|
Module
two: Language & community
By
Debbie Harris, Contributor
THIS
MODULE seeks to develop in you
the
ability to discuss how language may
be defined and characterised as well
as to consider ways in which language
affects society and is in turn affected
by society. This study of language
is investigated within the Caribbean
context. You should be able to describe
the salient features of the interactive
relationship among communication technologies,
language and society. In addition,
your ability to examine the significance
of communication technologies in cultural
interaction ought to become evident.
As
was said last week this section carries
much content and so you need to read
all that is relevant and can be found
on the various aspects of the module.
You may read the following texts which,
together, provide adequate information
on this module:
*
West Indians and their language by
Peter Roberts
*
English for Academic Purposes by Barbara
Lalla
*
Writing in English: A Coursebook for
Caribbean Students by H. Simmons-MacDonald,
L. Fields and P. Roberts.
*
Grammar, Structure and Style - A Practical
Guide to A-Level English by Shirley
Russel
*
Language: Exposition and Argument(Readings
and Exercises) compiled by K. Shields-Brodber,
I. McLaren, M. Thompson, E. King and
M. E. Taylor
This
list is not exhaustive but you can
glean much from them and your teacher
will suggest other reading material
which you can use.
WHAT
IS LANGUAGE?
Language
is recognised as having two possible
interpretations: language and a language.
When we think of language we think
of it in a general way and we define
it to be the verbal form of human
expression. As such, it is therefore
confined to a human context and not
extended to any other species (We
will return to this point during the
coming weeks). When we think of a
language we think of it in a specific
way and we define it to mean any distinct
system of verbal expression, distinguished
from other such systems by its peculiarities
of structure and vocabulary. That
is to say that every language is distinct
from other languages because of these
features. Therefore, Spanish, Portuguese,
Jamaican Creole/Patois, English, Mayan,
French and Chinese are each categorised
as a language; while all who are speakers
of these languages, in verbally expressing
themselves, use language. In a way
this distinction between language
and a language corresponds to the
distinction between the individual
and the society respectively. When
someone asks: "What language
do you speak?" the person is
asking about a specific language;
one spoken by a community of speakers.
If one says, "Human beings have
language, but birds do not",
the person may mean that human beings
can speak but birds cannot. The person
is not referring to a specific language
but to the ability to talk, to use
words, to hear and understand words.
So, language refers to a natural ability
which all normal human beings have
while a language means a specific
version used by some people who normally
live in the same community.
Let
us look closer at language. Language
is a human being's ability to communicate,
verbally and non-verbally, with other
human beings as well as with himself.
It allows the transmission of desires,
ideas and emotions from individual
to individual and within the same
individual. Language is external in
the form of sounds and symbols and
it is internal as mental activity.
Language can be characterised as being:
human, verbal, symbolic, systematic,
maturational, non-instinctive and
dynamic. Read the information to your
right to get some additional information
on each of the characteristics.
It
is difficult to include everything
that could be said about each of these
characteristics as many linguists
have much to say. You will need to
do additional reading from the relevant
texts so that you will be thoroughly
informed. After you have read the
relevant chapters from the suggested
texts mentioned above, do this activity:
Explain briefly, in your own words,
and using original examples, why language
is considered arbitrary and systematic.
| Characteristics
of Language |
Explanation
of Characteristics |
| 1.
Human |
1.
Where other creatures seem to
have communication systems which
enable them to perform basic functions,
only the human species has one
which allows such complexity and
range of performance. We know
of no other species which can
express meanings about past or
future events, articulate abstract
ideas or construct advertisements. |
| 2.
Verbal |
2. Human beings make language.
It is first spoken then written.
The
complex anatomy in the throat
and mouth allows us to modify
this vibrating air in order to
make the vowels and consonants
of speech and to manipulate its
melodies, the intonation system.
We have ears to hear what others
say as well as to monitor ourselves.
We tend to use our hands and arms
when we talk and always when we
write or type. Our eyes allow
us to read and are also important
in conversations. |
| 3.Symbolic |
3.
Language has an arbitrary nature.
The connection between the things
signified (eg. Objects) and the
words used to signify them, that
is the symbol the word 'book'
and the symbolised
the actual book, is arbitrary.
There is nothing inherent in the
word 'book' for us to refer to
the object as such. Indeed, in
Spanish this object is referred
to or symbolised by the word 'libro'.
|
| 4.Systematic |
4.
Language is rule governed. It
follows observable patterns that
obey certain inherent 'rules'.
To be fluent in a language requires
both a mastery of its grammatical
rules and competence in the appropriate
use of the sentences that are
structured by those rules. |
| 5.Maturational
|
5.
A language is always developing.
Most languages do so as they acquire
vocabulary. |
| 6.Non
- instinctive |
6.
Language is naturally acquired.
It is suggested that there is
a built-in mechanism which gives
human beings the ability to acquire
and learn language; we are biologically
conditioned. |
| 7.Dynamic
|
7.
Language is not static, it is
always changing. Language changes
because the lives of speakers
change, for example, as speakers
come into contact with other
cultures or as new discoveries
change their way of life.
|
Until
next week, walk good!
|
