What teachers need to know about language

      What Teachers Need to Know about Language 

Language

7 Subsystems of Language traditionally studied by linguists: Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics

Vocabulary Focused: Lexicon Spelling  

PHONOLOGY

Study of the sound systems of language Focuses on the discrete sounds within a language PHONEMES-Smallest units of sound in a language A change in phonoemes can change the meaning of a word Example: peak and speak A teachers understanding of pronunciation comes with knowledge of phonemes ELL students that have difficulty with pronunciation may come from the fact that phoneme is not in their home language A teacher with knowledge of phonemes can help ELL students

MORPHOLOGY

Is the study of the structure of words Morphomes are the smallest unit of meaning that carry meaning or have grammatical function Example: Books- has two morphemes Book- this is a bound text that can be read S- conveys the grammatical meaning of more than one Morphology looks at the creation of new vocabulary techniques like compounding, borrowing from other languages, shortening, and blending, and the creation of new words by using acronyms Issues that ELL students face is that morphology in one language does not necessarily crossover to another language 

SYNTAX

Is the studying of the rules governing the way words are combined to form sentences and the rules governing the arrangement of sentences in sequences Teachers think of syntax as grammar Syntax is the relationship between words Once people have an understanding of syntax you can produce unlimited sentences ELL's can have difficulty with syntax because many times the rules for one language may not cross over to another language

SEMANTICS

Is the study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences Words have semantic features and various properties Example: Woman-Features=animate, human, female, adult Girl-Features=animate, human, female Semantics includes the following: Synonym Antonym Homophones Homonyms Hyponyms Convereseness Polysemy Part/Whole Relationships

PRAGMATICS

Is the study of language from the point of view of the users Studying of pragmatics involves the study of " invisible"  meaning or how we recognize what is meant without it being said This involves the underlying meanings, the beneath-the-surface meanings Pragmatics is not just what is being said, but, how it is said and how it is interpreted ELL students can have difficulty understanding the pragmatics of a lesson  

LEXICON

Is the vocabulary of a language To use a word from the lexicon a speaker needs four kinds of information: its sounds and their sequencing its meaning its category how related words such as the plural, and past tense, are formed There is difficulty for ELL students with vocabulary Teachers can help students with vocabulary by incorporating new words in context, talking to students about things they enjoy and are familiar 

SPELLING

Throughout the years the English language has changed  Spelling is no longer simply just sound out the word and write the way it sounds Words that are borrowed from other languages will take on the spelling of that language Example: know and acknowledge

Summary

Language is broken down into 7 subsets ELL students have difficulty with language in part because the rules in one language do NOT always carry over to another language