ENGLISH 101

Overview of
Introduction to Linguistics
1. Linguistics as the Science of
Language
2. Definitions of Language according
to Famous Linguists/Theorists
3. Macro Skills of Language

SUBMITTED
Shaier R. Alum
BY:

First Reporter

SUBMITTED
TO:Mrs. Imelda Buburan
Overview of Introduction to Linguistics
1. LINGUISTICS AS THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE

 What is Linguistics?
- It is the study of language, its structure, and its meaning.

 What is science and scientific study?

- Science is an “empirical field”, that is, it develops a body of
knowledge by observing things and performing experiments.
- The meticulous process of gathering and analyzing data is called the
“scientific method” or “scientific study”.
- The scientific method is the process of objectively establishing facts
through testing and experimentation. It uses a series of steps to
establish facts or create knowledge.

IS LINGUISTICS A SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF LANGUAGE?

- Linguistics is the science of language, and linguists are scientists who
apply the scientific method to questions about the nature and function
of language.
- Linguists conduct formal studies of speech sounds, grammatical
structures, and meaning across all the world’s over 6,000 languages.
They also investigate the history of and changes within language
families and how language is acquired when we are infants. Linguists
examine the relationship between written and spoken language as well
as the underlying neural structures that enable us to use language.
 - Linguistics attempts to understand how language is stored in the
human mind/brain and how it is part of everyday human behavior
through its sister fields of neuroscience, philosophy, psychology,
anthropology, sociology, and computer science.
- Linguistics has a well-defined subject matter; it employs careful
method to observe, record and analyze the various phenomenon
related to its subject matter and hope to present verifiable description.

Observation

Formation of
Verification LINGUISTICS Hypothesis

Testing

Linguists develop hypothesis on the basis of observation, first observe

linguistics events, make hypothesis and tested to make it verifiable or provable
as that if a scientific experiment.

SOME OF THE LINGUIST’S METHODS OF OBSERVATION:

1. Simple listening
2. Phonetic Transcription
3. Uses of various instruments such as chromo-graph, endoscope, pitch
maker, etc.
2. DEFINITIONS OF LANGUAGE ACCORDING TO FAMOUS
LINGUISTS/THEORISTS

LANGUAGE
- The principal method of human communication, consisting of words
used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech,
writing, or gesture.

ARISTOTLE (384-332) AD
- He was the first theoretical linguist.
- He identified the basic components of sentences: the name and verb
(or subject and predicate).
- Aristotle’s contribution to the history of the philosophy of language is
foundational. In On Interpretation, Aristotle settled the question raised
by Plato over the naturalness of meaning by declaring that linguistic
meaning is conventional. He set out the so-called semantic triad,
 setting out the relations between linguistic utterances (and written
words), cognition and excremental reality.
- “LANGUAGE STANDS FOR SPEECH THAT HUMANS
PRODUCT FOR EXCHANGING THEIR EXPERIENCE
RESULTING IN IDEAS AND EMOTIONS. “

EDWARD SAPIR (1921)

- He was an American anthropologist-linguist, who is widely
considered to be one of the most important figures in the development
of the discipline of linguistics in the United States.
- Among his major contributions to linguistics is his classification of
Indigenous languages of the Americas, upon which he elaborated for
most of his professional life. He played an important role in
developing the modern concept of the phoneme, greatly advancing the
understanding of phonology.
- “LANGUAGE IS A PURELY HUMAN AND NON-INSTINCTIVE
METHOD OF COMMUNICATING IDEAS, EMOTIONS AND
DESIRES BY MEANS OF A SYSTEM OF VOLUNTARILY
PRODUCED SOUNDS.”
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE (1916)
- He was Swiss linguist and Semiotician.
- His ideas laid a foundation for many Significant Developments both in
linguistics and semiology in the 20th century.
- Saussure argued for a distinction between langue (an idealized
abstraction of language) and parole (language as actually used in daily
life). He argued that the "sign" was composed of a signified, an
abstract concept or idea, and a "signifier", the perceived sound/visual
image.
- “LANGUAGE IS AN ARBITRARY SYSTEM OF SIGNS
CONSTITUTED OF THE SIGNIFIER AND SIGNIFIED.”

LEONARD BLOOMFIELD (1933)

- He was a major influence in the shift of linguistics from the historical
and comparative study of languages prevalent during the 19th century
to the description of the structure of languages in the 20th century. He
defined himself as a behaviorist.
- His influential textbook Language, published in 1933, presented a
comprehensive description of American structural linguistics. He
made significant contributions to Indo-European historical linguistics,
the description of Austronesian languages, and description of
languages of the Algonquian family.
 - “THE TOTALITY OF THE UTTERANCES THAT CAN BE MADE
IN A SPEECH COMMUNITY IS THE LANGUAGE OF THAT
SPEECH COMMUNITY.”

NOAM CHOMSKY (19570)

- Famously called as the “father of linguistics”
- The basis of Chomsky's linguistic theory lies in bio linguistics, the
linguistic school that holds that the principles underpinning the
structure of language are biologically preset in the human mind and
hence genetically inherited.
- He said, “The most striking aspect of linguistic competence is what
we may call the ‘creativity of language’, that is, the speaker’s ability
to produce new sentences, sentences that are immediately
UNDERSTOOD by other speakers although they bear no physical
resemblance to sentences which are ‘familiar’.
- “LANGUAGE IS A SYSTEM OF SENTENCES, EACH FINITE IN
LENGTH AND CONSTRUCTED OUT OF A FINITE SET OF
ELEMENTS.”
3. MACRO SKILLS OF LANGUAGE

Macro skills refer to the primary, key, main, and largest skill set relative
to a particular context. It is commonly referred to in English language.
Macro-skills are the primary ability that involves the process of
developing our knowledge and competency. Each of our macro-skills works on
improving certain ability to comprehend components of language that includes
the vocabulary, grammar and literature. The fluency and accuracy within these
components boils down on how we improve and develop our macro-skills.

5 MACRO SKILLS OF LANGUAGE

1. LISTENING
 - This basic skill is about hearing and perceiving other people’s
opinions, and absorbing facts and emotional intelligence derived from
the spoken word.
- This is a communication technique that requires the listener to
understand, interpret and evaluate what he or she hears. Listening
effectively improves personal relationships through the reduction of
conflict and strengthens cooperation through a collective
understanding while speaking is vocalization of human
communication. Being able to express an idea, concept or opinion
through speech is essential in the communicative process and
languages are about communication.
- Listening is the most important skill in communication. It is a mental
operation involving processing sound waves, interpreting their
meaning, and storing them in memory. It is a communication
technique that requires the listeners to understand, interpret, and
evaluate what they hear. It paves the way for other skills to tower over
the others because of its significance in terms of speech, discussion
and freedom of expression. They serve as an approach to make
everybody comprehend which is being said. It is closely related to
speaking and it enables the persons to soak in any information that is
given to them; consequently, the information can be passed on to
another party later on after the conversation. On the other hand,
learners will develop prediction and anticipation skills in listening.
Without listening, communication will be crippled. It is vital and
should be a main part in communication.

2. SPEAKING
- Speech is a vital form of self-expression. Speaking is the delivery of
language through the mouth. To speak, we create sounds using many
 parts of our body, including the lungs, vocal tract, vocal chords,
tongue, teeth and lips.
- Speaking depends on the context wherein communication will take
place and it can be formal or informal.
- Informal speaking is typically used with family and friends, or people
you know well.
- Formal speaking occurs in business or academic situations, or when
meeting people for the first time.

3. READING
- Reading is a fundamental skill for learners, not just for learning but for
life (Traves 1994) with reading being defined as ―…the ability to
draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information
appropriately‖ (Grabe & Stoller, 2002, p. 9).
- Process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency and
motivation. Reading is the way a person gets information from written
letters and words. It is another skill of language that is vital in order to
enhance communication and language among groups of people.
- Reading is necessary in the sense that the skill is the same whether in
native languages or English. There are several reading skills that are
commonly used in language. In the past, books and newspapers were
the most commonly read items; now emails and text messages form a
lot of normal day's communication activities.

4. WRITING
- It is a skill that needs to practice at all times for a reason that writing
means much more than using orthographic symbols. It is a thinking
process which is characterized by a purposeful selection and
organization of experience. It is an act of discovery, of
 communication, of joy. It connects us to work, to culture, to society, to
existing knowledge, and to the meanings of our lives. Without it, poor
communication will occur as far as written communication is
concerned. It is the act of putting sentences together in connected
discourse, but the main focus is on basic communicability. It is
designed to give beginning learners the feeling that they are able to
write and that what they write has a profound value.

5. VIEWING (the new macro skill)

- Viewing as a language skill is defined as the process of understanding
visual texts that come in various formats, such as TV shows,
advertisements, films, videos, and images. In short, viewing is the act
of ‘reading’ visual cues. So it’s like reading a book while looking at
pictures, animations, and listening to accompanying sounds.
- It is the fifth macro skill today, referring to the act of perceiving,
examining, interpreting, and construction meaning from visual images
and is crucial to improving comprehension of print and non-print
materials. This is the skill to be taught as the learners are exposed on
multi media.

 INPUT OR RECEPTIVE SKILLS

- It is the ability to understand words and language and the act of
receiving some knowledge and information we don’t know yet.
- These skills are listening, reading, and viewing, because learners do
not need to produce language to do these, they receive and understand
it. These skills are sometimes known as passive skills. They can be
contrasted with the productive or active skills of speaking and writing.
 OUTPUT OR PRODUCTIVE SKILLS
- It is the use of words, sentences, gestures, and writing to create a
message or convey a meaning. It is frequently associated with
identifying objects describing events, and how to do actions, create
sentences, and use correct grammar.
- The productive skills are speaking and writing for a reason that
learners doing these need to produce language. They are also known
as active skills and they can be compared with the receptive skills
listening, reading, and viewing.

INPUT OR
Listening
RECEPTIVE Reading
SKILLS Viewing

OUTPUT OR
Speaking
PRODUCTIVE Writing
SKILLS
SOURCES:
FIRST TOPIC – Linguistics as the Science of Language
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/scientific-method#:~:text=The
%20scientific%20method%20is%20the,and%20finally%20analyzing%20the
%20results.
https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/science-linguistics
https://youtu.be/XLnbYXxGBvk?si=tyeVxiZ5jsPrplkI

2ND TOPIC –Definitions of Language from Famous Linguists/Theorists

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-26908-5_4#:~:text=He
%20identified%20the%20basic%20components,Categories%2C%20Topics
%20and%20Sophistical%20Refutations.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2203636/#:~:text=Leonard
%20Bloomfield%20(1887%E2%80%931949),defined%20himself%20as%20a
%20behaviorist.
https://youtu.be/cWHnAEIjOB0?si=wFSkS5ouOE3mEUft
3rd TOPIC – Macro Skills of Language
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/acts-computer-college/management-
science/macro-skills-teaching/17704964
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/university-of-perpetual-help-system-
jonelta/teaching-and-assessment-of-macro-skills/teaching-and-assessment-of-
macro-skills-four-macro-skills-in-communication/31278013
https://youtu.be/4hKoDykhd78?si=sgnrrrbxQjeQopkE