei, to denote
languages
Pakistan,
of
East
respectively,
as
the
but
medium
of
many
Afrikanerisms,
such
as
kloof,
features of the landscape and occasionally
employ African names to designate local
AFRICAN ENGLISH
animals and plants, The words trek and
commando,
Africa is the most multilingual area in the
world,
if
people
languages.
are
Upon
measured
a
large
against
number
of
history,
notorious
have
acquired
in
South
almost
African
worldwide
currency.
Elsewhere in Africa, English helps to answer
indigenous languages rests a slowly changing
the
superstructure of world languages (Arabic,
functions
English,
The
administration in Botswana, Lesotho, and
problems of language are everywhere linked
Swaziland and in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi,
with
Uganda, and Kenya. It is the language of
French,
political,
and
Portuguese).
social,
economic,
and
The Republic of South Africa, the oldest
settlement
in
the
continent,
resembles Canada in having two recognized
European
languages
of
as
instruction
educational factors.
British
needs
within
its
Kampala,
at
wider
an
communication.
official
Makerere
Uganda;
at
the
language
It
of
University
in
University
of.
Nairobi, Kenya; and at the University of Dar
es Salaam, in Tanzania.
borders:
English and Afrikaans, or Cape Dutch. Both
The West African states of The Gambia,
British and Dutch traders followed in the
Sierra
wake of 15th-century Portuguese explorers
independent
and have lived in widely varying war-and-
Commonwealth, have English as their official
peace relationships ever since. Although the
language. They are all multilingual. The
Union
Cape
official language of Liberia is also English,
Province, Transvaal, Natal, and Orange Free
although its tribal communities constitute
State, was for more than a half century
four different linguistic groups. Its leading
(1910-61) a member of the British Empire
citizens
and Commonwealth, its four prime ministers
Liberians, being descendants of those freed
(Botha, Smuts, Hertzog, and Malan) were all
blacks whose first contingents arrived in
Dutchmen. In the early 1980s Afrikaners
West Africa in 1822. South of the Sahara
outnumbered Britishers by three to two. The
indigenous languages are extending their
of
South
Africa, comprising
Leone,
regard
Ghana,
members
themselves
and
of
as
Nigeria,
the
Americo-
103
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
domains and are competing healthily and
Printing houses, wielding concentrated power
vigorously with French and English.
through their style directives, will surely find
it
in
their
uniformity
best
interests
of
to
spelling.
agree
on
Encyclopaedic
ENCYCLOWEDIA BRITANNICA
dictionaries--computerized,
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
subject to continuous revision--may not go
on
THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH
indefinitely
universal,
recording
such
and
variant
spellings as "connection" and "connexion,"
"judgment" and "judgement," "labor" and
most
"labour," "medieval" and "mediaeval," "plow"
widespread language on earth, and it is
and "plough," "realise" and "realize," "thru"
second only to Mandarin Chinese in the
and "through."
number
Since Tudor days, aside from the verb
Geographically,
of
English
people
who
is
the
speak
it.
The
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
endings
has five official languages: English, French,
remained stable because they represent the
Spanish, Russian, and Chinese. The influence
essential minimum. The abandonment of the
of these languages upon one another will
forms thou and thee may encourage the
inevitably increase.
spread of yours and youse in many areas,
It is reasonable to ask if changes in English
but it is not necessarily certain that these
can be predicted. There will doubtless be
forms will win general acceptance. The need
modifications in pronunciation, especially in
for a distinctive plural can be supplied in
that of long vowels and diphthongs. In
other ways (e.g., the forms "you all, you
weakly stressed syllables there is already a
fellows,
discernible tendency, operating effectively
between the words "I" and "me," "he" and
through radio and television, to restore the
"him," "she" and "her," "we" and "us," "they"
full qualities of vowels in these syllables. This
and "them" seem to many authors to be too
tendency may bring British English more into
important to be set aside, in spite of a
line with American English and may bring
growing tendency to use objective forms as
them both a little nearer to Spanish and
emphatic subjective pronouns and to say, for
Italian. Further, it may help to narrow the
instance, "them and us" instead of "they and
gap
spelling.
we" in contrasting social classes. Otherwise,
Other factors will also contribute toward the
these distinctive forms may remain stable;
narrowing
advanced
they are all monosyllabic, they are in daily
computer
use, and they can bear the main stress. Thus
between
pronunciation
of
this
technological
programming,
and
gap:
education,
machine
translation,
and
-est
you
and
-eth,
people").
inflections
The
have
distinctions
they are likely to resist levelling processes.
expanding mass media. Spelling reformers
Considerable changes will continue to be
will arise from time to time to liven up
made in the forms and functions of auxiliary
proceedings,
verbs, catenative (linking) verbs, phrasal
but
in
general,
traditional
orthography may well hold its own against all
verbs,
comers, perhaps with some regularization.
constituents of verbs and verb groups are
and
verb
phrases.
Indeed,
the
104
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
being more subtly modified than those of any
2nd ed., 2 vol. (1939); The Concise Oxford
other
Dictionary
word class. By means of auxiliaries and
participles,
a
highly
intricate
system
of
aspects, tenses, and modalities is gradually
evolving.
of
Current
English,
6th
ed.
(1976); The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of
Current English (1969); The Little Oxford
Dictionary
of
Current
English,
4th
ed.
(1969); Oxford Illustrated Dictionary, 2nd
ed. (1975); The Oxford Advanced Learner's
In syntax the movement toward a stricter
Dictionary
word order seems to many to be certain to
(1974); and the Oxford American Dictionary
continue.
multiple
(1980).
Other
attributives in nominal groups has probably
include
Chambers'
reached its maximum. It cannot extend
(1972); The Universal
further
English Language, rev. by E. H. Partridge
The
extension
without
of
incurring
the
risk
of
of
Current
English,
one-volume
3rd
ed.
dictionaries
Twentieth
Century
Dictionary of the
ambiguity.
(1952); Longmans English Larousse (1968);
In vocabulary further increases are expected
and P. Hanks, Encyclopedic World Dictionary
if the present trends continue. Unabbreviated
(1971).
general dictionaries already contain 500,000
The leading American dictionary is Webster's
entries, but even larger dictionaries, with
Third New International Dictionary of the
750,000 entries, may be required. Coiners of
English Language (1961), actually 8th in the
words probably will not confine themselves
series since the first appeared in 1828; it is
to Greek and Latin in creating new terms;
updated by a separately published "Addenda"
instead they are likely to exercise their
section, 6,000 Words (1976). Webster's New
inventive
Collegiate
powers
in
developing
an
Dictionary
(1979)
is
an
international technical vocabulary that is
abbreviated version. Other comprehensive
increasingly shared by Russian, French, and
dictionaries are The New Century Dictionary
Spanish and that is slowly emerging as the
of the English Language, 2 vol. (1959); and
universal scientific language.
Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary
of
the
English
Language
(1963).
Two
comprehensive dictionaries are outstanding:
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
The Random House Dictionary of the English
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Language
DICTIONARIES
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
(1966);
and
The
American
(1969).
The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 20
vol., ed. by John A. Simpson and Edmund
S.C. Weiner (1989), incorporates all the
words
of
the
supplementary
dictionaries
first
edition
volumes.
include
The
and
its
Derivative
Shorter
Oxford
English Dictionary on Historical Principles,
Reliable
etymological
dictionaries
include
Ernest Weekley, An Etymological Dictionary
of Modern English, 2 vol. (1921, reprinted
1967); E.H. Partridge, Origins, 5th rev. ed.
(1971); and Ernest
Klein,
A
Comprehensive
Etymological
Dictionary of the English Language, 2 vol.
105
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
(1966-67). The Oxford Dictionary of English
(1962);
Etymology (1966) will long remain the most
(1964); H.A. Gleason, Linguistics and English
authentic work in this field.
Grammar
The
two
great
historical
dictionaries
of
American English are William A. Craigie and
James R. Hulbert (eds.), A Dictionary of
American English on Historical Principles, 4
vol. (1936-44); and Mitford M. Mathews,
(ed.),
A
Dictionary
of
Americanisms
on
Historical Principles, 2 vol. (1951).
Martin
Joos,
(1965);
Introductory
The
N.C.
English
English
Verb
Stageberg,
Grammar,
3rd
An
ed.
(1977); A.E. Darbyshire, A Description of
English (1967); R. Quirk et al., A Grammar
of
Contemporary
English
(1972);
B.M.H.
Strang, Modern English Structure, 2nd ed.
rev. (1968); R.W. Zandvoost, A Handbook of
English Grammar, 7th ed. (1975).
PHONETICS OF ENGLISH
ENCYCLOPEEDIA BRITANNICA
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Handbooks include Hans Kurath and R.I.
MODERN USAGE
McDavid, The Pronunciation of English in the
Atlantic States (1961); and A.C. Gimson, An
H.W. Fowler, A Dictionary of Modern English
Introduction to the Pronunciation of English
Usage (1926), a somewhat eccentric work,
(1963).
has been thoroughly updated twice: 2nd ed.
with the same title, rev. by Ernest Gowers
(1965);
and
The
New
English Usage, 3rd
Fowler's
ed. edited
Modern
by R.W.
Burchfield (1996). It has its transatlantic
counterpart in the following two works:
Bergen
Evans
and
Cornelia
HISTORIES
Evans,
A
Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage
(1957); and Margaret Nicholson, A Dictionary
of American-English Usage (1957). See also
Roy H. Copperud, American Usage and Style
(1980).
An excellent "external history" is A.C. Baugh,
A History of the English Language, 3rd ed.
(1978).
Fernand
Mosse,
Esquisse
dune
histoire de la langue anglaise (1947), is a
masterpiece--brief, lucid, and profound. Karl
Brunner,
Die
englische
Sprache:
Ihre
geschichtliche Entwicklung, 2nd ed., 2 vol.
(1960-62),
is
indispensable
to
advanced
students.
GRAMMAR AND STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH
Two brief surveys written early in the 20th
century are recognized classics and remain
stimulating: Henry Bradley, The Making of
A.A.
Hill,
Introduction
Structures: From
and J.O.H. Jespersen, Growth and Structure
of the English Language (1905, reprinted
M.
1971).
Paul
Sentence
English (1904, rev. by Simeon Potter, 1968);
English (1958); Samuel Jay Keyser and Paul
(1976);
to
Linguistic
in
Posral,
Sound
to
Beginning
English
Grammar
Roberts,
English
Sentences
Other
fairly
substantial
histories
include Stuart Robertson, The Development
106
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH__________________________________
of Modern English, 2nd ed. rev, by Frederic
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
G. Cassidy (1954); M.M. Bryant, Modern
English and Its Heritage, 2nd ed. (1962);
M.W.
Bloomfield
and
L.D.
Newmark,
A
Arthur
G.
Kennedy,
a
Bibliography
of
Linguistic Introduction to the History of
Writings on the English Language from the
English (1963); W.N. Francis, The English
Beginning of Printing to the End of 1922
Language, an Introduction (1965); Thomas
(1927); Harold B. Allen, Linguistics and
Pyles, The Origins and Development of the
English Linguistics, 2nd ed. (1977). New
English Language, 2nd ed. (1971); Simeon
books
Potter, Our Language, rev. ed. (1968); J.W.
Bibliography
Clark, Early English: A Study of Old and
Literature, edited for the Modern Humanities
Middle English (1967); A.C. Partridge, Tudor
Research Association, and in The Year's Work
to Augustan English (1969); J.A. Sheard, The
in English Studies (annual), edited for the
Words We Use, rev. ed. (1970); Joseph M.
English Association. Books and contemporary
Williams, Origins of the English Language: A
studies are listed in the MLA International
Social and Linguistic History (1975); and
Bibliography of Books and Articles on the
B.M.H. Strang, A History of English (1970).
Modern Languages and Literatures (annual)
F.T. Visser, An Historical Syntax of the
of the Modern Language Association.
are
recorded
of
English
in
the
Annual
Language
and
English Language, 3 vol. (1963-73), provides
copious illustrations and bibliographies.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
SPECIAL STUDIES
George W. Turner, The English Language in
Australia and New Zealand (1966); Simeon
Potter, Changing English (1969); John W.
Spencer (ed.), The English Language in West
Africa (1971); Mitford M. Mathews (ed.), The
Beginnings
of
American
English
(1931);
Thomas Pyles, Words and Ways of American
English
(1952);
Albert
H.
Marckwardt,
American English, 2nd. ed. rev. by J.L.
Dillard (1980); and Black English: Its History
and Usage in the United States (1972), also
by Dillard.
107
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
BLOQUE II
EL APRENDIZAJE DEL
INGLÉS COMO LENGUA
EXTRANJERA EN LA
ESCUELA SECUNDARIA
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE
Lightbown, Patsy M. y Nina Spada, "Learning a
language even though their early simple
first language", en How languages are learned,
communication
Oxford,
purposes?
Oxford
University
Press
(Oxford
is
successful
for
most
Handbooks for Language Teachers), 2000, pp. 19.
In this chapter, we will look briefly at some
of the characteristics of the language of
young children. We will then consider several
theories
Language acquisition is one of the most
I
mpressive and fascinating aspects of
which
have
been
offered
as
explanations for how language is learned.
human development. We listen with
pleasure to the 'coos' and `gurgles' of a
three-month-old
'answer'
the
baby.
We
laugh
conversational
and
MILESTONES
AND
PATTERNS
IN
DEVELOPMENT
'ba-ba-ba
babbling of older babies, and we share in the
pride and joy of parents whose one-year-old
One remarkable thing about first language
has
Indeed,
acquisition is the high degree of similarity
learning a language is an amazing feat-one
which we see in the early language of
which has attracted the attention of linguists
children all over the world. The earliest
and psychologists for generations. How do
vocalizations
children accomplish this? What is it that
crying that babies do when they are hungry
enables a child not only to learn words, but
or uncomfortable. Soon, however, we hear
to
meaningful
the cooing and gurgling sounds of contented
sentences? What pushes children to go on
babies, lying in their beds looking at bright
developing complex grammatical
shapes and colours around them. Even in
uttered
put
the
them
first
'bye-bye'.
together
in
are
simply
the
involuntary
108
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
life,
Thus, for an English speaking child, 'kiss
however, infants are able to hear very subtle
baby does not mean the same thing as 'baby
differences between the sounds of human
kiss'. Remarkably, we also see evidence,
language. In cleverly designed experiments,
even in these early sentences, that children
scientists have been able to show that tiny
arc doing more than imperfectly imitating
babies can hear the difference between 'pa
what they have heard. Their two and three-
and `ba', for example. And yet, it will be
word sentences show signs that they arc
many months before their own vocalizations
creatively combining words: 'more outside' in
(babbling) begin to reflect the characteristics
a situation where the meaning seems to be 'I
of the different languages they are learning.
want to
these
early
weeks
and
months
of
go outside again or 'Daddy uh-oh´ which
seems to mean 'Daddy fell down'.
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE
By the age of three-and-a-half or four years,
most
children
can
ask
questions.
Give
By the end of their first year, most babies
commands. report real events, and create
understand quite a few frequently repeated
stories about imaginary ones-complete with
words. They wave when someone says 'bye-
correct grammatical morphemes. In fact, it is
bye'; they clap when someone says 'pat-a-
generally accepted that by age four, children
cake'; they eagerly hurry to the kitchen
have mastered the basic structures of the
when 'juice and cookies are announced. At
language or languages which have been
12 months, most babies will have begun to
spoken to them in these early years. In
produce
addition to the evidence we have from simply
a
word
or
two
that
everyone
recognizes. From this time on, the number of
talking
words they understand and produce grows
carefully
rapidly. By the age of two, most children
developed to explore children's knowledge of
reliably produce at least fifty different words
language. One of the best known is the so-
and some produce many many more. About
called'wug test' developed by lean Berko
this time, they begin to combine words into
Gleason. In this 'test', children are shown
simple sentences such as 'Mommy juice' and
pictures of imaginary creatures with novel
'baby
names
fall
down'.
These
sentences
are
and
listening
designed
or
to
children,
procedures
people
have
performing
some
been
mysterious
sometimes called 'telegraphic' because they
actions. For example, they are told, 'Here is
often leave out such things as articles,
a wug. Now there are two of them. There arc
prepositions,
We
two or 'Here is a man who knows how to
recognize them as sentences because, even
bod. Yesterday he did the same thing.
though
Yesterday. _. By completing these sentences
and
function
auxiliary
words
and
verbs.
grammatical
morphemes are missing, the word order
with
reflects the word order of the language they
demonstrate that they actually know the
arc hearing and the combined words have a
rules for the formation of plural and simple
meaning relationship between them which
past in English, not just a list of memorized
makes them more than just a list of words.
word
'wugs'
pairs
and
such
'bodded',
as
children
'book/books'
and
109
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
'nod/nodded', and can apply these rules to
virtually from birth are sometimes referred to
words which they have never heard before.
as 'simultaneous bilinguals´, whereas those
Children's ability to understand language and
to use it to express themselves develops
rapidly
in
the
pre-school
years.
Metalinguisticawareness -the ability to treat
language as an object, separate from the
meaning it conveysdevelops more slowly. A
dramatic
development
in
metalinguistic
awareness occurs when children begin to
learn
to
read.
Although
metalinguistic
awareness begins to develop well before this
time, seeing words represented by letters on
a page leads children to a new level of
awareness of language as separate from the
meaning
it
represents.
Three-year-old
children can tell you that is 'wrong' to say
'drink the chair', but while they would never
say 'cake the eat they will not be able to say
what is wrong with it. A five-year-old on the
other hand, knows that 'drink the chair' is
silly in a different way from 'cake the eat.
Unlike a three-year-old, a child who can read
comes to understand that 'caterpillar' is a
who begin to learn a second language later
are referred to as 'sequential bilinguals'.
There is a considerable body of research on
the ability of young children to learn more
than one language in their earliest years. The
evidence suggests that, when simultaneous
bilinguals are in contact with both languages
in a variety of settings, there is every reason
to expect that they will progress in their
development of both languages at a rate and
in a manner which are not different from
those of monolingual children. Naturally,
when children go on to have schooling in
only one of those languages, there may be
considerable differences in the amount of
metalinguistic knowledge they develop and in
the type and extent of the Vocabulary they
eventually acquire in the two languages.
Nevertheless, there stems to be little support
for the myth that learning more than one
language i n early childhood slows down the
child's linguistic or cognitive development.
longer word than 'train' even though the
There may be reason to be concerned,
object it represents is substantially shorter!
however, about situations where children are
Metalinguistic awareness also includes the
virtually cut off from their family language
discovery of such things as ambiguity-words
when they are submerged' in a second
and sentences that have multiple meaning.
language for long periods in early schooling
This gives children access to word jokes,
or day care. In such cases, children may
trick questions, and riddles which they love
begin to lose the family language before they
to share with their friends and family.
have developed an age-appropriate mastery
of the new language. This is referred to as
subtractive bilingualism, and it can have
EARLY CHILDHOOD BILINGUALISM
serious negative consequences for children
from
Many
children,
perhaps
the
majority
of
children in the world, are exposed to more
than
one
language
in
early
childhood.
Children who hear more than one language
minority
groups.
In
some
cases,
children seem to continue to be caught
between
two
languages:
not
having
mastered the second language, they have
not
continued
to
develop
the
first.
Unfortunately, the 'solution' which educators
110
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
often propose to parents is that they should
stop speaking the family language at home
and concentrate instead on speaking the
majority language with their children. The
evidence seems to suggest that the opposite
would be more effective. That is, parents
who themselves are learners of the majority
language
should
continue
to
use
the
language which is most comfortable for
them. The children may eventually prefer to
answer in the majority language, but at least
they will maintain their comprehension of
their family language. This also permits the
parents to express their knowledge and ideas
in ways that are likely to be richer and more
elaborate than they can manage in their
second language.
DEVELOPMENTAL SEQUENCES
As children progress through the discovery of
language in their early years, there are
predictable patterns in the emergence and
development
of
many
features
of
the
language they are learning. For sonic of
these features, these patterns have been
described
in
terms
of
developmental
sequences or ´stages´ some extent, these
stages in language acquisition are related to
children's
example,
cognitive
children
development.
do
nut
use
For
temporal
adverbs such as 'tomorrow' or 'last week'
correctly until they develop an adequate
understanding of time. In other cases, the
developmental
sequences
seen)
to
he
determined more by the gradual mastery of
There is no evidence that a child's brain has
the linguistic elements for expressing ideas
a limited capacity for languages such that
which
their knowledge of one language must shrink
cognitive understanding for a long time.
have
been
present
in
children's
if their knowledge of the other one grows.
Most
minority
language
children
do
eventually master the majority language, but
GRAMMATICAL MORPHEMES
second language acquisition takes time. It
may take several years for children to know
Much research has focused on how children
the language well enough to use it for school
develop grammatical morphemes in English.
learning with the same ease as children who
One
have
development
learned
the
language
from
birth.
of
the
best-known
in
child
studies
first
of
this
language
Eventually, however, it is likely to become
development was carried out by Roger Brown
their
Demographic
and his colleagues in the 1960s. He studied
research shows that minority languages are
preferred
language.
the development of three children (whom he
usually lost in the second generation after
called Adam, Eve, and Sarah) whose mother
immigration.
the
tongue was English. One aspect of the
opportunity to learn multiple languages from
research was how the children acquired 14
early
them
grammatical morphemes over time. He found
throughout their lives are fortunate indeed,
that they acquired them in a remarkably
and families that can offer this opportunity to
similar sequence (Brown 1973). Below is a
their children should he encouraged to do so.
partial list of the grammatical morphemes
Children
childhood
and
who
to
have
maintain
studied by Roger Brown, in the approximate
order of their acquisition by Adam, Eve, and
111
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
order of their acquisition was very similar.
Sarah.
present progressive -ing (Mommy running)
They were similar to each other and similar
plural -s (two hooks)
to Adam, Eve, and Sarah.
irregular
past
forms
(Baby
went)
possessive’s (daddy's hat) copula (Annie is a
nice girl) articles `the' and `a' regular past -
NEGATION
ed (She walked)
third person singular simple present-s (She
runs) auxiliary 'be' (He is coming)
Lois Bloom's longitudinal study of three
children, Kathryn, Gia, and Eric, included a
A child who had mastered the grammatical
detailed analysis of
morphemes at the bottom of the list was
negation when they were less than three
sure to have mastered those at the top, but
years old. The children learned the functions
the reverse was not true. Thus, Brown could
of negation very early. That is, they learned
claim
there
was
of
for
a
to deny, reject, disagree with, and refuse
order
of
something. However, even though they had
acquisition. The children did not master the
this awareness of how negation functions, it
morphemes at the same rate, however. For
took some time before they learned the
example, Eve had mastered nearly all the
grammatical rules to express these negative
morphemes before she was two-and-a-half
functions (see Bloom and Lahey 1978). The
years old while Sarah and Adam were still
following
working on them when they were three-and-
negation have been observed.
developmental
evidence
the development
sequence
or
stages
in
the
development
of
a-half or four. The study carried out by
Brown was a longitudinal study, that is, he
studied the same learners over an extended
STAGE 1
period of time.
In
other
first
language
research
on
The
child's
first
negatives
are
usually
morpheme acquisition, Jill and peter de Vi
expressed by the word 'no', either all alone
lliers did a cross-seetional study (I 973).
or as the first word in the utterance.
They
studied
21
children
who
were
at
different ages and stages of development.
No go. No cookie. No comb hair.
They found that children who correctly used
Some children even adopt the word 'any' as
the morphemes which Adam. Eve, and Sarah
a negator, perhaps with an accompanying
had acquired late were also correct in using
shake of the head.
the ones which Adam, Eve, and Sarah had
acquired
earlier.
accurately
used
chose
the
children
'early'
morphemes,
however. Had not necessarily mastered the
'late'
ones.
The
children
Any bath!
who
mastered
STAGE 2
the
morphemes at different ages, just as Adam,
Eve, and Sarah had done, but again the
As utterances grow longer, and the sentence
112
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
wh-
subject is included, the negative usually
'What' is generally the first
appears just before the verb:
to be used. It is often learned as part of a
question word
whole ('Whatsat?' or 'Wharsit?') and it is
Daddy no comb hair.
some time before the child learns that there
are variations of the form, such as 'What is
that?' and 'What are these?'
STAGE 3
'Where'
At
this
stage,
the
negative
clement
is
inserted into a more complex sentence.
Children may add forms of the negative
other than no, including words like quit' and
'don't'. These sentences appear to follow the
correct
English
pattern
of
attaching
the
and
'who'
emerge
very
soon,
reflecting the fact that the child can generally
ask questions that they can already answer,
questions about the here and now. This is
reinforced by the fact that adults tend to ask
children just these types of questions in the
early days of language learning.
negative to the auxiliary or modal verb.
`Why' emerges around the end of the second
However, the negative words do not yet vary
year and becomes a favourite for the next
these forms for different persons or tenses:
year or two! Children seem to ask an endless
I can't do it. He doesn’t want it.
number of questions beginning with `why'.
At this age, the child does not always seem
to have a very good understanding of the
STAGE 4
meaning
of
the
word,
but
has
clearly
discovered the usefulness of this little word
in getting adults to engage in conversation.
Later, children begin to attach the negative
clement to the correct form of auxiliary verbs
such as 'do and 'be', and modal verbs such
as 'can':
You didn't have supper. She doesn't want it.
They may still have difficulty with some other
features related to negatives. I don't have no
more candies.
Finally, when the child begins to understand
manner and time, 'how' and when' emerge.
In contrast to 'what', `where', and 'who'
questions, children sometimes ask the more
cognitively difficult `why', 'when', and `how'
questions without fully understanding their
meaning, as the following conversation with
a four-year-old clearly shows:
Child When can we go outside?
QUESTIONS
Parent In about five minutes.
Child 1-2-3-4-5!! Can we go now?
There is a remarkable consistency as well in
the way children learn to form questions in
English. For one thing, there is a predictable
order in which the 'wh- words' emerge (for
more details see Bloom and Lahey 1978).
Since the ability to use these question words
is at least partly tied to children's cognitive
development and to the types of questions
which children are asked, it is perhaps not
surprising that there is consistency in the
113
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
STAGE 3
sequence of their acquisition. Perhaps more
remarkable
is
the
consistency
in
the
acquisition of word order in questions. This
development is not based on learning new
Gradually, they notice that the structure of
meanings, but rather on learning different
questions is different and begin to produce
linguistic forms to express meanings which
questions such as:
arc already clear-both to the child and to the
Can I go? Is that mine?
interlocutor.
But at this stage they may generalize that all
questions are formed by putting a verb at
the beginning of a sentence. Thus:
STAGE I
Is the teddy is tired? Do I can have a cookie?
Children’s earliest questions are single words
Furthermore, at this stage, tub-questions
or simple two- or three-word sentences with
usually retain the declarative word order:
rising intonation:
Why you don't have one?
Cookie? Mommy book?
The children seem to have worked out that,
At the same tints, of course, they may
produce
some
because
they
correct
have
questions
been
correct
learned
as
in a question, some clement must appear at
the beginning of the sentence, but they arc
nor yet aware that there must also be some
change in the internal word order of the
formulaic´chunks':
sentence
Where's Daddy? What's that?
itself.
We
can
call
this
stage
'fronting', because the children place some
sort of question marker-an auxiliary verb or
a nib-word-at the front of the sentence, but
STAGE 2
they do not yet change the order of the
elements within the sentence.
When their sentences grow longer, and they
begin to ask more new questions, children
use
the
sentence.
simply
word
With
add
order
of
'yes/no'
rising
the
declarative
questions,
intonation.
With
they
wh-
questions, they put a question word at the
beginning:
You like this? I have some? Why you catch
it?
At this stage, they may continue to produce
the correct 'chunk-learned' forms such as
'What's that?' alongside their own created
questions.
STAGE 4
Later, children begin to use subject-auxiliary
inversion and can even add 'do' in sentences
in which there would be no auxiliary in the
declarative version of the sentence:
Do you like ice cream?
Even at this stage, however, it sometimes
scents that they can either use inversion or
use a wit- word, but not both. Therefore, we
may find inversion in 'yes/no´ questions but
114
LEARNING A FIRST LANGUAGE_____________________________________________
not in wb-questions, except formulas such as
SUMMARY
`What is that?' which may still be used:
Can he cat the cookie? Where I can draw
them?
These descriptions of early milestones and
acqu;sition
sequences
for
grammatical
morphemes, negatives, and questions show
that we have considerable knowledge of what
STAGE 5
children
learn
in
their
early
language
development. More controversial, however,
Eventually,
children
combine
both
are questions about bozo this remarkable
development takes place. Over the past fifty
operations: Why can he go out?
However, it may still be beyond their ability
to carry out a third or hnuth operation, for
example to negate the question as well as
invert it:
years,
there
theoretical
have
approaches
behaviourist,
innatist,
been
to
and
three
main
explaining
it:
interactions
approaches
Why he can't go out?
STAGE 6
Finally, when performance on questions is
correct and well established, there is still one
more hurdle. When tub- words appear in
subordinate clauses or embedded questions,
children overgeneralize the inverted form
and produce sentences such as:
I don't know why can't he go out.
By the age of four, most English speaking
children
have
passed
through
these
developmental stages and ask questions that
are both grammatical and appropriate. This
does not mean that they never slip back to
an earlier stage. Overall, however, their
speech shows that they have acquired this
part of their language.
115
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS
LAURENCE STEINBERG
Steinberg, Laurence, "Cognitive transitions", en
'Adolescence, Boston, McGraw-Hill College, 1999,
pp. 58-62.
C
(Keating, 1990):
1. Adolescents become better able than
children to think about what is possible,
instead of limiting their thought to what is
hanges in cognition, or thinking,
represent the second in a set of
three
fundamental
changes
that
real.
2. Adolescents become better able to think
about abstract things.
occur during adolescence-the others being
the biological changes of puberty and the
transition of the adolescent into new social
3. Adolescents begin thinking more often
about the process of thinking itself.
roles. Like developments in the other two
4. Adolescents' thinking tends to become
domains,
multidimensional, rather than being limited
the
cognitive
transitions
of
adolescence have far-reaching implications
for the young person's psychological development and social relations. Indeed, the
expansion of thought during adolescence
represents as significant an event and as
to a single issue.
5. Adolescents are more likely than children
to see things as relative, rather than as
absolute.
important an influence on the adolescent's
Let's look at each of these advantages-and
development and behavior as puberty.•
some of their implications-in greater detail.
CHANGES IN COGNITION
THINKING ABOUT POSSIBILITIES
Most people would agree that adolescents
are "smarter" than children. Not only do
An adolescent's thinking is less bound to
teenagers know more than children-after all,
concrete events than is that of a child.
the longer we live, the more opportunities we
Children's thinking is oriented to the here
have to acquire new information-but ado-
and now-that is, to things and events that
lescents actually think in ways that are more
they can observe directly. But adolescents
advanced, more efficient, and generally more
are able to consider what they observe
effective. This can be seen in five chief ways
against a backdrop of what is possible. Put
116
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
another way, for the child, what is possible is
of
what is real; for the adolescent, what is real
proceeding on to one-chip combinations (R,
is but one subset of what is possible.
B, Y, G), two-chip combinations (RB, RY, RG,
Children, for example, do not wonder the
BY, BG, YG), three-chip combinations (RBY,
way adolescents often do, about the ways in
RBG, RYG, BYG), and finally the single four-
which their personalities might change in the
chip combination (RBYG). More important,
future or the ways in which their lives might
you probably did not approach the problem
be affected by different career choices. For
haphazardly.
the young child, you are who you are. But for
abstract system for generating possibilities
the adolescent, who you are is just one
that you had in mind before being faced with
possibility of who you could be.
the poker-chip problem-a system that you
This
does
not
mean
that
the
child
is
incapable of imagination or fantasy. Even
young
children
have
vivid
and
creative
imaginations. Nor does it mean that children
are unable to conceive of things being different from the way they observe them to be.
Rather, the advantage that adolescents enjoy
people
forget
this
You
one)
probably
and
then
employed
an
can apply across a variety of similar tasks.
Although preadolescent children might be
able to solve the problem correctly-in the
sense that they might, with luck, generate all
the possible combinations-children are far
less likely
than teenagers to employ a
systematic approach (Neimark, 1975).
over children when it comes to thinking
The
about possibilities is that adolescents are
systematically in terms of what is possible
able to move easily between the specific and
comes in handy in a variety of scientific and
the
alternative
logical problem-solving situations. For in-
possibilities and explanations systematically,
stance, the study of mathematics in junior
and to compare what they actually observe
and senior high school (algebra, geometry,
with what they believe is possible.
and trigonometry) often requires that you
abstract,
to
generate
We can illustrate this development by looking
at the following problem. How would you
approach it?
adolescent's
begin
with
an
ability
abstract
to
or
reason
theoretical
formulation-for example: "The square of a
right triangle's hypotenuse is equal to the
sum of the squares of the other two sides"
Imagine four poker chips, one red, one blue,
(the Pythagorean theorem). This theorem,
one yellow, and one green. Make as many
after all, is a proposition about the possible
different
any
rather than the real. It is a statement about
number, as you can. Use the notations R, B,
all possible right triangles, not just triangles
Y, and G to record your answers. (Adapted
that we
combinations
of
chips,
of
from Elkind, Barocas, and Rosenthal, 1968)
might actually observe. In mathematics, we
How did you tackle this problem? Did you
learn
need to use real poker chips to solve the
concrete examples (that is, real triangles).
problem? Probably not. In all likelihood, you
Scientific
used some sort of system, beginning perhaps
chemistry, and physics also involves the
with the case of zero chips (don't worry, a lot
ability
how
to
apply
these
experimentation
to
generate
theorems
in
to
biology,
possibilities
117
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
systematically. In a chemistry experiment in
are all dependent on being able to hy-
which you are trying to identify an unknown
pothesize effectively.
substance by performing various tests, you
must first be able to imagine alternative
possibilities for the substance's identity in
order to know what tests to conduct.
Thinking in hypothetical terms also permits
us to suspend our beliefs about something in
order to argue in the abstract. Being capable
of
assuming
a
hypothetical
stance
is
The adolescent's use of this sort of thinking
important when it comes to debating an
is not limited to scientific situations. We see
issue,
it in the types of arguments adolescents
understand
employ, in which they are more able than
person's
younger children to envision and therefore
agreeing with its conclusion. Playing devil's
anticipate the possible responses of an oppo-
advocate (formulating a position contrary to
nent and to have handy a counterargument
what you really believe in order to challenge
or a series of counterarguments (Clark &
someone else's reasoning) -for example,
Delia, 1976). Many parents believe that their
requires the ability to think in hypothetical
children become more argumentative during
terms.
adolescence, but what probably happens is
adolescence,
that their children become better arguers. An
dealing with propositions that are contrary to
adolescent does not accept other people's
fact unless they are part of a larger fictional
points of view unquestioningly but instead
story (Markovits & Valchon, 1989). So, for
evaluates them against other theoretically
example, a 7-yearold boy would have trouble
possible beliefs. As you will read in Chapter
answering the question "Where would flying
4, this improvement in the adolescent's
cows build nests?" He might say, "Cows don't
intellectual ability may contribute to the
fly," unless he had heard about flying cows in
bickering and squabbling that often occur
a story that was clearly fantasy-based.
between
teenagers
and
their
parents
(Smetana, 1989).
because
the
doing
logic
argument
Studies
so
permits
behind
without
show
that
individuals
have
the
us
to
other
necessarily
prior
to
difficulty
Of course, hypothetical thinking also has
implications
for
the
adolescent's
social
Related to the adolescent's increased facility
behavior. It helps the young person to take
with
the
the perspective of others by enabling him or
thinking.
her to think through what someone else
Hypothetical thinking is sometimes called "if-
might be thinking or feeling. ("If I were in
then"
that person's shoes, I would feel pretty
thinking
development
about
of
thinking.
possibilities
hypothetical
In
order
to
is
think
hy-
pothetically, you need to see beyond what is
angry.")
directly observable and you need to reason
formulating and arguing one's viewpoint,
in terms of what might be possible.
because it allows adolescents to think a step
The ability to think through hypotheses is an
enormously powerful tool. Being able to plan
ahead,
being
able
to
see
the
future
consequences of an action, and being able to
provide alternative explanations of events
Hypothetical
thinking
helps
in
ahead of the opposition-a cognitive tool that
comes in quite handy when dealing with
parents. ("If they come back with `You have
to stay home and clean up the garbage,'
then I'll remind them about the time they let
118
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
Susan go out when she had chores to do.")
d. Night
Hypothetical thinking also plays an important
Instead of answering "awake"-which is the
role in decision-making abilities, because it
best answer of the four given above-children
permits the young person to plan ahead and
would be more likely to respond with "bed"
to foresee the consequences of choosing one
or "night," because both of these words have
alternative over another. ("If I choose to go
stronger associations with the word asleep. It
out for the soccer team, then I am going to
is generally not until early adolescence that
have to give up my part-time job.")
individuals are able to discern the abstract
principles underlying analogies-in the one
above, the principle involves antonyms-and
THINKING ABOUT ABSTRACT CONCEPTS
therefore solve them correctly (Sternberg &
Nigro, 1980).
The appearance of more systematic, abstract
The adolescent's greater facility with abstract
thinking is the second notable aspect of
thinking
cognitive development during adolescence.
advanced reasoning and logical processes to
We noted earlier that children's thinking is
social and ideological matters. This is clearly
more concrete and more bound to observ-
seen in the adolescent's increased facility
able events and objects than is that of
and interest in thinking about interpersonal
adolescents. This difference is clearly evident
relationships, politics, philosophy, religion,
when we consider the ability to deal with
and moralitytopics that involve such abstract
abstract
concepts as friendship, faith, democracy,
concepts-things
that
cannot
be
experienced directly through the senses.
For example, adolescents find it easier than
children to comprehend the sorts of higherorder
abstract
logic
inherent
in
puns,
proverbs, metaphors, and analogies. When
presented with verbal analogies, children are
more likely than adolescents to focus on concrete and familiar associations among the
words than on the abstract, or conceptual,
relations among them.
also
permits
the
application
of
fairness, and honesty. As some writers have
pointed out, the ability to think abstractly
may prompt many adolescents to spend time
thinking about the meaning of life itself
(Hacker,
1994).
thinking-generally
cognition-during
The
growth
referred
to
adolescence
of
social
as
social
is
directly
related to the young person's improving
ability to think abstractly. Later in this
chapter, we will examine the ways in which
social thinking improves in adolescence.
Consider the following analogy, for Example:
THINKING ABOUT THINKING
Sun: Moon: Asleep:?
a. Star
A third noteworthy gain in cognitive ability
b. Bed
during adolescence involves thinking about
c. Awake
thinking itself, a process sometimes referred
to as metacognition. Metacognition often
119
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
cognitive
play an important role in the adolescent's
activity during the process of thinking, such
psychological growth. As we shall see in
as when you consciously use a strategy for
Chapter 8, for example, these processes
remembering
example,
permit the sorts of self-examination and
"Every Good Boy Deserves Fun," for the
exploration that are important components of
notes of the treble clef in music notation), or
the young person's attempt to establish a
when you appraise your own comprehension
coherent sense of idenfity.
involves
monitoring
one's
something
own
(for
of something you are reading before going
on to the next paragraph. Studies show that
using
such
adolescents
strategies
in
significantly
problem-solving
aids
situations
(Chalmers & Lawrence, 1993).
These intellectual advances may occasionally
result in problems for the young adolescent,
particularly before he or she adjusts to
having such powerful cognitive tools. Being
able to introspect, for instance, may lead to
Not only do adolescents "manage" their
periods of extreme self-absorption-a form of
thinking more than children, but they are
"adolescent
egocentrism"
also better able to explain to others the
Adolescent
egocentrism
processes they are using. For instance, in the
distinct problems in thinking that help to ex-
poker-chip problem mentioned earlier, an
plain some of the seemingly odd beliefs and
adolescent would be able to describe the
behaviors of teenagers (Goossens, Seiffge-
strategy to you ("First I took the single-chip
Krenke, & Marcoen, 1992). The first, the
possibilities, then I took the different pairs
imaginary audience, involves having such a
..."), whereas a child would probably just say
heightened sense of self-consciousness that
"I thought of everything I could." When
the
asked, adolescents can explain not only what
behavior is the focus of everyone else's
they know, but why knowing what they know
concern
enables them to think differently and solve
teenager who is going to a concert with
problems more effectively (Reich, Oser,
4,000
&
Valentin,
important
1994).
time
for
Adolescence
changes
is
in
an
our
understanding of knowledge and how it is
acquired (Schommer et al., 1997).
during
thinking
becomes
adolescence
is
and
other
imagines
attention.
people
results
that
For
may
1967).
in
his
two
or
her
example,
worry
a
about
dressing the right way because "everybody
will notice." Given the cognitive limitations of
adolescent egocentrism, it is difficult indeed
to
persuade
a
young
person
that
the
"audience" is not all that concerned with his
Another interesting way in which thinking
about
teenager
(Elkind,
more
apparent
in
increased
introspection, self-consciousness, and intellectualization. When we are introspective,
after all, we are thinking about our own
emotions. When we are selfconscious, we are
thinking about how others think about us.
And when we intellectualize, we are thinking
about our own thoughts. All three processes
or her behavior or appearance.
A second related problem is called the
personal fable. The personal fable revolves
around
the
adolescent's
egocentric
(and
erroneous) belief that his or her experiences
are unique. For instance, a young man
whose relationship with a girlfriend has just
broken up might tell his sympathetic mother
that she could not possibly understand what
120
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
it feels like to break up with someone-even
complicated belief systems invoked in real-
though breaking up is something that most
life situations (Elkind, 1985). For example,
people have experienced plenty of times
the same adolescent who worried about
during their adolescent and young adult
being seen by "everyone" at a rock concert
years. In some respects, adherence to a per-
might
sonal fable of uniqueness provides some
responses to a hypothetical dilemma posed
protective
enhances
in a questionnaire. This difference, of course,
adolescents' self-esteem and feelings of self-
would raise doubts about whether adolescent
importance. Sometimes holding on to a
egocentrism
personal
phenomenon, because we would expect that
benefits;
fable
in
can
that
it
actually
be
quite
not
appear
is
so
an
egocentric
entirely
cognitive
cognitive
sexually active adolescent who-believes that
questionnaire assessments. Elkind may be.
pregnancy simply won't happen to her or a
right
careless driver who believes that he will defy
egocentrism during early adolescence but
the laws of nature by taking hairpin turns on
wrong about the processes that underlie it
a road at breakneck speed. Much of the risk-
(Lapsley & Murphy, 1985). Indeed, one
taking behavior engaged in by adolescents
recent
can be explained partly in terms of the
egocentrism was more closely tied to their
personal fable (Lapsley et al., 1996).
interpersonal understanding than to their
the
concept
of
adolescent
egocentrism rings true, several researchers
have found it difficult to confirm that the
various
manifestations
egocentrism
actually
of
adolescent
peak
in
Riley,
Instead,
Adams,
certain
&
Neilsen,
aspects
of
general
the increased
study
found
cognitive
that
ability
show
up
in
prevalence of
adolescents'
(Jahnke
&
BlanchardFields, 1993). One guess is that
adolescents are egocentric for emotional and
social, not cognitive, reasons.
early
adolescence as predicted (Gray & Hudson,
1984;
about
would
his
dangerous, however, as in the case of a
Although
deficiencies
in
1984).
THINKING IN MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
adolescent
egocentrism, such as the personal fable and
A fourth way in which thinking changes
the imaginary audience, may remain present
during adolescence involves the ability to
throughout the adolescent and adult years
think about things in a multidimensional
(Goossens,
fashion. Whereas children tend to think
Seiffge-Krenke,
&
Marcoen,
1992; Quadrel, Fischoff, & Davis, 1993). Ask
about
any adult cigarette smoker if he or she is
adolescents can see things through more
aware
complicated lenses. For instance, when a
of
cigarette
the
scientific
smoking
with
evidence
heart
linking
and
things
one
aspect
at
a
time,
lung
certain hitter comes up to the plate in a
disease, and you'll see that it is quite
baseball game, a preadolescent who knows
common for adults to hold personal fables.
that the hitter has a good home-run record
One problem with many of the studies of
might exclaim that the batter will hit the ball
adolescent egocentrism is that they rely on
out of the park. An adolescent, however,
fairly simple questionnaires to assess rather
would consider the hitter's record in relation
121
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
to the specific pitcher on the mound and
thinking outside of academic settings, too. As
would weigh
you will read in a later section, adolescents
describe themselves and others in more
differentiated and complicated terms ("I'm
both shy and extroverted") and find it easier
to
look
at
problems
from
multiple
perspectives ("I know that's the way you see
it, but try . to look at it from her point of
view").
Being
able
to
understand
that
people's personalities are not one sided, or
that social situations can have different interpretations depending on one's point of view,
permits the adolescent to have far more
sophisticated-and
far
more
complicated-
relationships with other people.
One interesting manifestation of adolescents'
ability
Adolescent egocentrism can contribute to a
heightened sense of self-consciousness. (Don
to
look
at
things'
in
multiple
dimensions concerns the development of
children's understanding of sarcasm. As an
adult, you understand that the meaning of a
Smetzer/Tony Stone)
speaker's statement is communicated by a
combination of what is said, how it is said,
both factors, or dimensions, before making a
and the context in which it is said. If I turned
prediction (perhaps this player hits homers
to you during a boring lecture, rolled my
against left-handed pitchers but strikes out
eyes, and said, in an exaggeratedly earnest
against righties).
tone, "This is the most interesting lecture
The ability to think in multidimensional terms
is evident in a variety of different situations.
Obviously, adolescents can give much more
complicated
answers
than
children
to
questions such as "Why did the Civil War
begin?" or "How did Jane Austen's novels
reflect the changing position of women in
European society?" Thorough answers to
these sorts of questions require thinking
about several dimensions simultaneously.
I've ever heard," you would know that I
actually meant just the opposite. But you
would know this only if you paid attention to
my inflection and to the context, as well as
the content, of my statement. Only by
attending
simultaneously
to
multiple
dimensions of speech can we distinguish
between
Because
the
sincere
our
multidimensional
and
ability
terms
the
to
sarcastic.
think
improves
in
during
adolescence, we would predict improvements
But, as is the case with other gains in
in our ability to understand when someone is
cognitive ability, the increasing capability of
being sarcastic as well.
adolescents to think in multiple dimensions
has consequences for their behavior and
In one
study designed to look at
this
122
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
question, children, adolescents, and adults
were presented with different
stories in
which an interaction between two people was
followed by a remark that was sincere,
deliberately
deceptive,
or
sarcastic
(Demorest et al., 1984). The participants in
the study were then asked what the true
meaning and intent of the remark were.
Before age 9, children had difficulty picking
out
sarcastic
understanding
remarks.
of
Individuals'
sarcasm
increased
somewhat between ages 9 and 13, and
"facts" as absolute truths.
This increase in relativism can be particularly
exasperating to parents, who may feel as
though their adolescent children question
everything just for the sake of argument.
Difficulties often arise, for example, when
adolescents begin seeing parents' values that
they had previously considered absolutely
correct ("Moral people do not have sex
before they are married") as completely
relative ("Get a life, Dad").
continued to increase during the adolescent
This belief that everything is relative can
years.
become so overwhelming that adolescents
Why do young adolescents laugh hysterically
when Beavis and Butthead say things like,
"He
said
`erector
set"'?
Adolescents'
increased facility in thinking along multiple
dimensions
permits
them
to
appreciate
satire, metaphor, and the ways in which
language can be used to convey multiple
messages,
as
in
double
entendres
expressions that have two meanings, one of
them usually off-color. Teenagers' new-found
ability to use and appreciate sarcasm and
satire helps to explain why Mad magazine,
may begin to become extremely skeptical
about many things (Chandler, 1987). In fact,
once
adolescents
begin
doubting
the
certainty of things that they had previously
believed, they may come to feel as if
everything is uncertain, or that no knowledge
is completely reliable. Some theorists have
suggested that adolescents pass through
such a period of extreme skepticism on the
way toward reaching a more sophisticated
understanding
of
the
complexity
of
knowledge.
The Simpsons, and Beavis and Butthead
have such strong appeal in this age group.
RECAP
(Duh!)
Changes in cognition, or thinking, are the
ADOLESCENT RELATIVISM
second of three sets of fundamental changes
that occur daring adolescence. Adolescents
A final aspect of thinking during adolescence
concerns the way in which adolescents look
at things. Children tend to see things in
absolute
terms-in
black
and
white.
Adolescents, in contrast, tend to- see things
as relative. They are more likely to question
others' assertions and less likely to accept
show five main advantages in thinking over
children: the ability to think in terms of what
is possible, not only what is real; the ability
to think about abstract things; the ability to
think about the process of thinking itself
(referred to as metacognition); the ability to
think in multidimensional terms; and the
123
COGNITIVE TRANSITIONS________________________________________________
ability to see knowledge as relative, rather
than as absolute.
124
125
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION___________________________________________
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION
pronounced in its usual way. In the word
THE ENGLISH SPELLING SYSTEM
B
efore discussing the sound system of
English in any detail, it is necessary
to make a distinction between the
sounds of English and the spelling of English.
pleasure', it is pronounced like the final
sound in the word `beige', and in the word
`resign', it is pronounced like the first sound
in the word `zoo'.
The English spelling system often fails to
Cornbinationts of letters may represent one
represent
a
sound It is possible for a combination of
other words,
letters to represent only one sound. If you
there is often no oneto-one correspondence
pronounce the words below, you will notice
between the sounds that we hear and the
that the gh, the ph, and the ea each
letters we see on a page. An examination of
represent only one sound even though the
the English spelling system reveals many
spelling represents this single sound as two
examples
letters,
the
sounds
straightforward
of
manner.
this
of
English
In
discrepancy
in
between
spelling and sounds, for example:
rough
physics
head
Different letters may represent the same
sound Pronounce the words below:
to
two
coo
through
clue
shoe
threw
Sioux
Letters may represent uo sounds It is also
possible for no sound to be represented by a
particular letter. Pronounce the words below
All of these words contain the same vowel
and notice that the letters in italics are not
sound but it is represented by eight different
pronounced at all.
spellings.
The
same
letter represents
different
sounds Pronounce the words below and
notice that the letter a is pronounced as five
different vowel sounds.
cake
mat
call
any
sofa
Now pronounce the next set of words and
notice that the letter s is pronounced as
pleasure
sounds and spelling can be observed in these
words containing `silent' letters.
After this brief examination of the English
three different sounds.
see
Again, the lack of correpondence between
resign
In the first word, `see', the letter s is
spelling system, we can begin to understand
what led George Bernard Shaw to suggest
that the English spelling system could be
126
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION___________________________________________
used to spell the word `fish' as ghoti-the gh
as it sounds in a word like `rough', the o as
it sounds in a word like `women', and the ti
as it sounds in a word like `nation'. Shaw's
suggested spelling, at.first glance, might
seem quite ridiculous; however, it illustrates
clearly the way in which a particular sound in
English can be spelled in quite differentways.
The pronunciation of still other consonant
SOUND-SPELLING CORRESPONDENCES
letters can be predicted on the basis of their
combination with vowel letters. For example,
The lack of sound-spelling correspondence
illustrated in the previous examples should
not be taken to mean that there are no
sound-spelling regularities in English. In fact,
many of the consonant letters display a
consistent relationship to the sounds they
the letter c is pronounced like the letter s as
in `sent' when followed by the vowel letters
i, e, or y, and like the letter k as in `kite'
when followed by the vowel letters a, o, or
it, or when it occurs at the end of a word.
Thus:
represent. For example, letters such as b, m,
and n only have one pronunciation, unless
they are silent.
c before 1, e, and y= s
e.g. City, cigar, certain, Census, cent, Cyst
c before a, o, and u and at the end of a word
= k e.g. cat, call, cone, come, Custom, Cup,
plastic
This
predictable
difference
in
the
pronunciation of the letter c can also be
observed in pairs of words that are related in
meaning:
electric electricity
Notice
that
the
English
spelling
system
Other consonant letters are also consistent in
preserves the same spelling in these related
their
words even though the pronunciation of the
pronunciation
but
may
appear
in
combination with another letter giving them
a different pronunciation. For example, a
letter such as p is normally pronounced in
one way when it is alone but when it is
combined with h, it is pronounced in a
different way, that is, like the letter f.
letter c changes.
The range of pronunciation of consonant
letters is somewhat more predictable than
the pronunciation of vowel letters. This is
because there are many more vowel sounds
127
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION___________________________________________
in English than vowel letters in the Roman
Here we see that the unsuffixed form with
alphabet and because historical changes in
the silent e has the `long' sound, while the
the pronunciation of English have affected
suffixed form without the silent e has the
vowel sounds much more than consonant
`short' sound. Many people have observed
sounds. It is often the case that English
that
spelling represents pronunciations that are
advantageous in that spelling is consistent
now obsolete.
(even though the pronunciation may differ)
Traditionally, English vowel letters have been
the
English
spelling
system
is
among words related in meaning.
divided into two categories based on their
While there are many more vowel letter-
pronunciation as either long or short vowels.
sound correspondences that could be listed
When the vowel letters a, e, 1, o, and u
here,
occur in words ending in a silent e letter,
Robinett (1985) list 57 different vowel-letter
they are pronounced with their `long' sound
combinations
which is the sound heard when these letters
pronunciations) and many exceptions make
are
when
their usefulness to ESL students somewhat
reciting the alphabet). When the same vowel
questionable. However, once students have
letters occur in words without a silent e, they
mastered
are pronounced with their `short' sounds:
become quite proficient at guessing the
pronounced
in
isolation
(e.g.
their
large
number
(Prator
with
enough
and
predictable
spelling,
they
usually
pronunciation of an unknown word based
solely on the spelling.
SPELLING IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Many languages, including English, use the
Roman alphabet. Differences between the
sound-spelling
correspondences
of
such
languages and of English can often be the
source of mispronunciations. For example,
This is, then, one generalization that can be
made
regarding
correspondence
of
the
English
soundspelling
vowels.
This
regularity can also be observed in pairs of
words that are related in meaning:
the spelling systems of languages such as
Spanish, Polish, and Hungarian are more
straightforward than the
English
spelling
system in representing sounds. That is, there
is
usually
a
one-to-one
correspondence
between sounds and spelling. Speakers of
such languages may pronounce every letter
of an English word, assuming incorrectly that
the
English
spelling
system
is
like
the
spelling system of their native language. In
addition, these speakers may assign the
128
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION___________________________________________
sound values of their spelling system to the
letters of English. This often results in what
we
term
a
spelling
pronunciation.
Pronouncing words on the basis of one's
native language spelling system does not
necessarily
constitute
a
pronunciation
problem. It may merely reflect a lack of
knowledge
regarding
the
often
complex
sound-spelling correspondences of English. If
you have a large number of literate students
from
a
Roman
language
alphabet,
background
it
may
using
be
wise
the
to
familiarize yourself with the sound-spelling
correspondences in that language. Then you
can point out to students the places in which
the
sound-spelling
correspondences
of
English and their native language differ.
THE PHONETIC ALPHABET
Given
the
complexity
of
sound-spelling
correspondences in English, it would be
difficult
to
use
the
Roman
alphabet
to
symbolize English sounds. Consider trying to
represent the first sound of `cat' using the
English spelling system. If we were to use
the letter c to represent this found, then how
would we represent the first sound in a word
such as `certain'? Furthermore, would we
also use the letter c to represent the first
sound in a word like `kite', given that the
first sound of `kite' is the same sound that
begins `cat'? You can see the problems that
would arise in using the English spelling
system for such a purpose.
In order to avoid the problems that a spelling
system
like
English
poses
for
the
representation of sounds, it is helpful to use
a phonetic alphabet.
129
130
INTRODUCTION________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
The road is difficult, not because of the deep
disguised drills as games to make them more
river and e high mountains that bar the way,
palatable, was seduced by communicative
but because we lose heart hen we think of
approaches-and never let go. And yet, with
the river and the mountain.'
many
learners
the
results
were
still
disappointing.
Vietnam, e saying
W
hen
I
was
a
young,
inexperienced
teacher,
I
convinced
that
English
pronunciation
was
exceptionally
was
difficult,
especially for speakers of some languages.
But I believed that all e problems could be
solved by phonetics. So I decided to take the
bull by the horns.
of
the
speech
organs
and
the
difference between vowels and consonants.
My
learners
often led learners to hate or fear the study of
English 'and inhibited their speaking. With
many learners it was hard to see the link
between class practice and progress. I would
also come across people from language
backgrounds which have a reputation for
finding
the
pronunciation
of
English
particularly arduous who had overcome the
obstacles.
I used to begin courses by teaching the
names
I gradually realized that phonetics and drills
also
practised
reading
and
writing texts written in phone is script.
All this suggested to me that it is not simply
the intrinsic difficulty of English that causes
many students to stumble and struggle with
pronunciation. I thought it might be useful,
to try to understand what the obstacles are,
As a consequence my classes `knew all
how pronunciation is learned, and what
about' the uvula and lip rounding; they
conditions help learners internalize it.
practiced
minimal
pairs,
prominence,
an
intonation nuclei and contours; they had a
lot of dictations and repeated a lot; and yet,
what I viewed as the formula for teaching
English
pronunciation
did
not
yield
the
results I and my learners had hoped for, in
spite of all our hard work.
Having
lost
my
youthful
certainties,
I
gradually came to a number of conclusions.
These did not constitute the ingredients of a
new
`magical
formula',
but
they
did
engender activities which turned out to be
fun while giving learners insights and helping
them.
I kept faith and hope, followed new trends,
131
INTRODUCTION________________________________________________________
Here, then, are some of the results of my
observations.
well. Here are some
examples.
- Adolescents, for example, may actively try
not to be good in order to integrate better
HISTORICAL OBSTACLE
with
heir
peers,
themselves
off
and
may
from their
wish
to
teachers
set
who
Our affective links with our mo er tongue are
would like them to take on a standard British
normally positive and strong, but when we
English pronunciation. They themselves may
learn a foreign language we have a history
feel more attracted by the English spoken by
and prejudices to contend with, and the older
members of their favourite pop group or by
we get, the more intrusive this history is lik
Americans, Australians, or Indians.
ly to become. Think of all the countries and
peoples who have had contact with people
speaking various brands of Eng ish during
wars, or who were once part of the British
Empire Others may resent what they see as
the inroads English (in any o its varieties)
has made as a world lingua franca. Such
7
-
Immigrants
to
non-English-speaking
countries may want to achieve a very good
pronunciation, to set themselves off from, or
even above, the nationals of their adopted-or
imposed- country.
- Others, by contrast, may want to keep a
nega i ve feelings can produce a strong
pronunciation
desire to set oneself apart from e language
origins. The most extreme case of this that I
and its native speakers. After all, even
have
within, e English-speaking world people keep
generation
themselves
English-speaking country who spoke English
through
the
apart
way
reonally
they
and
socially
pronounce
the
come
that
across
Italian
clearly
is
shows
that
immigrant
of
in
a
a
their
thirdnon-
with a very strong Italian accent. He also
used a lot of Italian body language when he
language.
spoke English. None of this happened when
he spoke the language of the area he lived
PERSONAL
AND
SOCIOLOGICAL
OBSTACLES
in. He eventually said he wanted everyone to
know he was proud of his Italian origins and
that he felt that in this way he was avenging
A person will only want to achieve something
if they believe it is achievable and worth
attaining because of the social, intellectual,
or aesthetic benefits it will bring. Many
the treatment his grandfather had suffered
when he had first arrived to work in the coal
mines, even though h e had no particular
reason to take it out on English.
factors may interfere with learners' setting
Such extreme cases are enlightening as they
and attaining their goals.
demonstrate
First, learners' relationships with the smaller
or wider community around them have al
strong
influence
on
their
desire
or
unwillingness to learn a foreign language
indisputably
that
language
learning is the focal point of strong emotions.
They tell us this dimension cannot be ignored
in our class work with all learners, especially
when the problems are less obvious. The way
132
INTRODUCTION________________________________________________________
learners speak is an expression of their
teachers.
identity. We need to respect their choice of a
development
non-standard accent provided they are made
countries, even if they come across people
aware
public
who prove the contrary. Though there may
disadvantages (such as the risk of being
be some apparently objective reasons for the
misunderstood), as well as very real personal
learners' problems, they do not provide
advantages.
sufficient explanation for the lack of success.
that
it
carries
potential
Second, the question of what may happen to
the learners' personal identity when they
have to produce the unfamiliar sounds of a
foreign language may be important. One of
This
can
of
Near-similarity
adversely
learners
can
be
just
affect
from
as
the
these
much
a
problem as great differences. In the end, the
most important single factor is the learners
themselves.
my students once put it like this: `What is to
Another common belief, which is sometimes
become of our personality if we acquire an
presented as an axiom of psychology, is that
English intonation?'
after a certain age good pronunciation of a
This leads us to another important point. Not
foreign language can no longer be achieved.
only will it be almost impossible for teachers
This is sometimes called the `critical period',
to get their learners to pronounce better
seen as either around the age of seven or
than the learners themselves want to, but it
eight, or puberty. Many adults are convinced
will be equally difficult to get them to
that `at their age' the only thing they can
become better than they believe the can be,
hope for is to manage to survive in a foreign
even if they need to in order to get a diploma
language.
or succeed in their job.
Whatever truth there may be in this, it is
also
WHAT MAKES LEARNERS BELIEVE THEY
WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PRONOUNCE
ENGLISH WELL?
true
that
many
people
who
start
learning a foreign language after the `critical
period'
manage
to
achieve
excellent
pronunciation. The problems of those who
appear to be incapable of doing so may
simply be due to the self-consciousness that
People from some language backgrounds
comes with age and not to age itself.
think it is unimaginable for people from their
Adolescents,
culture to pronounce English well, ant, this is
ridiculous producing `strange' sounds, or
often
and
they may feel they look awful. This inhibits
stereotypes. For example, Scandinavian and
them; they avoid speaking and - cannot
Dutch people are often presented as people
develop a frame of mind that allows them to
who can achieve a good English accent, while
use their full potential. As the years go by
speakers
they
reinforced
of
by
Romance
prejudices
languages
are
become
for
example,
convinced
that
often
for
feel
them
supposed not to be able to. The differences
`English is simply impossible to pronounce'.
that
light
Adult students may notice younger students
between the mother tongue and English will
succeeding where they have not, and feel
only
contrastive
reinforce
studies
this
bring
conviction,
to
even
in
133
INTRODUCTION________________________________________________________
that they are `losing face' in front of younger
colleagues.
A
So teachers are up against strong resistance,
prejudice, myth, and a belief that all efforts
will be hopeless.
All
these
conclusion
there
can
factors
that
be
have
led
problems
as
many
me
like
to
the
these-and
different
and
compounded problems as there are learnersneed to be tackled in order to help learners
with pronunciation.
This book, then, does not give a' description
of the pronunciation of English. It does not
provide traditional drills on suprasegmental
features or phonemes. Instead, it shows
ways
to
overcome
obstacles
to
good
pronunciation that can be applied whatever
the mother tongue of the learners.
134
135
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING
Lightbown, Patsy M. y Nina Spada, "Theoretical
metalinguistic awareness? That is, can the
approaches
learner
to
explaining
second
language
learning", en How languages are learned, Oxford,
Oxford University Press (Oxford Handbooks for
Language Teachers), 2000, pp. 31-48.
treat
language
as
an
object-for
example, define a word, say what sounds
make up that word, or state a rule such as
`add an -s to form the plural'?
4 How extensive is the learner's general
knowledge
I
of
the
world?
This
kind
of
n this chapter we look at some of the
knowledge makes it easier to understand
theories that have been proposed to
language because one can sometimes make
account for second language acquisition
good guesses about what; the interlocutor is
(SLA). In many ways, theories which have
probably saying even when the language
been developed for SLA are closely related to
carrying the message is new.
those discussed for first language acquisition
5 Is the learner nervous about making
in Chapter 1. That is, some theories give
mistakes and sounding `silly when speaking
primary
the language?
importance
characteristics;
to
some
learners'
innate
emphasize
the
essential role of the environment in shaping
language
learning;
integrate
learner
still
others
seek
characteristics
to
and
environmental factors in an explanation for
how
second
language
acquisition
takes
place..
It is clear that a child or adult learning a
second, language is different from a child
6 Does the learning environment allow the
learner to be silent in the early stages of
learning, or is he or she expected to speak
from the beginning?
7 Is there plenty of time available for
language learning to take place, plenty of
contact
with
proficient
speakers
of
the
language? Second language learning
acquiring a first language in terms of both
8
'personal characteristics and conditions for
feedback when he or she makes errors in
learning. Questions to consider include:
grammar
1 Does the learner already know a language?
I
2 Is the learner cognitively mature, that is, is
he or she able to engage in problem solving,
deduction, and complex memory tasks?
Does
listener
the
or
learner
receive
pronunciation,
overlook
these
corrective
or
does
the
errors
and
pay
attention to the message?
9
Does
the
learner
receive
corrective
feedback when he or she uses the wrong
word, or does the listener usually try to
guess the intended meaning?
3 How well developed is the learner's
136
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
10 Is the learner exposed to language which
LEARNER CHARACTERISTICS
is modified, in terms of speed of delivery,
complexity of grammatical structure, and
vocabulary, so that it matches the learner's
All second language learners, regardless o
ability to comprehend and interact?
age, have by definition already acquired at
least one language. This prior knowledge
may be an advantage in the sense that the
learner has an idea of how languages work.
ACTIVITY
On
LEARNER PROFILES
the
other
hand,
as
we
shall
see,
knowledge of other languages can also lead
learners to make incorrect guesses about
Table 2.1 helps to illustrate possible answers
how the second language works and this
to
may cause errors which a first language
these
questions
with
respect
to
the
profiles of four language learners:
learner would not make.
- a child learning its first language (L1)
Young language learners begin the task f
- a child learning a second language (L2)
informally
language learning without the benefit of
some of the skills and knowledge which
adolescent and adult learners have. The first
- an adolescent learning a second language
language learner does not have the same
in a formal language learning
cognitive
setting
-
an
adult
informally
learning
(in
the
a
second
workplace
language
or
among
friends).
Fill in the chart, giving your opinion about
the
presence
or
absence
of
the
characteristics or conditions referred to ' the
questions above. Use the following notation:
+ = a characteristic which is usually present
- = a characteristic which is usually absent
? = where the characteristic or condition s
sometimes present, sometimes absent, or
where you are not sure.
The discussion b' low summarizes our vie s
about the profiles of these four language
learners n terms of their characteristics and
the conditions in which their learning talks
place.
137
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
Maturity, metalinguistic awareness, or world
classrooms, are more likely to receive only
knowledge as older second
limited exposure to the second language.
language learners. Although young second
One condition which appears to be com on to
language learners have begun to develop
learners of all ages-though perhaps not in
cognitive
metalinguistic
equal quantities-is access to modified input.
awareness, they will still have far to go in
This adjusted speech style, which is called
these areas„,as well as in the area of world
child-directed speech for first languages, is
knowledge, before they reach the levels
sometimes called foreigner talk or teacher
already attained by adults and adolescents.
talk for second languages. Many people who
mat
rity
and
Most child learners do not feel nervous about
attempting to use the language even when
their proficiency is quite limited, but adults
and adolescents often find it very stressful
when they are unable to express themselves
clearly and correctly. Nevertheless, even
very young (pre-school) children differ in
their nervousness when faced with speaking
a language they do not know well. Some
children happily chatter away in their new
language;
others
prefer
to
listen
and
participate silently in social interaction with
their peers. Fortunately for these children,
the
learning
environment
rarely
puts
pressure on them to speak when they are
not ready.
interact
regularly with
language learners
seem to have an intuitive sense of what
adjustments are needed to help learners
understand. Of course, some people are
better at this than others. We have all
witnessed
those
painful
conversations
in
which insensitive people seem to think that
they can make learners understand better if
they simply talk louder! Some Canadian
friends recently told us of an experience they
had n China. They were visiting some historic
temples and wanted to get more information
about them than they could glean from their
guidebook. They asked their guide some
questions
about
the
monuments.
Unfortunately, their limited Chinese and his
nonexistent English made it difficult for the
to exchange information. The guide kept
speaking louder and louder, but our friends
LEARNING CONDITIONS
understood very little. Finally, in frustration,
the guide concluded that it would help if
Younger learners, in an informal second
these
language learning environment, are usually
information-so he took a stick and began
allowed to be silent until they are ready to
writing in the sand-in Chinese characters!
hopeless
foreigners
could
seethe
speak. Older learners are often forced to
speak-to
meet
the
requirements
of
a
classroom or to carry out everyday tasks
such as shopping, medical visits, or job
interviews.
Young
children
in
informal
settings are usually exposed to the second
language for many hours everyday. Older
learners, especially students in language
138
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
SUMMARY
A general theory of SLA needs to account for
language
variety
acquisition
of
by
learners
characteristics,
with
learning
in
a
a
variety of contexts. The emphasis in this
chapter is on the theories which have b6en
proposed to explain the learning mechanisms
which are common to all second language
learners. In Chapter 3, we will look at
proposals for how differences among learners
may lead to differences in their learning
success.
BEHAVIOURISM
In this section, we will discuss the impact of
As we saw in Chapter 1, error correction in
first language acquisition tends to be limited
to corrections of meaning-incl4ding errors in
vocabulary
choice.
In
informal
second
language acquisition, errors which do not
interfere
with
meaning
are
usually
overlooked. Most people would feel they
were being impolite if they interrupted and
corrected soma, ne who was trying to have a
conversation with them! Nevertheless, they
ay
react
to
an
error
if
they
cannot
understand what the speaker is trying to say.
Thus, errors of grammar and pronunciation
are rarely remarked on, but the wrong word
choice may receive comment from, a puzzled
interlocutor. T e only place where feedback
on
error
is
typically
present
with
high
frequency is the language classroom. As we
shall see, however, it is not present in all
classrooms.
behaviourism
second
on
our
language
understanding
leaning.
Later
in
of
this
chapter, we will discuss some more
recent
theories
based
oil
cognitive
psychology.
As we saw in Chapter 1, behaviourists
account for learning in terms of imitation,
practice,
reinforcement
(or
feedback
on
success), and habit formation. According to
the
behaviourists,
all
learning,
whether
verbal or non-verbal, takes place through the
same underlying process; s. Learners receive
linguistic
input
from
speakers
in
their
environment and the form `associations'
between words and objects dr events. These
associations become stronger as experiences
are
repeated.
Learners
receive
encouragement for their correct imitations,
and corrective feedback on their error..
Because language development is viewed as
the formation of habits, it is assumed that a
139
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
person learning a second language stars off
when the translation equivalent would b:
with the habits for ed in the first language
correct. All this suggests t at the influence of
and that these habits interfere with the new
the learner's first language may not simply
ones nee, ed for the second language (Lado
be a matter of t, e transfer of habits, but a
1964).
more
Behaviourism
was
oft
n
linked
to
the
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis (CAH) which
was
developed
y
structural
linguists
in
Europe and North America. The CAH predicts
that here there are similarities between the
first language and the target language, the
learner
structures
will
with
acquire
ease;
target-language
where
there
are
differences, the learner will have difficulty.
There is little doubt that a learner's first
language influences the acquisition of a
second language. However, researchers have
found that not all errors predicted by the
subtle
and
complex
process
of
identifying points of similarity, weighing the
evidence
in
support
of
some
particular
feature, and even reflecting (though not
necessarily consciously) about whether a
certain feature seems to `belong' in the
structure of the target language.
For second language acquisition, as for first
language
acquisition,
account
has
proven
incomplete
the
to
behaviourist
be
explanation
at
for
best
an
language
learning. Psychologists have proposed new,
m o re complex theories of learning. Some of
these are discussed later in this chapter.
CAH are actually made. Furthermore, many
of the errors which learners do make are not
predictable on the basis of the CAH. For
example,
adult
beginners
use
simple
INNATISM
UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR
structures in the target language just as
children do: `No understand,' or `Yesterday
I meet my teacher.' Such sentences look
more like a child’s first language sentences
than like translations from another language.
Indeed, many of the sentences produced by
second language learners in the early stages
of
development
would
be
quite
ungrammatical in their first language. What
is more, some characteristics of these simple
structures are very similar across learners
from a variety, of backgrounds, even if the
structures of their respective first languages
are different from each other and different
from the target language.
As we saw in Chapter 1, Chomsky's theory of
language
acquisition
is
based
on
the
hypothesis that innate knowledge of the
principles
of
Universal
Grammar
(UG)
permits all children to acquire the language
of their environment, during a critical period
in their development. Chomsky has not made
specific claims about the implications of his
theory
for
second
language
learning.
Nevertheless, some linguists working within
this
theory
have
argued
that
Universal
Grammar offers the best perspective from
which
to
understand
acquisition
(SLA).
second
Others
language
argue
that,
In Chapter 4, we will see that learners are
although
reluctant to transfer certain features of their
understanding first language acquisition, UG
first language to the second language, even
is no longer available to guide the acquisition
it
is
a
good
framework
for
140
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
of a second language in learners who have
the
passed
language
performance and do not really affect the
acquisition. In their view, this means that
underlying systematic knowledge of the new
second
language
the
critical
language
period
for
acquisition
has
to
be
superficial
appearance
(Schwartz
1993
of
language
and
see
the
explained by some other theory, perhaps one
discussion of Krashen's theory, on pages 38-
of the more recent psychological theories
40). Other UG linguists, especially those who
described below.
think that UG has been affected by the prior
Even those who believe that UG has an
important explanatory role in SLA do not all
agree on how UG works in second language
development.
Some
argue that, even
if
second language learners begin learning the
second language after the end of the critical
p °rind and even if many fail to achieve
complete mastery of the target language,
there is still a logical problem of (second)
acquisition of the first language, suggest that
second language learners may need to be
given some explicit information about what is
not grammatical in the second language.
Otherwise, they may assume that some
structures
of
the
first
language
have
equivalents in the second language when, in
fact, they do not. (See further discussion and
an example in Chapter 4.)
eventually
Researchers who study SLA from the UG
know more about the language than they
perspective are usually interested in the
could reasonably have learned if they had to
language
depend
are
advanced learners rather than in the simple
exposed to. They infer from this that UG
language of early stage learners. They argue
must
language
that, while a variety of different theories
learners as well as to first language learners.
might be sufficient to explain some early
Some of the theorists who hold this view
language performance (use), a theory such
claim that the nature and availability of UG in
as
SLA is no different from that which is
knowledge of complex syntax. They are
hypothesized to glide first language learners.
interested in whether the competence which
Others argue that UG may be present and
underlies the language performance f second
available to second language learners, but
language learners resembles the competence
that its exact nature has been altered by the
which underlies the language performance of
acquisition of other languages.
7ative speakers. Thus their investigations
language
acquisition:
entirely
be
on
available
Researchers
learners
the
to
working
input
second
within
they
the
UG
framework a so differ in their hypotheses
about
how
formal
instruction
or
error
correction will affect the learner's knowledge
of the second language. Some argue that,
like young children, adult second language
learners neither need nor benefit from error
correction
and
metalinguistic
information.
u
is
competence
necessary
(knowledge)
to
explain
of
learners'
often involve comparing the judgments of
grammaticality made by the two group,
rather than observations of actual speaking.
In doing this, they hope to gain insight into
what
learners
actually
know
about
the
language, using a task which avoids at least
som of the many things which affect the way
we ordinarily use language.
They conclude that these things change only
141
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
may `know' rules but fail to apply them
KRASHEN'S MONITOR MODEL'
when they are focusing their attention on
what they want to say more than on how
An
innatist
theory
:)f
second
language
they are saying it.
acquisition which has had a very great
influence
on
second
language
teaching
practice is the one proposed by Stephen
2 THE MONITOR HYPOTHESIS
Krashen (1982). Five `hypotheses' constitute
what Krashen originally called the `monitor
model'. He claims that research findings from
Krashen argues that the acquired system
a number of different domains are consistent
acts to initiate the speaker's utterances and
with these hypotheses: (1) the acquisition
is
learning
monitor
judgements about correctness. The learned
hypothesis; (3) the natural order hypothesis;
system, on the other hand, act' only as an
(4)
editor or `monitor', making minor charges
the
hypothesis;
input
(2)
hypothesis;
the
and
(5)
the
responsible
or
fluency
and
intuitive
and polishing what the acquired system has
affective filter hypothesis.
produced. Moreover, Krashen has specified
that learners use the monitor only when they
1
THE
ACQUISITION-LEARNING
are focused more o being `correct' than on
what they have to say, when they have
HYPOTHESIS
sufficient time to search their memory for
the relevant rules, and when they actually
According to Krashen, there are two ways
know those rules! Thus, writing may be more
for:
to
conducive than speaking to monitor use,
develop knowledge of a second language:
because it usually allows more time for
`acquisition' and `learning'. In his view, we
attention to form. He maintains that since
acquire as we are exposed to samples of the
knowing the rules only helps the speaker
second language which we understand. This
supplement what has been acquired, the
happens in much the dame way that children
focus of language teaching should be on
pick up their first language with no conscious
creating conditions for `acquisition' rather
attention to language form. We learn, on the
than `learning'.
adult
second
language
learners
other hand, is a conscious process of study
and attention to form and rule learning.
It is very difficult to show evidence of
`monitor' use. In any given utterance, it is
For Krashen, acquisition is by far the more
impossible to de -ermine what has been
important process. He asserts that only
produced by the acquired system and what is
acquired language is readily available for
the result of monitor use. Krashen's claim
natural, fluent communication. Further, he
that language which is produced quickly and
asserts
into
apparently spontaneousy must have been
acquisition. He cites as evidence for this that
acquired rather than learned leaves us with a
many speakers are quite fluent without ever
somewhat circular definition.
that
learning
cannot
turn
having learned rules, while other speakers
142
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
Krashen cites many varied lines of evidence
3 THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS
fort is hypothesis, most of which appeal to
intuition,
Krashen
based
this
hypothesis
on
the
but
which
have
not
been
substantiated by empirical studies. In recent
observation that, like first language learners,
year,
second language learners seem to acquire
undirected pleasure reading as a source of
the
comprehensible
features
of
the
target
language
in
he
has
emphasized
the
input.
value
of
While
he
predictable sequences. Contrary to i, tuition,
acknowledges that some people who are
the rules which are easiest to state (and thus
exposed to extensive co- mprehensible input
to `learn') are not necessarily the first to be
do not achieve high levels o~ proficiency in
acquired. For example, the rule or adding an
the
-s to third person singular verbs in the
conviction
present tense is easy o state, but even some
acquisition . He points to the affective filter
advanced second language speakers fail to
hypothesis to explain lack of success when
apply
comprehensible input is available.
i
in
rapid
conversation.
Further,
second
language,
that
input
he
is
retains
the
his
source
of
Krashen observes that the natural order is
independent of the order in hitch rules have
been learned in language classes. Most of
Krashen's
original
hypothesis
studies',
came
in
examined
evidence
from
which
for
the
learners'
the
for
5 THE AFFECTIVE FILTER HYPOTHESIS
this
'morpheme
speech
accuracy
of
was
certain
The `affective filter' is an imaginary barrier
which
prevents
learners
from
acquiring
grammatical morphemes. While there have
language from the available input. ect refers
been
morpheme
to such things as motives, needs, attitudes,
studies, subsequent research has confirmed
and emotional states. A learner who is tense,
that learners pass thro gh sequences or
angry, anxious, or bored may `filter out'
many
criticisms
of
the
stages in development. In Chapter 4, we will
input, making 't unavailable for acquisition.
look at some o~ these sequences in second
Thus, depending on the learner's state of
language acquisition.
mind or disposition, the filter limits what is
noticed and what is acquired. The filter will
be `up' (blocking input) when the learner is
stressed, self-conscious, or unmotivated. It
4 THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
will be `down' when the learner is re axed
and motivated.
Krashen asserts that ore acquires language
in
only
one
way-by
exposure
to
comprehensible input. If the input contains
forms
and
structures
just
beyond
the
learner's current level of competence in the
language (what Krashen calls `i + 1'), then
both
occur.
comprehension
and
acquisition
will
What makes this hypothesis attractive to
practitioners is that it appears to have
immediate
implications
for
classroom
practice. Teachers can understand why-some
learners, given the same opportunity to
learn, may be successful while others are not
It also appeals intuitively to those who have
143
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
tried unsuccessfully to learn a language in
other hand, the theory has also bee seriously
conditions
felt
stressed
or
criticized for failing to propose hypotheses
problem
with
the
which can be tested by empirical research.
hypothesis, however, is that it is difficult to
Most teachers and researchers see much
be sure that affective factors cause the
which is intuitively appealing in his views.
differences in language acquisition. It seems
There is little doubt that communicative
likely that success in acquisition may in itself
language teaching, with its primary focus on
contribute to more positive motivation or, in
using language for meaningful interaction
Krashen's terms, to a `lowered affective
and for accompli king tasks, rather than on
filter'. In Chapter 3, w- will discuss further
learning rules, has won support from many
the
attitudes/
teachers and learners. Nevertheless, it will
motivation and success in second language
be seen in Chapter 6 that some classroom-
learning.
centred research shows that attention to
where
uncomfortable.
rel-
they
One
ationship
between
language form maybe more important than
Krashen acknowledges. We will also see that
instruction which focuses on language form
can be incorporated within communicative
language teaching.
RECENT PSYCHO OGICAL THEORIES
INFORMATION PROCESSING
Cognitive
information
psychologists
processing
working
model
of
in
an
human
learning and performance tend to see second
language acquisition as the building up of
knowledge systems that can eventually be
called on automatically for speaking and
understanding. At first, learners have to pay
attention to any aspect of the language
which they are trying to understand or
produce. It is assumed that there is a limit to
the amount of information a human can pay
attention to at one time. Thus, for example,
a learner at the earliest stages of second
language learning will probably pay attention
Krashen's writing has been very influential in
supporting communicative language teaching
(CLT. particularly in North America. On the
to the main words in a message and not be
able
to
also
notice
the
grammatical
morphemes which are attached to some of
144
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
those words. Gradually, through experience
They seem rather to be based on the
and practice, learners become able to use
interaction of knowledge we already have, or
certain parts of their knowledge so quickly
on the acquisition of new knowledge which-
and automatically that they are not even
without extensive practice somehow fits into
aware that they are doing it. This frees them
an existing system and causes it to be
to focus on other aspects of the language
transformed or `restructured'. This may lead
which, in turn, gradually become automatic
to what appear to be sudden bursts of
(McLaughlin 1987). The performance which
progress for the learner, but it can also
will
sometimes
eventually
originate
become
from
automatic
intentional
learning,
may,
for
when
a
lead
to
apparent
systematic
aspect
incorporated
too
backsliding
of
learner
example in formal study, but this is not
language
much
or
always the case. Anything which uses up our
incorporates the wrong things. For example,
mental `processing space', even if we are
when a learner finally masters the use of the
not aware of it or attending to it `on
regular -ed ending to show past tense,
purpose', is a possible source for information
irregular verbs, which had previously been
or skills which can eventually be available
`practised' correctly, may be affected. Thus,
automatically, !if there has been enough
after months of saying `I saw a film', the
practice. Note that, in this context, `practice'
learner may say `I seed' or even `I sawed',
is not seen as something mechanical, but as
overapplying the general rule.
something which involves effort on the part
of the learner.
One theorist who has emphasized the role of
CONNECTIONISM
`noticing' in second language acquisition is
Richard Schmidt. He argues that everything
As seen in the discussion of first language
we come to know about the language was
acquisition, connectionists, unlike innatists,
first `noticed' consciously. This contrasts
see no need to hypothesize the existence of
sharply with Krashen's views, of course.
a neurological module which is designed for
Schmidt, like the cognitive psychologists,
language
does not assume that there is a difference
cognitive
between acquisition and learning (Schmidt
attribute greater importance to the role of
1990).
the
acquisition
alone.
psychologists,
environment
than
Like
most
connectionists
to
any
innate
of
knowledge in the learner, arguing that what
automaticity through practice, some psycho-
is innate is simply the ability to learn, not
logists suggest that there are changes in skill
any specifically linguistic structure.
and
to
Connectionists argue that learners gradually
`restructuring'. This notion is needed to
build up their knowledge of language through
account for the observation that sometimes
exposure to thousands of instances of the
things which we know and use automatically
linguistic
may not be explainable in terms of gradual
Thus, while innatists see the language input
build-up of automaticity through practice.
in the environment mainly as a'trigger' to
In
addition
to
knowledge
the
which
development
are
due
features
they
eventually
learn.
145
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
activate
innate
knowledge,
connectionists
THE INTERACTIONIST POSITION
see the input as the principal source of
linguistic knowledge. After hearing language
features in specific situational or' linguistic
Some
contexts
learners
influenced by psychological learning theories,
develop stronger and stronger mental or
have developed their ideas mainly within SLA
neurological
research itself. Evelyn
over
and
over
`connections'
again,
between
these
interactionist
theorists,
while
elements. Eventually, the presence of one
Hatch
situational or linguistic element will activate
Michael Long (1983), among others, have
the other(s) in the learner's mind. These
argued
connections may be very strong because the
acquisition
elements
very
conversational interaction. This is similar to t
frequently or they may be relatively weaker
e first language theory that gives great
because there have been fewer opportunities
importance to child-directed speech. Michael
to experience them together For example,
Long's views are based on his observation of
learners
interactions between learners and native
have
might
occurred
get
together
the
subject-verb
(1992),
that
Teresa
mu
Pica
h
(1994)
second
takes
and
language
place
through
agreement correct, not because they know a
speakers.
rule but because they have heard examples
comprehensible
such as `I say' and `he says' so often that
language acquisition. However, he is more
each subject pronoun activates the correct
concerned wit the question of how input is
verb form.
made
As noted in Chapter 1, connectionist research
interaction as the necessary mechanism for
has
this to take place; (Long 1983). In his view ,
shown
that
a
learning
mechanism,
simulated by a computer program, can not
only `learn' what it hears but can also
generalize, even to the point of making
overgeneralization errors. These studies have
what
He
agrees
i
Krashen
is
necessary
put
comprehensible.
learners
with
need
He
is
sees
not
that
for
modified
necessarily
simplification of the linguistic forms but
rather an opportunity to interact with other
speakers, in ways which lea. them to adapt
so far dealt almost exclusively with the
what they are saying until the learner shows
acquisition of vocabulary and grammatical
signs of unders riding. According to Long,
morphemes, that is, aspects of the language
which even innatists will grant may be
acquired largely through memorization and
there
are
no
cases
of
beginning-level
learners, acquiring a second language from
native-speaker talk which has not been
simple generalization. How this model of
modified in some way. In fact, he says,
cumulative learning can lead to knowledge of
research
complex syntactic structures is a question
consistently modify their speech in sustained
which is currently under investigation.
shows
that
native
speakers
conversation with non-native speakes.
Long infers that modified interaction must be
necessary
for
language
acquisition.
This
relationship has been summarized as follows:
1
Interactional
modification
makes
input
146
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
comprehensible;
2
Comprehensible
promotes acquisition. Therefore,
3
Interactional
modification
input
Another perspective on the role of interaction
in second language acquisition is Vygotsky's
j
promotes
acquisition.
sociocultural
processing.
theory
As
we
of
human
saw
in
mental
Chapter
1,
Vygotsky's theory assumes that all cognitive
Modified interaction does not always involve
development,
linguistic simplification. It may also include
development, arises as a result of social
elaboration, slower speech rate, gesture, or
interactions between individuals. Extending
the provision of additional contextual cues.
Vygotskyan
Some'
acquisition, Jim Lantolf and others claim that
examples
of
these
conversational
including
theory
to
language
second
language
modifications are:
second language learners advance to higher
1 Comprehension checks-efforts by the nati e
levels of linguistic knowledge when they
speaker to ensure that the learner has
collaborate and interact with speakers of the
understood (for example, `The' bus leaves at
second
6:30. Do you understand?').
Knowledgeable than they are, for example, a
2 Clarification requests-efforts by the learner
to
get
the
native
speaker
to
clarify
something which has not been understood
(for example, `Could you repeat please?).
These requests from the learner lead to
further modifications by the native speaker.
language
who
are
more
teacher or a more advanced learner Critical
to Vygotsky's theory is the notion of the zone
of
proximal
development,
the
level
of
performance which a learner is capable of
when there is sup p ort from interaction with
a more advanced interlocutor. This may be
observed in a variety of speech strategies
3 Self-repetition or paraphrase-the native
used by more advanced speakers to create
speaker repeats his or her sentence either
supportive
partially or in its entirety (for example, She
language learner to comprehend and produce
got lost on her way home from school. She
language
was walking home from sc ool. She got
simplification, modelling) One example of
lost.').
this is the conversation below, reported by
Research
has
demonstrated
conversational
adjustments
comprehension.
There
modification
which
is
can
evidence
sakes
place
conditions
(for
for
example,
the
second
repetition,
that
Richard Donato, who investigated how adult
aid
learners of French were able to co-construct
that
language learning experiences in a classroom
during
setting.
interaction leads to better understanding
Speaker 1 ... and then I'll say ... to as
than linguistic simplification or modification
souvenu notre anniversaire de
which is planned in advance. While some
recent research has shown that specific kinds
mariage... or should I say mo anniversaire?
of interaction behaviours aid lea ping in
Speaker 2 Tu as
terms
Speaker 3 Tu as .
of
research
immediate
is
needed
production,
on
how
more
access
to
modified interaction affects second language
acquisition in the long term.
Speaker
1
Tu
as
souvenu...
`You
remembered?'
147
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
Speaker 3 -Yea, but isn't that reflexive? Tu
Many claims from behaviourist theory were
'as ...
based of experiments with animals learning a
variety of responses to laboratory stimuli.
Speaker 1 Ah, tu t'as souvenu.
Their applicability to the natural learning of
Speaker 2 Oh, it's to es
languages
Speaker 1 Tu es
challenged by psychologists and linguists
by
humans
was
strongly
alike, primarily because of the inadequacy of
Speaker 3 Tu es,..tu es, to ...
behaviourist
models
to
account
for
the
Speaker l T'es, to t'es
complexity involved in language learning.
Speaker 3 Tu t'es
Information
Speaker l Tu t'es souvenu
research often involves computer simulations
to
and
connectionist
or very controlled laboratory experiments
(Donato 1994:4';4)
According
processing
where people learn a specific set of carefully
Vygotskyan
theorists,
the
chosen
linguistic
features,
often
in
an
difference between this perspective and that
invented
of
view
that, this does not entitle connectionists to
interaction as important in second language
generalize to the complexities of a normal
acquisition
human language learning.
other
researchers
is
that
who
also
sociocultural
theorists
assume that language acquisition actually
takes place in the interactions of learner and
interlocutor,
models
whereas
assume
that
other
input
interactionist
modification
provides learners with the linguistic raw
material which they will process internally
and invisibly.
language.
Many
linguists
argue
In contrast, the innatists draw much of their
evidence from studies of the complexities of
the proficient speaker's language knowledge
and performance and from analysis of their
own intuitions about la language. Critics of
this view argue that it is not enough to know
what the final state of knowledge is and that
more
attention
should
be
paid
to
the
developmental steps leading up to this level
SUMMARY
of mastery.
In the end, what all theories of language
acquisition are meant to account for is the
working of the hum in mind. All of the
theories discussed in this chapter and in
Chapter 1 use metaphors to represent this
invisible
reality.
Both
linguists
and
psychologists draw some of their evidence
from neurological research. However, in light
of the present state of technology as well as
research ethics, most of the research must
be based on other kinds of evidence.
Interactionists emphasize the role of the
modification of interaction in conversations.
This helps us understand some of the ways
in which learners can gain access to new
knowledge about the language when they
have support from an interlocutor. However,
critics of the interactionist position argue that
there is much which learners need to know
which s not available in the input, and so
they
put
greater
emphasis
on
innate
principles of language which learners can
draw on.
148
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
Researchers and educators who are hoping
SOURCES
AND
SUGGESTIONS
for language acquisition theories which give
FURTHER READING
FOR
them insight into language teaching practice
are often frustrated by the lack of agreement
among the `experts'. But the complexities of
Overviews of theories of second language
SLA, like those of first language adquisition,
acquisition
represent
linguistic,
Cook, V. 1991. Second Language Learning
scientists
and Language Teaching. London: Edward
a
psychological,
puzzle
and
for
neurological
which will not soon be solved. Research
which has theory development as its goal has
very important long-term significance for
language
teaching
agreement;
on
a
and
learning,
`complete'
theory
but
of
Arnold.
Ellis, R. 1994. The Study of Second Language
Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. 1997. Second Language Acquisition.
language acquisition is probably, at best, a
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
long way off. Even if such agreement were
Larsen-Freeman, D. and M. H. Long. 1991.
reached, there would still be questions about
An
how the theory should be interpreted for
Acquisition Research. New York: Longman.
language teaching. Many teachers watch
theory development with interest, but must
continue to teach and plan lessons and
assess students' performance in the absence
of
a
comprehensive
theory
of
second
Introduction
to
Second
Language
Ritchie, W. C. and T. K. Bhatia (eds.). 1996.
Handbook of Second Language Acquisition.
San Diego, Cal.: Academic Press.
Skehan, P 1998. A Cognitive Approach to
language learning.
Language Learning. Oxford: Oxford
There is a growing body of `applied' research
University Press.
being
carried
out
within
these
different
theoretical frameworks, as well as others.
This often starts from observations of second
language acquisition, in both `natural' or
`instructional' settings. The research draws
on a wide range of theoretical orientations,
sometimes
explicitly
stated,
sometimes
merely implied. It may provide a more
immediately accessible basis for teachers'
reflections about teaching. In the following
Behaviourism in SLA
Lado,
R.
1964.
Language
Teaching:
A
Scientific Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Universal Grammar approaches to SLA
Gass, S. M. and J. Schachter (eds.). 1989.
Linguistic Perspectives on Second Language
Acquisition.
Cambridge:
Cambridge
University Press.
chapters, we will look at research which has
Schwartz, B. 1993. `On explicit and negative
sought
data effecting and affecting competence and
to
explain
the
processes
and
outcomes of second language acquisition in a
linguistic
behavior.'
variety of settings.
Language Acquisition
Studies
in
Second
15: 147-63.
White, L. 1989. Universal Grammar and
149
THEORETICAL 2 APPROACHES TO EXPLAINING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING_______
Second
Language
Acquisition.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia,
Pa.:
John
Benjamins.
Appel
Krashen, S. D. 1982. Principles and Practice
in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford:
Krashen, S. D. 1985. The Input Hypothesis.
London: Longman.
Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in
the Classroom. Oxford: Pergamon.
Approaches
to
Second Language Research. Norwood, N.J.:
Ablex, pp. 33-56.
E.
and
metacognitive
Ryan.
in
Second
Language
Acquisition
Hatch, E. 1992. Discourse and Language
Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University
1985.
`A
Approaches to Second Language Research.
for
the
Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.
development of first and second language
skills' in D. Forrest-Pressley, G. Mackinnon,
(eds.):
Metacognition,
Cognition, and Human Performance, Vol. 12.
New York: Academic Press, pp. 207-52.
McLaughlin, B. 1987. Theories of Second
Language Learning. London: Edward Arnold.
Schmidt, R. 1990. `The role of consciousness
second
‘Studies
Lantolf, J. P and G. Appel. 1994. Vygotskian
E.
framework
Waller
interaction and second language production.
Press.
Information processing
in
Vygotskian
16:283-302.
Krashen, S. D. and T. Terrell. 1983. The
T.
(eds.):
Gass, S. and E. Varonis. 1994. `Input,
Pergamon.
and
Donato, R. 1994. `Collective scaffolding in
second language learning' in J. Lantolf and G.
Krashens theory
Bialystok,
Mass.: Newbury House.
language
learning.'
Long, M. H. 1983. `Native speaker/nonnative
speaker
conversation
and
the
negotiation of comprehensible input.' Applied
Linguistics 4: 126-41.
Pica, T. 1994. `Research on negotiation:
What does it reveal about second language
acquisition?
Conditions,
processes,
and
outcomes.' Language Learning 44:493-527.
Applied
Linguistics 11: 17-46.
Connectionism
Ellis,
N.
C.
`Morphology
and
and
R.
Schmidt.
longer
1997.
distance
dependencies.' Studies in Second Language
Acquisition 19: 145-71.
Gasser,
M.
1990.
'Connectionism
and
universals of second language acquisition.'
Studies in Second Language Acquisition 12:
179-99.
Interactionism in SLA
Day, R. R. 1986. Talking to Learn. Rowley,
150
151
ATYLES AND LENGUAGE ANXIETY:
AN OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________
STYLES AND LANGUAGE ANXIETY:
AN OVERVIEW
S
tyles can have a direct relationship
contrast, extroverted students or teachers
with language anxiety. This section
receive most of their
defines various style dimensions, at
the same time suggesting how anxiety relates to these dimensions.
STYLE DIMENSIONS
Some important aspects of style are shown
in Table 12.1. These are also echoed in the
Style Analysis Survey in the appendix, pp.
230-237. In each dimension most people
have
some
elements
of
both
poles;
therefore, each dimension is a continuum
Energy
indicating general preferences.
themselves.
from
people and
They
are
events
usually
outside
eager
to
engage in conversation and work in groups.
INTROVERTED VERSUS EXTROVERTED
Social situations ordinarily do not cause
extroverted people to become anxious; they
might become anxious when they have to
Introverted
students
or
teachers
are
energized by their own ideas, feelings, and
work
alone
(Oxford,
Ehrman,
&
Lavine
1991).
thoughts (Reid 1995). They prefer to work
alone or with others whom they know well,
and they are often uninspired by typical
kinds of group work. They can, in certain
INTUITIVE-RANDOM
VERSUS
CONCRETE-SEQUENTIAL
circumstances, become extremely anxious if
put into a situation in which they feel the
As discussed in Reid (1995), students and
need to perform or communicate, particularly
teachers whose style is intuitiverandom think
with
McCroskey
in abstract, large-scaled, nonsequential ways
1984), because they dislike evaluation by
and can distill the main principles of the
other people in social settings. Yet some
language rather easily. They are often made
introverted individuals can become good at
anxious or bored by concrete, step-by-step
hiding their introversion so that others don't
processes and would rather take daring intel-
notice their discomfort with crowds. In
lectual
strangers
(Leary
1983;
leaps.
In
contrast,
concrete-
152
ATYLES AND LENGUAGE ANXIETY:
AN OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________
sequential students and teachers focus on
ANALYTIC VERSUS GLOBAL
concrete facts in an organized, step-by-step
fashion.
Abstract
principles
of
language
systems are not important to these learners
Wallace and Oxford (1992) described the
and teachers, who prefer to concentrate on
analytic and global components
one task at a time. Frequently slow and
of style. This dimension deals with how
steady, they move at their own rate. As
people
students
information:
or
teachers,
concrete-sequential
prefer
to
receive
through
and
process
logical
analysis
or
overview.
Students
or
individuals can achieve goals that are made
through
clear to them by authority figures, and they
teachers with an analytic style prefer logical
become anxious about randomness and lack
thinking,
of consistency in planning.
precision, and objectivity. They apply their
a
global
complexity,
multiple
details,
impersonal problem solving techniques to
many aspects of their lives, including work,
CLOSURE-ORIENTED VERSUS OPEN
relationships, and self. They like dealing
'With grammatical rules, making contrastive
"Closure-oriented" is associated with the
Jungian
"judging"
style, while "open"
is
related to the Jungian "perceiving" style
(Reid 1995). A closure orientation signifies
that the individual is serious, concerned
about
finishing
tasks,
goal-directed,
intolerant of ambiguity, and desirous of rapid
decision-making (closure). Anxiety emerges
for closure-oriented people who are forced to
deal with open-ended situations in. which
decisions are not made; or for closureoriented individuals whose workload is so
overwhelming that they do not get a sense of
closure
on
most
tasks.
An
open
style
indicates that the person is lighthearted, is
not concerned with finishing tasks, can easily
be
distracted
from
goals,
tolerates
ambiguity, and prefers to put off decisions so
that more data can be gathered. Anxiety is
analyses,
and
dissecting
words
and
sentences. Analytic learners and teachers
often become anxious when forced to deal
with spontaneous-communication situations,
because
their
preferred
emphasis
is
on
accuracy. In contrast, global students and
teachers look for the "big picture," try to
avoid the minor details in favor of the main
idea, simplify and synthesize rather than
analyze data, employ subjective or personal
thinking
modes,
and
use
interactive
communication techniques. Global students
or teachers are concerned more with fluency
than
with
accuracy
in
the
language
classroom. They are typically more sensitive
and felling-oriented than analytic students.
They
frequently
activities
that
display
involve
anxiety
remembering
over
or
presenting many small points of information.
most common for open-style people when
they are forced to make decisions quickly,
face many deadlines, and are not allowed to
have much free time to relax or play.
153
ATYLES AND LENGUAGE ANXIETY:
AN OVERVIEW__________________________________________________________
SENSORY
PREFERENCES
(VISUAL
VERSUS AUDITORY VERSUS HANDS-ON)
interactions that has been emphasized in
recent years is that of style conflicts (Oxford,
Ehrman, & Lavine 1991). In one study
(Wallace & Oxford 1992), the ESL students
The sensory preferences of language learners
were
and teachers are the physical, perceptual
feeling-oriented than their American teach-
learning channels with which they most
ers,
were
more
introverted
and
easily process information (Oxford, Ehrman,
thinking-oriented.
These
differences
sug-
& Lavine 1991). Visual students and teachers
gested greater outgoingness and personal
enjoy reading and need extensive visual
subjectivity on the part of the students, as
stimulation:
computers,
contrasted with more internal self-direction
bulletin boards, and photos; they dislike
and impersonal objectivity on the part of the
purely auditory lectures, conversations, and
teachers. In writing, reading, and grammar
oral
and
(but not in speaking), these major style
are
contrasts
pictures,
directions.
teachers,
unlike
video,
Auditory
visual
students
individuals,
significantly
who
more
consistently
extroverted
and
negatively
and
af-
comfortable without much visual input and
fected
therefore enjoy lectures, conversations, and
students suffered grade-wise because of the
oral
style clashes in three out of four skill areas
directions.
They
are
excited
by
classroom interactions in role plays and
student
grades. This
means that
examined.
similar activities but sometimes experience
anxiety' with tasks that are totally visual,
without
students
any
and
auditory
input.
teachers
like
Hands-on
considerable
movement and enjoy working with models,
collages,
flashcards,
and
objects.
Uncomfortable and anxious when sitting at a
desk for long, they prefer frequent breaks
and moving around the room. Many handson students and teachers would rather sit on
the floor, the table, or the couch than in the
traditional
straight-backed,
knees-bent
academic posture.
TEACHER-LEARNER INTERACTIONS
Many researchers relate language anxiety to
instructor-learner
interactions
(Horwitz,
Horwitz, & Cope 1986; Koch & Terrell 1991;
Price 1991; Scarcella & Oxford 1992; Young
1990, 1991). An aspect of teacher-learner
154
WHY IT´S ALL ABOUT____________________________________________________
BLOQUE III
LOS RETOS DEL
MAESTRO DE LENGUA
EXTRANJERA EN LA
ESCUELA SECUNDARIA
Y LA ATENCIÓN A LOS
PROPOSITOS
FUNDAMENTALES
WHY IT'S ALL ABOUT
M
ager,
Robert
F.,
about",
en
toward
learning
"Why
Developing
or
it's
all
attitude
SMATs
n'
SMUTS, California, Lake Publishing Company,
1984, pp. 7-12.
Why do we decide to construct a "course of
instruction"?
What do we hope to achieve?
We instruct because we hope that through
our instruction our students will somehow be
different
than
instruction.
experiences"
they
We
with
were
before
provide
the
intent
the
"learning
that
each
student will then be a modified person ... in
If telling were the same as teaching, we'd all
be so smart eve could hardly stand it.
knowledge, in attitude, in belief, in skill.
We
teach
in
order
to
influence
the
capabilities of the student.
Why do we teach?
Consider any of the instruction you yourself
155
WHY IT´S ALL ABOUT____________________________________________________
may have given. Why did you coach, or
students can perform these skills during the
tutor, or otherwise assist Students to learn?
instruction,
Wasn't it because you hoped they would, as
influence?
a result of your efforts,
during
the
period
of
our
Hardly.
ƒ
know more than they knew before?
ƒ
understand something they did not
how students are able to perform after the
understand before?
course
develop
ƒ
a
skill
that
was
We are far more concerned with influencing
not
developed before?
ƒ
over,
after
our
influence
is
discontinued. We try to instill an appreciation
for music now so that students will behave
appreciatively
after
our
help
has
been
feel differently about a subject than
withdrawn. We try to teach them to read, to
they felt before?
calculate, to analyze now so that they will be
develop
ƒ
is
an
appreciation
for
able to do those things in the future. And
whether we are concerned with performance
something where there was
in the immediate future or in the more
none before?
remote future, we are concerned that our
If your intent was to achieve one or more of
teaching influence become at least as evident
these goals, then it was in these same ways
then as we want it to become evident now.
that you hoped students would become
different
than
they
were
before
the
instruction.
differences.
developing
exceedingly well: "The first object of any act
of learning ... is that it should
Many words arc used to describe these
intended
Dr. Jerome Bruner summarized the point
skills,
or
We
talk
about
competencies,
or
serve us in the future."'
Certainly one of the important goals of
attitudes, or enthusiasm. We talk about
education
encouraging growth, about helping students
educational experience will extend beyond
to develop, or about assisting them to
the period of instruction.
develop to their fullest potential. Regardless
My concern at this point is not with whether
of the words we use to describe our teaching
any particular goal can be achieved through
goals,
no
formal education, with whether it ought to be
teaching goal can be reached unless each
achieved, or even with whether it is stated in
student is influenced to become different in
a
some way than he or she was before the
concern is only with noting that the actions
instruction was undertaken.
implied
Equally important to reaching a teaching goal
expected to be performable at some time
is timing. When do we want the differences
subsequent to the instruction-at some time
to appear?
after the direct influence o f the Instructor
Do
we
and
regardless
teach
logic,
of
and
the
goals,
welding,
and
managing, and interviewing only so that
way
is
that
by
that
the
facilitates
our
influence
of
achievement.
instructional
goals
an
My
are
has ended.
There is nothing new about saying we are
156
WHY IT´S ALL ABOUT____________________________________________________
interested in having students use what we
successful if students actively avoid any
have
further mention of the subject?
taught
them
after
instruction
has
ended, and the point may seem belabored.
But if this goal is worth achieving, it is a goal
worth doing more about than just talking. If
it is a goal of value, we must act to achieve
it, and act to learn how well we succeed.
So what?
Suppose it is true that instruction is intended
Whatever
else
we
do
in
the
way
of
influencing students, the least we must strive
to achieve is to send them away with
favorable rather than unfavorable feelings
about the subject or activity we teach. This
might well be our minimum, and universal,
goal in teaching.
to facilitate performance at some time after
(Of course, it isn't necessary for people to
the instruction has taken place, you might
"like" a subject or activity in order for them
ask. So what?
to come into contact with it, or use it, or do
Just this. The more important your subject of
instruction, the snore important it is that
students be willing to use what you have
taught them. If you go to the great trouble of
putting your own thoughts in order and organizing effective learning experiences for
your students, you should certainly want to
avoid the state of affairs implied by a
graduate who says, "I hope I never hear of
that subject again." What a waste that would
be-of your talents and of the student's
talents. You would have wasted your talents
teaching someone something important that
he or she will probably never use. The
student would have wasted his or her talents
learning (and then not using) a skill or
knowledge that might have enabled him or
her, to be a little more successful, a little
more useful, a little happier, or a little
greater.
If it's worth teaching, isn't it worth working
toward having that teaching put to use?
something about it. Look at all the things
people do that they would rather not do. Add
up the time you spend doing things not of
your choice. But this is just the point. People
try to spend as much time as possible doing
those things that they feel favorably about,
and they avoid doing those things they feel
unfavorably
about
...
except
when
cir-
cumstances prevent them from doing so.
Those
who
dread
the
thought
of
mathematics, for example, will struggle with
some calculations ... when they have to.
Those who can't stand operatic music will sit
through it ... when there is no choice. When
there is a choice, ex-students will be more
likely to apply what we have taught them if
they
are
favorably
disposed
toward
the
subject than if they hate the mention of it.
And there are things we can do to accentuate
the positive and eliminate the negative.)
Instructors, of course, don't control all of the
factors
that
influence
attitude
toward
learning. There are parents, there are peers,
If one of our goals is to influence students to
and there are neighborhoods. There are
think about, learn about, talk about, and do
bosses, there are corporate policies, and
something about our subject sometime
there are laws. There is the uncle who was
after our direct influence over them comes to
admired, and the aunt who was there to
an end, how can we say we have been
show the way. And then, of course, there is
157
WHY IT´S ALL ABOUT____________________________________________________
the mass media. So we must be realistic in
our expectations.
HOW TO PROCEED?
But we can't pass the buck; we can't avoid
facing the responsibility that flows from the
fact
that
we
influence
attitude
toward
What
can
we
actually
do
to
help
us
learning. The fact that there are other
accomplish the goal of sending students
sources of influence doesn't alter the fact
away with favorable attitudes toward what
that instructors, as a group, constitute one of
they have been taught? There are a number
those sources. Since this is the case, it is up
of things (otherwise, what's the point of
to each instructor to take whatever steps are
writing all this?) that can be done. Happily,
available to assure that his or her influence is
most of them will be within your power; that
constructive rather than destructive.
is, most of the actions that will improve
student attitude toward learning will not
require that you obtain someone's blessing
or
SUMMARY SO FAR
approval to initiate,
will not
require
additional budget (money), and will not
require additional equipment.
ƒ
Learning is for the future; that is, the
object o f instruction is to facilitate
some form of behavior at a point
after
the
instruction
has
been
completed.
ƒ
ƒ
know
precisely the
actions to take,
however, requires that we know precisely the
outcomes we hope to achieve. Just saying we
want to achieve a favorable attitude is not
enough. It's a good place to begin, but those
The likelihood o f students putting
words do not provide an accurate enough
their knowledge to use is influenced
picture of the intended results to allow us to
by their attitudes for or against the
make decisions about how those results will
subject. Things disliked have a way
be obtained 2
of being forgotten or avoided.
ƒ
To
The first step in our quest, therefore, will be
People influence people. Teachers,
to explore the matter of attitudes so that you
and others, do influence attitudes
will know how to recognize achievement of
toward subject matter-and toward
ail attitude when you see it. We will define
learning itself.
the goal we are hoping to achieve and then
One goal toward which to strive is to
will consider the steps to he taken to
have students leave your influence
improve our success.
with their attitudes as favorable as
possible - toward your subject. In
this
way
you
will
maximize
the
likelihood that students will use what
they have learned and will be willing
to learn more about what they have
been taught.
158
159
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS
C. MA TA BARREIRO
Mata Barreiro, C., "Las canciones como refuerzo de
Esta constatación nos lleva al planteamiento
las cuatro destrezas", en P. Bello et al., Didáctica
de un problema esencial, a saber, el papel de
de las segundas lenguas. Estrategias y recursos
un documento autentico como la canción en
básicos, Madrid, Santillana (Aula XXI, 47), 1998,
pp. 158-171.
la enseñanza de idiomas. En efecto, si una
canción es el producto de una cultura y si en
su concepción los elementos lingüísticos y no
lingüísticos
(ritmo,
orquestación...)
son
indisolubles, su manipulación con un objetivo
exclusivamente lingüístico no constituye una
La canción y la pedagogía de los idiomas.
Hacia
de
una
la
canción:
estrategia.
de
negación de su autenticidad?
metodología
los
El
objetivos
material:
a
la
un
LA CANCIÓN: UN PUENTE ENTRE LA
CULTURA DEL PROFESOR
problema. Bibliografía.
Y LA DEL
ALUMNO
LA CANCION Y LA PEDAGOGIA DE LOS
La canción -al igual que el video o la
IDIOMAS
televisión-
E
n
la
pedagogía
de
las
un
el
mentó
que
segundas
alumno. Ello implica que este ha desarrollado
lenguas la introducción de los docu-
una sensibilidad, ha adquirido una cintura en
mentos auténticos se presento como
este campo.
una llave que abría la puerta de algo vivo,
como
constituye
pertenece al entorno cotidiano, familiar, del
el
reflejo
de
una
realidad
que
evoluciona.
La audición de una canción desencadena en
el
alumno
y
en
nosotros
sensaciones
y
reacciones
profesores,
diferentes.
La
En la práctica cotidiana del aula, el atractivo
comunicación entestas dos culturas introduce
de estés documentos (y concretamente de la
una
canción)
enriquecimiento mutuo.
ha
permitido
muy
a
menudo
conducir con mayor facilidad al alumno hacia
una serie de actividades cuyos objetivos eran
prioritariamente lingüísticos.
situación
pedagógica
generadora
de
A diferencia del manual o de otros recursos
de los que se presume que el enseñante
tiene un mayor conocimiento (lo cual implica
160
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
una relación de desequilibrio entre los dos
informaciones, de actos de palabra,
interlocutores, alumnos y profesor), canción,
de
el video y la televisión permiten hacer surgir
Compartir: por un lado, una lengua y
en clase una relación pedagógica distinta,
una cultura y, por otro, un proceso
igualitaria y mas constructiva.
una experiencia que cada alumno
estructuras
lingüísticas...
vive de un modo distinto.
Pero de nuevo constatamos una distancia
entre esta potencialidad y realidad cotidiana
ƒ
Por ultimo, acerca del papel del
de la clase. La situación pedagógica posible
alumno:
un
elemento
receptor
en la q se produce bien un intercambio
coprotagonista de su aprendizaje, un
humano entre el profesor y los alumno por
coautor de si mismo...
medio del descubrimiento de una canción, o
bien un intercambio cultural, es sustituida
con frecuencia por la situación en la que la
HACIA
canción
CANCION:
se
convierte
en
vehículo
de
transmisión de conocimientos del profesor al
UNA
METODOLOGIA
DE
DE LOS OBJETIVOS
LA
A LA
ESTRATEGIA
alumno.
Ante
este
hecho,
parece
indispensable
La
concepción
de
la
canci6n
como
un
coma
de
reflexionar sobre una serie puntos clave.
producto
En primer lugar, sobre nuestro concepto del
conciencia
aprendizaje de un idioma,
dinámica pedagógica nos conducen a un
cultural
del
global
papel
y
del
la
alumno
en
la
replanteamiento de su explotación didáctica.
No podemos olvidar que:
La selección de canciones en funci6n del
Aprender una lengua extranjera es iniciar un
nivel
de
dificultades
proceso de cambio, transformación profunda,
ejemplo, canción para EGB/canción para EE
no solo en las relaciones del pensamiento y
MM) debería dejar paso a otra actitud:
con lenguaje, sino en lo que en el hombre
análisis de los objetivos a alcanzar para
constituye lo más esencial: sus relaciones
establecer
con el mundo exterior y sus relaciones
metodología coherente (estrategia, papel del
consigo mismo.. (Troer. Fabre, 1982.)
profesor...).
-en
función
lingüísticas
de
(por
estos-
una
En segundo lugar, respecto de los objetivos
de aprendizaje que proseguimos:
ƒ
•
informar/formar.
SENSIBILIZACIÓN A OTRA CULTURA:
Informar:
objetivos comunes para todos. al
mismo ritmo. Formar: ayudar a cada
LA IMPREGNACIÓN
TIPO DE CANCIONES
alumno a avanzar en su aprendizaje
descubrir
algo,
a
enriquecerse
personalmente.
ƒ
En
caso
de
propongamos
que
el
alcanzar
objetivo
sea
que
nos
motivar,
Transmitir/compartir. Transmitir: ser
sensibilizar, seducir., lograr una imagen mas
el
positiva de la cultura extranjera, la condición
intermediario
de
una
serie
161
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
fundamental del tipo de canción a explotar
su
en clase es su calidad técnica, su armonía
estudian. En segundo lugar, debemos partir
con el entorno sonoro del publico al que nos
de su cultura, de su sensibilidad, en la
dirigimos.
planificación de las actividades a desarrollar
En este tipo de canciones la comprensión del
A fin de favorecer una dimensión en la
mensaje suele estar obstaculizada o por dos
cultura extranjera, es interesante completar
factores; por un lado, el volumen de la
los estímulos sonoros con una serie de
música, de la orquestación, que tiende a ser
estímulos visuales (carteles, revistas...).
mas elevado que la voz del cantante del
conjunto musical; por otro, ciertos elementos
lingüísticos son comprensibles aisladamente,
pero el acceso a la comprensión global esta
dificultado por el hecho de que el autor
intenta evocar una serie de sensaciones a
claves de imágenes.
imagen
inicial
del
país
cuya
lengua
Paralelamente, para evitar que la audición de
este tipo de canciones provoque en clase una
actitud muy relajada, una tendencia a la
evasión debemos proponer a los alumnos
unas tareas (coherentes con el act. de
escucha
autentica)
a
desarrollar
en
el
momento de la audición.
Estas dificultades no deben llevar a reservar
este
tipo
de
canción
para
una
etapa
avanzada del aprendizaje. Por el contrario, la
B) ESTRATEGIAS ESPECÍFICAS
introducción de este tipo de música, que
refleja la sensibilidad y la actitud vital de los
jóvenes
extranjeros,'es
particularmente
necesaria en el nivel de debutantes, a fin de
que estos empiecen a captar elementos de
una cultura en la que se están "iniciando
Estimamos importante diferenciar dos tipos
de canciones: las canciones con ritmos muy
marcados (por ejemplo, Epaule Tattoo, de
Etienn Daho), con presencia del sintetizador
y de la percusión, y las canciones de un
colorido musical rico, evocación de música
propia de países exóticos (Koo Bang o A
ESTRATEGIAS
I'assaut -des ombres sur l'O-, del grupo
A) ESTRATEGIA DE BASE
indochino canciones del álbum Groceland, de
Paúl Simon); sensualidad de la vc (Toute
Nos
parece
estrategia
de
importante
base
establecer
tendente
a
abrir
una
al
première fois, de Jeanne Mas).
En cuanto al primer tipo, la canción y los
alumno a este elemento cultural, a mantener
posibles
estímulos
su
revistas)
despiertan
reacción
de
motivación,
su
curiosidad
y
su
participaci6n activa en el aprendizaje.
Dentro de esta estrategia de base convendría
hacer primero un análisis del contexto: una
encuesta que nos permita conocer la música
que gusta
visuales
(carteles,
en
el
alumno
curiosidad
en
torno
una
a
la
personalidad del cantante o de los miembros
del grupo musical autores de la canción. El
profesor
puede
aportar
una
ficha
de
identidad sobre este(os) músico(s), a partir
de informaciones contenidas en revistas de
a los alumnos, por que les atrae..., así como
162
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
música joven o en dossiers pedagógicos en
torno a la canción como L´air du temps
(véase bibliografía), y pedir a los alumnos
que el boren la ficha de identidad suya o la
de un compañero basándose en modelo
(ficha 1).
FICHE D'IDENTITE. Nom: Daho - Prenom:
Etienne - Date de naissance: 14 janbier 1957
- Age: 33 ans - Lieu de naissance: Paris Signe
astrologique:
Capricorne
-
Yeux:
marron - Cheveux: bruns - Taille: 1,70 m Ses idoles: James Dean, Gene Tiemey, Lou
Reed, Francoise Hordv. Billie Holiday - Ses
auteurs:
Derrouac,
Boris
Vian,
Bobby
Lapointe, Dutronc, Gainsbourg - Passions:
les filles, le cinema, l'astrologie, la mode Ses amis: Elli, Lio, Francoise Hardy.
En lo que se refiere a canciones cuyo colorido
musical es rico, se muestra interesante la
explotación
de
los
elementos
extralingüísticos -los llamados significantes
no lingüísticos-, es decir, la voz, el ritmo, la
melodía. Se puede proponer a los alumnos la
preparación de un videoclip: ¿que colores?,
¿mucha/poca luz?, ¿por la mañana/por la noche?, ¿que paisaje? Otra propuesta consiste
en elaborar una ficha que ayude al alumno a
analizar,
FICHA I
a
justificar
sus
primeras
impresiones, a reflexionar sobre la canción
(ficha 3).
Otra
actividad
conocerse
que
mejor
acostumbrarse
a
ayuda
(auto
clasificar
al
alumno
análisis
a
y
a
(métodos
de
estudio), es la elaboración de una ficha para
evaluar su, percepción afectiva. (ficha 2).
Esta
actividad
puede
enriquecerse
recurriendo a la idea de una sinlacion de un
jurado de un concurso musical. La limitación
de
los
elementos
lingüísticos
requeridos
(expresión de la cantidad -por ejemplo, de I
A pesar de haber propuesto una serie de
a 20-, del acto de habla: expresión de la
estrategias especificas para los tipos de
opinión)
canción descritos (fichas 1, 2 y 3), estas
permite
aplicar
este
actividad a un nivel de debutantes.
tipo
de
pueden utilizarse con otros tipos de canción a
criterio del profesor.
163
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
correspondientes) dentro de la explotación
PAPEL DEL PROFESOR
de la canción.
Cuando el objetivo a alcanzar es motivar y
sensibilizar al alumno, el papel del profesor
TIPO DE CANCIONES
es esencialmente de animador, encargado de
mantener la motivación de aquel, de orientar
Si tenemos en cuenta dos planos a saber: el
su creatividad.
piano del alumno, ce del aprendizaje, y el del
objetivo de aprendizaje, es decir, el acceso
ADQUISICIÓN DE UNA COMPETENCIA
significado de una canción, se establecerá
DE COMPRENSIÓN ORAL
una serie de criterios d' nados a mantener el
nivel de motivación del alumno y a facilitarle
e mino hacia el objetivo a alcanzar.
En una situación de escucha autentica-, el
ser humano se deja in dar por la música.
Ahora
bien,
normalmente,
cuando
una
canción atrae, sentimos la necesidad de
comprender
el
mensaje
(de
ahí
el
he
frecuente de incluir el texto en revistas de
jóvenes o en las fundas de discos). En
consecuencia,
el
acceso
al
significado
constituye un objeto que el alumno va a
intentar
alcanzar.
aprendiz
A
este
responde
-objetivo
nuestro
de
„objetivo
pedagógico" de facilitarle el acceso.
Desde el punto de vista de la sensibilidad del
alumno es importe seleccionar canciones que
presenten, bien un ritmo en armonía con a
por el que el alumno se siente atraído (por
ejemplo, La fille aux nylon, de Julien Clerc;
Bob Marley y su música reggae) o bien una
es
capaz
reaccionar
de
-implicarlo,',
(San
Francisco,
Forestier; Nous avons
de
de
hacerle
Max)
Le
le temps, de G.
Moustaki; Luka. de Susanne Ve Desde el
punto de vista del acceso al significado es
interesante
aprovechar
canciones
cuyo
Por otra parte, las investigaciones en el
sonido inicial introduce elementos capaces de
campo de las neurocientífico han confirmado
tener en situación al alumno: la sirena de un
la importancia de la actividad mental en
barco en Cargo, de Axel Banel jet' de Back in
torno a la comprensión.
the USSR, de los Beatles, o el paisaje sonoro
la
de Bran ciudad en Jai reve New York, de
universidad de Michigan por tovsky y Asher
Yves Simon, evocan imaginmentales que el
(1970) y que ha consistido en prolongar
profesor puede recuperar en su explotación
considerablene la duración de la escucha sin
pedago:
exigir
permitido
Otro tipo de canciones accesibles es aquel en
comprobar que la fase de comprensión es
el que la estructura n narrativa es lineal, tal
indispensable
para
la
como en Cendrillon, del grupo Telephone,
estructuración
de
expresiva..
que pone fa historia de una .antiheroina» de
-La
experiencia
llevada
producción
acabo
verbal,
la
la
ha
en
organización
fase
(Trocme-Fabre, 1982.)
Por
todo
integrar
ello
este
nos
cuento de hadas cuya vida degrada por un
parece
objetivo
(y
indispensable
la<
trategias
fracaso sentimental, o The River, de Bruce
Springst
164
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
verbal
ESTRA TEGIAS
inmediatamente
escucha.
A) ESTRATEGIA DE BASE
Aunque
la
después
de
la
evaluación
de
la
asimilación es difícil, es muy importante
diagnosticar
los
posibles
problemas
que
Cuando el objetivo es la adquisición de una
impiden que el proceso concluya a fin de es-
competencia de comprensión oral, es preciso
tablecer
tener en cuenta, en primer lugar, una serie
Preguntas dirigidas a Los alumnos por el
de
profesor,
elementos
que
determinan
que
una
Por un lado, el alumno. Es necesario que la
y
las
actividades
terapia
confrontación
correspondiente.
de
las
diferentes
interpretaciones dentro de los subgrupos,
situación de escucha sea o no idónea.
canción
la
propuestas
permiten tomar conciencia de los problemas.
Otro principio de base es la necesidad de
despierten un grado de motivación capaz de
adaptar
las
convertirse en motor de su aprendizaje.
dificultades de la canción y al nivel de
Paralelamente, se debe evitar la aparición de
competencia lingüística de los
un sentimiento de frustración o desanimo.
alumnos
(ficha
estrategias
4).
Por
al
grado
ejemplo,
de
cuanto
de
mayores sean las dificultades de una canción
factores determinan que la transmisión del
y menor la competencia lingüística de los
mensaje se lleve o no a cabo. Factores
alumnos, mayor debería ser la preparación
materiales (como la calidad de la grabación o
de la escucha.
Por
otro,
la
transmisión.
Una
serie
las condiciones acústicas de la sala) y, sobre
todo, factores psicológicos tales como la
acción del grupo-clase deben ser tenidos en
cuenta.
Esta
última
puede
facilitar
la
transmisión si la relación afectiva de sus
miembros es positiva y no genera ansiedad;
en caso contrario, la dificultaría. También
hemos de tener en cuenta corno factor
determinante la acción del profesor.
Otro elemento a considerar es la asimilación.
B) ESTRATEGIAS ESPECÍFICAS
El tratamiento de la información (filtrar,
asimilar, reconocer, estructurar...) es la fase
Dentro de la topología de canciones que
posterior a la de percepción. Fase cuyo
hemos expuesto las estrategias son diversas,
proceso es complejo y que se revela como la
pero existe una serie de etapas coincidentes
más importante, de la que dependerá una
en el domino hacia la comprensión del
buena
significado:
o
mala
memorización.
Los
investigadores señalan la importancia de las
-pausas estructurantes (periodos de silencio
posteriores a la escucha necesarios para
procesar y asimilar el lenguaje), aconsejando
se evite exigir al alumno una _ producción
1. Preparación de la escucha. En caso de que
la canción presente el mentos que puedan
dificultar el acceso al significado por parte de
los alumnos, ya sean lingüísticos (como
165
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
vocabulario
en
navegación
en
torno
al
Cargo,
mundo
de
A.
de
la
Bauer),
comunicativos o cultural (corno el universo
de Los cuentos de hadas en Cendrillon, de
Telephone), debemos comenzar abordando
estos problemas. Hacer un inventario previo
con los alumnos de sus conocimientos sobre
reconstruir el titulo, el tribillo o una estrofa.
3. Aproximación al texto. Una serie de
actividades permiten ayudar los alumnos a
hacer una „escucha selectiva., guiándoles así
hacia esencial del mensaje:
ƒ
Proponer una serie de enunciados y
el mundo del mar, de la navegación (como
pedirles que, a partir de escucha de
en Cargo) o en torno a los protagonistas de
la
los cuentos de hadas (como en Cendrillon)
afirmaciones contenidas verdaderas
les permitirá el conocer algunos de estos
o
elementos en el momento de la escucha.
ejemplo
canción,
falsas.
respondan
Vamos
a
concreto,
si
presentar
basta
en
las
un
la
canción La fille aux bas nylon, de J.
Cuando se trace de canciones con un sonido
Clerc.
inicial evocador, la preparación girara en
torno a estos sonidos, solicitando a los
alumnos
les
A partir de la escucha de dicha canción, los
sugieren. Así, tras hacerles escuchar el nido
q
expresen
lo
que
estos
alumnos habrán de responder a enunciados
inicial de Cargo, consistente en la sirena de
de este tipo:
un barco, les preguntaremos sobre el tipo de
sonido, en que lugar se escucha, en que no
mentó...
2. Primera escucha, primeros contactos. A fin
de guiar a los alumnos la primera escucha,
se les pedirá que rellenen un cuadro en el
que sitúan Lugares, personajes y acciones:
LA FILLE AUX BAS NYLON
(Extracto)
Quand elle passe duns ma rue,
La fille aux has nylon Bulancant ses epaules
noes
Sous ses longs cheveux blonds, blonds,
A
partir
de
constructiva,
alumnos
una
el
que
dinámica
profesor
expresen
sol
los
de
tara
grupo
a
los
elementos
lingüísticos (palabra frases) que cada uno
haya podido captar. Según el nivel de estos y
dificultades de la canción, se les propondrá
blonds
Choeurs: O t va-l-elle,
La title aux bas nylon? Qui est-elle. La title
aux bas nylon?
Je n sais pas comment elle me rappelle
166
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
Elle oublie le temps
Je n'sais pas qui elle me rappelle
Je n'sais pas c' qui m'appelte en elle Lu title
oar bas nylon
Dons ce patois d'argent
Pour tie pas voir qu'un nouveau jour se love
Elle a quelque chose d'irreel A faire burner
les manivelles Avec sit p'life robe a bretelles
Elie lerme les yeux et dons ses reves
La title aux bus nylon '
Elle par
Comment faire pour I'accoster? J'cais pas Jul
Julie petite histoire
d'munder I'heure Jul pense d me jeter Sous
(... )
so Bentley avec chauffeur
Cendrillon pour ses trente ans
Choeurs: Ou va-r-elle,
Est la plus triste des marnans
La title aux has nylon? Qui esi-elle,
Le prince charmant a loutu I'camp
La fille aux bas nylon?
Avec to belle au boil dormant
Elle n vu cent cheveux blancs
En ocasiones en las que la trama de la
narración sea lineal y cronología, se utilizara
esta como hilo conductor. Así, en Cendrillon,
Loin d'elle emmener ses enfants
Elle continence U boire...
de Telephone, se propondrá a los alumnos
analizar 1o que le sucede a la protagonista a
lo largo de su vida: a los 20 arias, a los 30...
Para facilitarles la reconstrucción de la letra,
se
les
puede
proporcionar
el
Se pueden añadir pistas en torno a los
elementos no incluido como la categoría
gramatical o el número de silabas:
texto
incompleto, pidiéndoles que descubran los
elementos no incluidos:
PAPEL DEL PROFESOR
CENDRILLON (Extracto)
Cuando el objetivo es la adquisición de una
competencia de compresión oral, la función
Cendrillon pour ses vingi ans
Est la plus jolie des enfants
Son be omant le prince charmont
La prend sur son cheval blanc
prioritaria del profesor es la de facilitador:
guiar
I
hipótesis,
Paralelamente,
dirigida
a
la
facilitar
función
alcanza
el
de
pistas...
animador
objetivo
de
sensibilización y motivación del alumna (
167
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
continua siendo esencial. El profesor debe,
pues, establecer técnicas grupo que hagan
converger los resultados de los esfuerzos
B) ESTRATEGIAS ESPECÍFICAS
EXPRESION ORAL
individual' impidiendo la frustración y el
desanimo de los que tienen mas dificultades
Técnicas de creatividad. En muchas de las
y creando un espíritu de equipo.
canciones actuales el autor/ cantante plantea
problemas (sentimentales, existenciales...).
ADQUISICIÓN DE UNA COMPETENCIA
DE EXPRESIÓN ORAL Y ESCRITA
El problema de como tomar contacto con una
joven a la que se ama (La fille aux bas nylon,
o Yesterday, de los Beatles) o el de como
reaccionar si una bomba atómica cayera
A partir de las canciones consideradas aptas
para la explotación de comprensión oral se
puede planificar una serie de actividades
tenden
a
desarrollar
la
competencia
de
expresión oral y escrita. La inversidad del
bagaje lingüístico captado durante la fase de
comprensión
en
actividades
creativas
constituye una vía segura de asimilación.
sobre Nueva York (Jai reue New York),
pueden ser transferidos a la clase. La técnica
brainstorming (torbellino de ideas) -exponer
las sugerencias lo mas espont5neamente
posible sin permitir critica o censura- puede
aplicarse a la resolución de estos problemas.
Técnicas de dramatización. Técnicas como el
jeu de role (role-playing) pueden desarrollar
situaciones
de
comunicación
que
son
evocadas en la canción. En la explotación de
ESTRATEGIAS
La title aux bas nylon, ti-as la búsqueda en
A) ESTRATEGIA DE BASE
común de estrategias para abordar a un(a)
chico(a), se elaboraran fichas en las que se
reflejen los elementos lingüísticos precisos
Conviene tener en cuenta una serie de
para
principios:
(favorables,
- Concienciar a los alumnos sobre el interés
desfavorables,
de
elementos
desprecio, argumentos feministas...) de la
lingüísticos captados a fin de facilitar su
persona abordada. Los alumnos, agrupados
memorización. - Proponer actividades que
en parejas, cogeran al azar dos fichas (ficha-
integren la creatividad y la sensibilidad de los
chico, ficha-chica) y prepararan el jeu de role
alumnos.
o improvisaran (si el nivel lo permite) la
-invertir
activamente
los
- Preparar, a partir del bagaje lingüístico de
las
canciones,
lingüísticas
una
que
serie
permitan
de
al
expresar
las
con
reacciones
timidez,
con
posibles
entusiasmo...:
cortesía,
violencia,
escena.
-matrices
alumno
EXPRESION ESCRITA
materializar lo que desea expresar a lo largo
de estas actividades.
Collages. Se propondrá a los alumnos que, a
partir de La fille aux bas nylon (o canciones
168
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
semejantes), recorten fotos de mujeres u
un espectáculo-gala en el que los alumnos
hombres en revistas y elaboren el retrato del
representan (tras un estudio de las canciones
hombre
una
y del mundo social contemporáneo) visión de
descripción o incluso la biografía de este
la música francesa, inglesa o norteamericana
personaje creado.
desde la posguerra hasta los años ochenta
o
mujer
ideal.
Escribirán
Proyectos. Se les sugiere que elaboren un
proyecto de ciudad/sociedad ideal (a partir
de San Francisco, de M. Le Forestier) o de
reformas a introducir (por ejemplo, si yo
fuera director del colegio/instituto, alcalde de
mi ciudad, presidente del pals', a partir de Si
j'etais President, de Gerard Lenorman, o If I
Had a Hammer, de Peter, Paul y Mary). Estos
(Mata Barreiro, 1986), son actividades en
que el alumno tiene, por una parte, la
posibilidad de trabajar de monto armónico
los aspectos verbales y no verbales (gestos)
de
la
comunicación
oportunidad
de
y,
escoger
por
otra,
la
personajes
o
cantantes o desea representar, así como la
forma que esta recreación va a adoptar
proyectos serán expuestos en el aula y
discutidos.
EL MATERIAL: UN PROBLEMA
Creación de nuevas canciones a partir de una
serie
de
rima,
mismo
tras
haber
La creatividad de los profesores y de los
sensibilizado a alumnos en aspectos como la
alumnos no siempre acompañada (o nutrida)
rima.
por un material que permita „haber entran,
n6mero
consignas
de
misma
versos...)
y
clase el mundo musical del país extranjero
cuya lengua se estudia.
LA CANCION COMO PUNTO DE PARTIDA
Los problemas mas graves en este campo
son, por una parte, la fa de fuentes de
La gama de posibilidades de actividades
pedagógicas derivadas de la canción es muy
amplia: montaje programa radio, simulación
de
un
programa
musical
de
televisión,
análisis de la evolución de la música joven en
información que permitan al profesor estar al
corriente la evolución de la canción en el país
cuya lengua imparte; por otra, falta de
material
sonoro,
audiovisual
(casetes,
video...).
el país de la lengua materna y en el de la
Para paliar estos problemas, citaremos una
lengua extranjera, comparación de los hit-
serie
parade de ambos países..., actividades que
documentación:
de
fuentes
de
información
y
permita al alumno invertir su sensibilidad, su
capacidad creativa y su cultura musical.
Una actividad particularmente enriquecedora
REVISTAS
desde el punto de vi humano y lingüístico es
la explotación del play-back. El montaje de u
- Musicales, no pedagógicas: Paroles et
opera rock como La Revolution Française
Musique
(Montoya, 1986) o Tommy, c preparación de
cantantes); Rock News, Rock Hit, Salut,
(contiene
dossiers
torno
a
169
LAS CANCIONES COMO REFUERZO DE LAS CUATRO DESTREZAS___________________
Graffiti (que incorporan fotos y carteles).
Todas
Francia.
estas
revistas
Para
inglés,
están
ver
editadas
Record
BIBLIOGRAFIA
en
Mirror,
Smash Nits o Number One, todas editadas el
Cancion francesa
Reino Unido.
RRUNSCNWING, CALVET y KLEIN (1981):
- Pedagógicas: REFLET, Le Français dans le
Cent ans de chanson froncuise. Paris: Seuil.
Monde (artículos sobre la evolución de la
Actuels.
cancion en Francia, reflexiones sobre su
Les courants de la chanson frunyai.se (1):
explotaci6n en clase).
Du folklore n la chanson (1983). Textes et
Documents pour la classe, n.° 298, Paris:
DOCUMENTOS
SONOROS
Y
AUDIOVISUALES
CNDP.
Les courants de In chanson fransaise (II): De
la chanson au.r oarietes (1983). Testes
- Préstamo de documentos. En los servicios
et Documents pour la classe, n." 308, Paris:
culturales de la embajada de Francia existe
CNDP.
una exposición sobre la canci6n francesa
Cannon y pedagogía
(con documentos en video y banda sonora) y
reportajes en video editados por el Ministerio
de
Asuntos
Exteriores
Francés
(Caries
postales sonores de Paris).
- La revista REFLET (8, rue Coetlogon,
CASTELLVi, J.; CERVERO, A.; MARTINEZ, M.
P., y TORTOSA, I. (1986): Pile ou face.
Generalitat Valenciana.
Ici et lii (1989), n." 12. Madrid.
75006, Paris) incluye una casete sonora
JULIEN, P. (noviembre-diciembre 1988): -La
junto
nouvelle chanson francaise autrement.. Le
con
el
ejemplar
impreso
correspondiente.
Francais dons le Monde, n." 221.
- La asociación Paroles et Musiques de
La chanson d'aujourd'hui: mythes et images
France se ha creado recientemente con el fin
du
de permitir comprar, a aquellos que viven
Sevres. Sevres: CIEP.
fuera
Le Fraçais dons le Monde, n.."" 125, 131,
de Francia, libros y discos disponibles en
184 y 198, Paris: Hachette.
dicho pals (321, rue de Belleville, 75019,
Lair
Paris).
(operation
temps
du
present
temps
Lair
(1984).
(1985).
du
Dossiers
Dossier
temps,
de
Canción
Ministerio
de
Asuntos Exteriores), Paris.
MATA BARREIRO, C. (enero 1986): La voie
de la chanson.. Le Franfais dons le Monde,
n.' 198.
170
170
171
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
LISTENING
friends - we may not listen to every word,
THINKING POINTS
and we may be more interested in saying
what we want to say, rather than in listening
Do
ƒ
I
have
to
use
the
cassette
carefully - but the two skills are usually
recorder?
roughly equal. Conversations of this type
ƒ
Why is listening so difficult?
usually involve being close to the other.
ƒ
How can I make it easier for my
speaker: we can use our .interpretation of
students?
facial expression and gesture to supplement
our
listening. This
increases
our
under-
standing. One person may speak more than
6.1 TYPES OF LISTENING
the other, so that the relative amounts of
listening are different.
L
istening in the language classroom
exists both as a skill in its own right,
TELEPHONING
and in connection with speaking. To
decide how you can help your students to
listen effectively in the foreign language, it is
Listening-and-speaking on the telephone is
worth thinking what each of these activities
different: we cannot see the other person, or
entails.
rely on gesture and expression to help us.
We have to listen carefully to words and
intonation,
and
take
advantage
of
any
6.1.1 LISTENING-AND-SPEAKING
pauses, in order to be able to interrupt and
CONVERSATION
to take our own turn. Any outside noise will
interfere with our listening.
Listening
and
interconnected.
speaking
The
way
are
in
obviously
which
this
LISTENING FOR INFORMATION
interconnection takes place depends on the
type of spoken interaction. In daily life, we
often take part in conversations with our
Listening for information is another example
of listening-and-speaking. We want to know
172
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
something: we ask a question, and listen
talk, or radio or TV program, the individual
carefully
not
listener may find someone else who has also
right
heard it, and they may discuss what they
to
understand,
the
or
answer.
if
it
is
If
we
not
do
the
information, we ask another question. The
have
listening
tightly
agreement, disagreement - or conversation
interactive. The listening is controlled and
about something totally different! Here, the
focused. It is tiring to do this type of
listening serves as a foundation for speaking.
and
the
speaking
are
listening for long in a foreign language, as it
requires so much concentration.
listened
to.
This
may
lead
to
Listening can also involve other skills, such
as
writing
and
reading.
Many
people,
especially those who rely on their visual or
kinesthetic senses, will want to make notes
6.1.2 LISTENING WITHOUT SPEAKING
while they are listening. These are the people
who write down odd words when they have a
Listening to the radio is an example of
telephone conversation, or who draw
listening without speaking. As the listener,
diagrams or pictures. If they are university
we are to some extent in control: if we do
students, they will want to make notes while
not like what we hear, we can simply turn
they listen to a lecture. They are reinforcing
the radio off, or find another program. But
what they are listening to by a visual image
we are not in control in terms of interaction;
or by physical action.
whatever we might say to the radio speaker,
he will not hear, and he will continue with
what he planned to say!
LISTENING AND DOING
SILENT LISTENING
Thus listening-and-doing is another aspect of
the listening skill, and needs to be given its
place in the foreign language classroom. It is
Listening to a lecture or a political speech is
only people who rely mostly on their auditory
another
silent
sense who will be content to "just listen".
listening. The students sit in the lecture
The old insistence on "nothing should be
theater; the lecturer delivers his lesson. Or
written down before it has been heard and
the politician delivers his speech, and most
spoken" negates the current recognition that
of the audience listen in silence until the end,
we all rely on our senses in different ways.
unless
As teachers, we need to ensure the skills
example
they
are
of
moved
(normally)
to
applause
or
shouting.
practice
This type of listening is still interactive. Here,
opportunity for all the students to exercise
the listener is reacting as an individual in a
their individual strengths.
in
the
classroom
provides
the
different way. The interaction may be directly
with the speaker (as with the university
lecturer or the politician), but it may often be
with another listener. After the speech, or
173
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
possible incomprehension. That is your role,
to act as a bridge between the mechanical
cassette and the human learners.
6.2 TEACHING LISTENING: PROBLEMS
AND POSSIBILITIES
As well as the distancing effect of listening to
a disembodied voice or voices coming out of.
a black box (the cassette recorder), there is
also the problem of classroom acoustics.
6.2.1 PROBLEMS
Many classrooms have a lot of reflective
surfaces: tiled walls, marble floors, hard
The main problem with listening in the
desks. The sound bounces off these surfaces.
language classroom is a very simple one:
And often the students move their chairs or
hearing!
desks, making even more noise. Thus it is
Students are often asked to listen in a
difficult for the class to focus aurally - and
foreign
ideal
there is no stimulating visual focus to help
conditions. Listening is, on the whole, a very
them, as there is when there is a live
individual activity, but we ask our students to
speaker.
listen as a whole class. If they are listening
As if this was not bad enough, the quality of
to you, they are at least listening to a human
many school cassette recorders is not good.
being:
facial
The machine has often been designed for
expression (panic; understanding; boredom
domestic use, with one or two listeners, not
...). You know their language level, and their
for a noisy, echoing classroom. The audio
potential comprehension problems. You can
cassette may have been used over several
vary your language level and your way of
years, by a lot of different teachers. Every
speaking accordingly.
time it is played, or the `pause' button is
language
you
can
in
less
react
to
than
their
used, its quality is affected. Students in the
LISTENING
TO
THE
CASSETTE
RECORDER
foreign language classroom are often asked
to listen to worse quality material, using
worse equipment, in a worse acoustic environment,
Very
often,
of
course,
listening
in
the
language classroom means listening to the
cassette recorder. This has the advantage of
taking the focus off you: it introduces other
voices, and different pronunciation patterns
into the classroom. It can introduce your
than
they
experience
when
listening in their own language to their high
quality tapes and CDs on their individual
Walkman machines or high quality stereos.
The argument for asking your school to
invest in as high quality equipment as
possible is obvious.
students to other types of English (British or
If you are realistic about these difficulties,
Australian
you
or
Canadian
English;
English
will
be
able
to
think
of
ways
of
the
type
of
spoken by other non-native speakers). But
overcoming
the cassette player is a machine: it cannot
listening to the same type of activity in real
react
life, in the students' own language. Is it an
to
the
students'
expression
and
them.
Relate
174
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
informal, interactive, "conversational" type of
BRINGING
listening with a friend? Then make sure the
SPEAKING
topic is interesting for your class, so that
CLASSROOM
THE
REAL
WORLD
ENGLISH-
INTO
THE
they have a real interest in both listening and
speaking. Are they listening to a recorded
specific
Listening to recorded voices, in spite of the
language point or range of lexical items?
problems outlined above, does provide an
Then make sure they know what they are
excellent way of bringing the real English-
going to listen to, why they are listening, and
speaking world into the classroom. It can
conversation
which
presents
a
what they should focus on while they are
equip your students to understand it, rather
listening. If the textbook does not provide
than panicking at the sound of it! It gives
the right kind of activities, perhaps you will
you a chance to vacate your role as the "sole
need to supplement these with some of your
provider" of English input. And it is an
own. If so, the important thing is to know
what you want to focus on in terms of
essential part of equipping your students for
the world outside the classroom.
language practice, listening skill and type of
activity.
6.3 TYPES OF LISTENING ACTIVITY
6.2.2 POSSIBILITIES
Depending on the type of text you are asking
your students to listen to, there are certain
While it is important to be realistic about the
problems of helping your students to develop
their
listening
skills
in
the
language
classroom, these should not detract from the
possibilities.
families of exercise and activity you may
want to use. Your choice will depend on:
•the type of listening text:
•the language level and age of the learners;
•the students' need for good listening skills.
Listening provides a time in the lesson when
the individual can concentrate on his or her
own
needs
and
interests.
Listening-and-
6.3. 1 - PRE-LISTENING FOCUS
speaking, if the topic is right, will involve the
learner and provide a motivating framework
for the expression of personal ideas and
opinions, even at a low language level. What
is needed is a relevant range of subject
matter and a specific 'reason for listening'.
These activities are designed to focus the
students'
attention
on
the
topic,
the
vocabulary range and the style of listening
text. Their purpose is to encourage them to
focus on what is essential, and to disregard
the nonessential language which they do not
understand. We need to remind ourselves
that we do not always understand - or hear every word in our own language, but we still
175
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
understand
what
is
necessary.
This
is
6.3.2 WHILE-LISTENING ACTIVITIES
precisely the skill we need to build up in the
foreign language.
These are especially useful when you want
the students to listen for detail, or to use the
Typical Pre-listening activities might include:
ƒ
What do you know about this topic?
ƒ
Discuss it with a partner and write
down what you know.
ƒ
ƒ
practice of certain language items.
You can ask them to listen for specific times
or places (bus timetables), or for information
about places (recorded tourist information),
Look at this title of the radio program
or for specific news reports (radio news
you are going to hear.
headlines), or for specific language. For
What do you think the program will
example, you might ask them to write down
be about?
the adjectives they hear in an emotional
ƒ
Look at these two photos.
ƒ
What
kind
of
people
report, or all the ways in which two speakers
disagree with each other in a conversation.
are
they?
Discuss this with a partner and write
down your ideas.
ƒ
listening to consolidate the presentation and
You
are
When they have listened to the text, they
can compare their answers in pairs, or with
the rest of the class.
going
to
hear
them
discussing (X). What opinion do you
think each person has? Listen, and
6.3.3 POST-LISTENING ACTIVITIES
compare your idea with what you
hear.
The purpose of these is to extend either the
ƒ
Read this newspaper report.
topic
ƒ
Is it sympathetic or unsympathetic to
practice.
the event? Write down the words or
In 6.1.2 above, we mentioned listening as a
phrases which tell you this.
foundation
focus
or
for
the
language
speaking.
focus
Post
and
listening
Now listen to the radio news report on the
activities build on the common experience
same
the class has had, and ask them to expand
event.
unsympathetic?
Is
it
What
sympathetic
tells
you
or
this?
on these. For example:
Compare the opinions of the two news
reporters.
ƒ
the town.
These activities are very useful for focusing
the students' attention while
ƒ
ƒ
Write down your ideas, and then
compare these with your partner.
what they have heard with what they wrote
down earlier.
What do you think the two speakers
do (or say) next?
they are listening. Once they have listened to
the text, they can compare
Use the information to draw a map of
ƒ
Do you agree or disagree with the
176
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
- and most teachers dislike doing so. The
speaker? Why (not)?
ƒ
Write a physical description of one of
the speakers, and compare this with
your partner.
reasons for this dislike are
usually mostly technical or organizational:
•will it work?
•can I find the place on the cassette?
•what
We can also ask the students to look at the
language items they noted in the 'while listening' activity, and to use these to write
if
my
students
cannot
hear
the
cassette?
•what if they cannot understand it?
new sentences or dialogues. Or they could
•it's such a nuisance to take it to the
use them to formulate grammar rules:
classroom;
We use the Present Perfect with for and
•there's
since, but the Simple Past
teachers...
only
one
recorder
for
four
with a precise past action. The speakers on
the cassette used these
examples:
In order to have a true assessment of how
useful the cassette recorder can
be, you should ask yourself pedagogical
questions:
ƒ
will it help my students understand
English?
ƒ
This
kind
information"
of
"listening
will
help
for
grammar
your
students
language follow up?
ƒ
understand how grammar works. They can
go on to note the differences between
English and their own language. Anything
simply read in the textbook.
can it motivate them to write or
speak in English?
ƒ
will
it
introduce
variety into
the
classroom?
that depends on selfdiscovery is likely to be
easier to remember than something they
can it provide useful material for
ƒ
(and a personal question!)
ƒ
can it give me practical help and
support?
6.4 USING THE CASSETTE RECORDER
Most modern textbooks presume you will use
A good teacher will probably admit that the
the cassette recorder in class
positive answers to the second group of
questions are stronger than the negative
177
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
ones to the first group. In that case, it is
worth finding out the best way of using the
cassette recorder.
OVERCOMING
THE
TECHNICAL
PROBLEMS
The key thing is to overcome the technical
problems. Make sure you know how the
machine works, and where you can plug it in.
Practice with the controls: find the 'pause'
button as well as the 'play', 'fast forward' and
'rewind'. If it has a counter, make sure you
put it to 000 before you play the cassette.
Then it will be easy to rewind and play the
listening text again. Write a series of check
If you have to share a cassette player with
points on a postcard. You can use these
other teachers, get together with them and
when you plan your lesson, and then take it
write a schedule so that all of you have a
to class with you:
chance to use the machine, and you know
when you will have access to it. If you plan
both the technical and the language aspects
of the use of the cassette recorder in this
way, you will begin to appreciate its positive
features, and forget about the problems.
1 Plug the cassette in.
One final practical point: remember to take
2 Turn on the electricity.
the cassette out of the machine after the
3 Put the cassette in the recorder.
lesson!
4 Put the counter to 000.
5 Play the exercise and test the volume
(before the lesson). 6 Wind back to 000.
Listen to the cassette at home if you can,
and
decide what
the students will
find
difficult. Then look at the textbook and see
what activities it provides. Do you need to
provide more? You may find a checklist like
this useful:
178
LISTENING____________________________________________________________
6.5 LISTENING ACTIVITIES: EXAMPLES
6.5.1 LOWER SECONDARY
179
USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
USING SONG AND RHYMES
10.1 TYPES OF TEXTS
THINKING POINTS
ƒ
Are songs just for fun?
ƒ
Is
gap-filling
the
only
There are two main groups of songs or
type
of
exercise to use with songs?
ƒ
Are songs only useful for primary
we
classroom:
•"real" texts
and
pupils?
S
rhymes which are used in the language
•specially written texts.
inging
is
a
very
natural
human
activity. Most people like listening to
songs; many people enjoy singing. If
want
our
language
classes
to
be
pleasurable, perhaps there is a place for
songs in them. But is there any more
purpose to including songs in the language
classroom than merely to create a good
atmosphere? And, if so, how can we include
songs and rhymes most usefully in our
teaching?
Real texts are traditional or modern songs
which have been written to be listened to and perhaps sung - in the world outside the
classroom. Their writers did not worry about
the complexity of language or any obscure
cultural references for the foreign language
learner. This means that they have an
authentic flavor which many learners find
motivating: they are a link between the
language of the classroom and the language
of the world outside.
Songs and rhymes are grouped together
here because they share many of the same
characteristics. These can include rhyme,
rhythm, memorable language... the only
thing which they do not both have is music.
Real songs have an
authentic flavor
which many
learners find
motivating: they are
a link between the
180
USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
RHYMES
language of the
classroom and the
language of the
A group of teachers was asked why they
world outside
used
songs
and
rhymes
when
teaching
English, and they suggested the following
The difficulty, of course, is that associated
with any use of authentic material: because
the
language
is
unstructured
and
the
reasons:
ƒ
to present and practice language
patterns;
vocabulary may be unfamiliar, the learners
may find the song difficult to understand.
ƒ
to present and practice vocabulary;
And yet. if you choose a song that your
ƒ
to
that
their
enjoyment
will
help
their
comprehension. If you pre-teach any key
words which the students cannot guess from
pronunciation
and
ƒ
to tell (part of) a story;
ƒ
to illustrate a topic;
ƒ
to provide an insight into the culture
of an English-speaking country;
the context, and use before-listening focus
questions as with any kind of listening text,
with
intonation;
students really like - usually because they
like the music or the singer - you will find
help
ƒ
to emphasize cultural links between
you will find that the "authentic" feel will
our country and the Englishspeaking
motivate your students to use all their
world;
powers of deduction and memory. You will be
surprised how much they will understand. Do
not
forget
that
adolescents
are
expert
listeners to and interpreters of music!
ƒ
to create a good atmosphere;
ƒ
as reading comprehension texts;
Can you think of any other reasons? If so,
add them to the list.
SPECIALLY
WRITTEN
SONGS…HAVE
THEIR PLACE IN THE ELT CLASSSROOM
10.2.1
TO
PRACTICE
LANGUAGE
PATTERNS
Specially written songs and rhymes also have
their place in the language classroom. They
may lack the authentic feel of "real" texts,
but they may be more useful at times if you
want to focus on a specific language item.
They can also help to motivate elementary
learners, who will feel very proud that they
can understand and enjoy a text in English.
Many songs, especially traditional ones, often
have a repetitive language pattern. This is
obviously good for reinforcing a specific
structure. Think of the following songs; what
language structure do they contain?
"If I had a hammer, I would... "
"She'll be coming round the mountain." "Ten
green bottles."
10.2 REASONS FOR USING SONGS AND
181
USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
Of course, it is not enough for a song to just
If they are young children, this may contain
contain a structure which fits with the unit in
traditional
your textbook; the topics and vocabulary
rhymes; if they are adolescents, it will reflect
must also be suitable. But it is amazing how
the changing range of pop music as well as
much more memorable the structure will be
folk and traditional rock and blues.
Christmas
songs
and
nursery
for your students if they find it in a song. The
rhythm
and
music
will
help
them
to
remember the whole phrase, rather than just
10.2.2
TO
PRESENT
parts of the
VOCABULARY
AND
PRACTICE
language rule.
You can provide copies of the text written out
Some texts will contain a lexical family, and
on paper, or on the board, with gaps for the
exposure to the song or rhyme can help in
key language structure. Ask the students to
vocabulary expansion or word recognition.
listen and write in the structure in the gap.
Again, you can use a gap-filling exercise to
They will associate the sound with writing
focus on these words. Or you might ask the
and the look of the phrase, and this will help
students
reinforce the language pattern.
associate with a particular topic. List these
Alternatively, you could list the examples of
on the board; they then listen to the song
the key language item on the board, and ask
and identify those that occur in it. They can
the students to listen for the rest of the
also add the ones which they had not
to
suggest
words
which
they
thought of. If they are children, they may
sentence, or to complete it.
want to write out the song and illustrate the
vocabulary items. Or perhaps simply add the
key words to their "Personal Dictionary" (see
If the song is sung very quickly, or is quite
4.1.1).
difficult, ask different students to listen for a
different item, or to a different line of the
song. They can then work in pairs or groups
to piece together their answers, to provide
10.2.3 TO HELP WITH PRONUNCIATION
AND INTONATION
the complete text.
Many
modern
textbooks
now
contain
The fact that songs and rhymes have a
specially written songs to reinforce specific
rhythmic
language items. These are useful, but it is
normally
help
even more useful to add to these with your
practicing
pronunciation
own list of songs which are selected because
memorable and enjoyable way. They are
they appeal to the age, interests and musical
particularly useful for establishing the stress
tastes of a particular class.
patterns
You can ask your students to help you
compile your own "personal song collection".
pattern
used
means
with
in
that
they
can
establishing
patterns
English, which
and
in
a
are so
different from those of a Latin language.
English (see 7.2).
182
USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
You can ask your students to clap or tap out
the rhythm and stressed syllables in a song
rhyme as they listen to it, or speak it. This
will help them get the stress in the right
place. Carolyn Graham's Jazz Chants provide
excellent examples of texts which can be
used to reinforce stress patterns in this way.
However,
there
are
examples
in
many
textbooks, or you can collect your own.
10.2.5 TO ILLUSTRATE A TOPIC
With more advanced classes, you might find
10.2.4 TO TELL (PART OF) A STORY
a song which links with a topic area, and can
provide the starting point for discussion. A
Some songs tell a story. If they do, you can
use part of the song to introduce the story,
and then ask the class to guess what
text such as Me Streets of London can be
used in this way to introduce the topic of
"modern
happens next. Or they can listen to the song,
life in big cities".
and then write a newspaper report based on
Perhaps you could introduce the topic by
it. Think of the Beatles song, She's Leaving
writing the word LONDON on the board. Ask
Home, which provides an excellent example
them to tell you all the things that they think
of a "story song".
of when they see or hear that word. They
may say things like "England"; "The Houses
of Parliament"; "fog and rain"; "fish and
chips"; ... Then tell them they are going to
listen to a song about London. Ask them to
find out which of these items are mentioned
in it.
183
USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
different from what you can see in Rio, or
Mexico City, or Paris or New York? What
about their own town or city? Does it have a
rich and poor side? Who would they choose
as typical people to represent both sides of
their own town? And so on.
10.2.6 TO PROVIDE AN INSIGHT INTO
THE
CULTURE
OF
AN
ENGLISH
-
SPEAKING COUNTRY
If we accept that traditional songs are part of
the culture of a country, then Song it is
most
probably true that they can tell us something
adolescents respond to the music and the
about that country. For example, songs such
imagery. You may feel it is a good idea to
as Let my People Go and Blowin' in the Wind
give them the whole text of the song right at
provide an insight into slavery and black
the beginning. Here, you are not asking them
America. These can be listened to for their
to, focus on specific language structures or
own interest, or as a basis for discussion,
vocabulary, but on the whole theme. You do
thought and further reading and writing
not want any incomprehension to stand in
practice. You may have to provide some
the way. You can pre-teach the unknown key
historical or cultural background to help the
vocabulary, or ask the students to guess the
students understand the text. On the other
meaning or look the unknown words up in
hand, you might isolate one or two key facts
their dictionaries. This provides an example
or topics and ask them to find out as much
of "dictionary use with a purpose". Key words
as
- the ones they must understand in order to
classroom.
understand the topic - include:
research skills: talking to other people or
The
song
is
quite
difficult,
but
they
can
about
Here
them
they
are
outside
using
the
their
consulting books in their own language, and
bringing
the
information
to
the
English
classroom.
Such songs can also be used as part of a
cross-cultural syllabus, or to link with the
theme of a particular textbook unit. Are
there similar songs in the history and culture
of your own country? What views do they
represent? Here, the English classroom can
The discussion can then focus on life in
modern cities. Is this picture of London so
be linked to the topics studied in history or
own-language literature lessons. And the
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USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
song can be used to emphasize cultural links
your own favorites to illustrate particular
between
language patterns, lexical areas, and to
your
country
and
the
English-
provide opportunities for some of the follow-
speaking world.
up practice described above.
A class song-book, which you and your
10.2.7 FOR FUN
students compile and add to, will be both
motivating and useful. It will emphasize the
Songs also have a great motivating force in
fact
the classroom. If they can take pleasure in
collaborative,
listening to or singing a song in English, or in
something. And that it is also personal, with
chanting a rhyme, your students will have
examples which reflect individual likes - and
experienced something pleasurable in the
dislikes.
language. Even the weaker students may
Suggestions for useful sources for songs are
feel that they can succeed in some way.
listed below. Add your own examples, cut out
If you use a song for fun - do not kill that
the ones you do not like, and start your own
fun! Gap-filling and true-or-false activities
personal
are useful to focus on specific language
examples from your textbook.
items.
Focus
questions
and
that
language
with
collection,
learning
everyone
including
can
be
contributing
the
good
follow-up
activities have their place. But do not think
that every time you use a song or rhyme in
10.4 SUITABLE SONGS
class, you have to apply one of these techniques. Listening and singing for pleasure
should be just that! Anything that increases
student motivation is to be welcomed.
The following list of songs is taken from that
in Tim Murphey's Music and Song in the OUP
Resource Books for Teachers series. They
have
10.3 FINDING SUITABLE TEXTS
been
categorized
by
grammatical
structure, but one could also do this by topic.
As suggested in 10.2.1 above, you may find
useful songs in your textbook, and on its
accompanying audio cassette, but you will
probably want to personalize these by adding
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USING SONG AND RHYMES______________________________________________
186