Link to glossary

 

 

 

English Structures

No, this sound isn't language, but it has meaning and it communicates.
No, this isn't language, but again it is assigned meaning and so it is a type of communication.
No,this sound that humans make is not considered language, but is is generally assigned meaning, so it is a type of communication.

No, Wingtip doesn't do something like point at potential prey and then give the sign for begging which would be a creative way to say, "There's a gopher out there. Will you go get it and feed it to me?"

 

No, the sign didn't have to be learned, so its relationship to its meaning will not change in the future.
No, Wingtip was not trained to point; he does this naturally. The meaning of the sign isn't achieved by agreement among users of this sign. It is shared through instinct.
No, Wingtip never makes this sign without some presence of the prey in existence. That is, Wingtip doesn't communicate about things that happened in the past or in the future. As a result, Wingtip's sign fails to include the key feature of an arbitrary relationship between the sign and its meaning. Wingtip's communication style doesn't meet this requirement of language.
Yes, Wingtip only points when he senses some potential prey by seeing it or smelling it. He never uses this sign to point at something that isn't there.
No, Wingtip's sign doesn't look like what the potential prey looks like, so it isn't an iconic sign.

Understanding the Features of Language

Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Moodle TESL 551: Crowley   Houts-Smith
 

 

 

 

 

Understanding the Humanness of Language

We have just looked at how language has the features of meaningfulness, creativity, and systematicity. Earlier we looked at some samples of possible language and decided which ones were actually language use and which ones were not. We decided that animal communication is not language communication. Now that we have explained the features of language, we can probe into why animal communication is different from human communication.

Activity: Analyzing animal communication for the features of language

Look at the picture below of my dog, Wingtip. Then look at the questions about Wingtip's communication style and click on the answer yes or no to determine if the dog's communication style includes the features of language that we have just learned.

 

First consider what Wingtip's sign means. Humans generally call this sign pointing.Wingtip points at gophers, birds, crickets, cheese, and rubber balls. Wingtip never points at his bed or my hand.

Wingtip the dog pointing

1. What does Wingtip's sign mean?

Select the door with the correct answer:

 

Next, consider the kind of sign that Wingtip is using.

1. Is it an iconic sign? That is, does it look like what it means? Does it look like prey?
2. Is it an indexical/symptomatic sign? That is, does this sign coexist in time/place with prey?
3. Is it a symbolic sign? That is, does it have an arbitrary relationship to prey?

Now, consider the meaningfulness of the sign. How did this sign get meaning?

1. Did all dogs who point decide that this would be the sign for prey? Is it simply something they agree on?
2. Is it possible that the sign will change in the future?

Now consider the creativity of Wingtip's communication style.

1. Can Wingtip use this sign in a new way? Can he decide to combine it with another sign?

 

Humanness

Human language uses symbols to communicate. Animal systems use signals, not symbols; therefore, animals do not use language.

  • Animal communication differs from human language because it lacks the creativity of human language.
  • The evidence that animal communication lacks creativity is that animals don't combine small units of meaning into larger ones, and then recombine them again in new ways.
  • The reason why animal communication lacks creativity is because it lacks the arbitrary relationship between the signs and the meanings of the signs.

Distinguishing Language from Communication

In describing the humanness of language, we have set out to distinguish it from animal communication. One of the key ideas to keep in mind when studying language is that communication and language are not the same thing. If we look closely at the definition of langauge, "Language is a system of arbitrary symbols that humans use to create meaningful communication with other users of the same language," we can see that language is used in service to communication. That is, it is a tool or a technique for achieving the goal of communication. This suggests that there are other tools and other techniques available for achieving communication, as well. This is precisely the point we have just sought to make through the analysis exercise: Wingtip doesn't use language to communicate, but dogs do communicate through other types of systems. These systems seem to be based entirely on indexical/symptomatic signs, however, not symbols. This leads to another question: Do humans ever use indexical/symptomatic signs to communicate?

Activity: Looking for nonlanguage communication by humans

Is this language? ( samples may change)

1. Listen to the sample. Is this language?
2. Look at the sample. Is this language?
1. Listen to the sample. Is this language?

As the exercise just demonstrated, humans do communicate in ways other than language. Language is just one subdivision of communication. There are two others that exist and are used by humans. Each of the three subdivisions is given a technical name: 1) linguistics refers to the language subdivision, 2) paralinguistics refers to the subdivision of nonlanguage vocalizations, and 3) extralinguistics refers to the subdividsion of nonvocal communication. The table below gives technical terms and examples of each type.

Communication
Linguistic
Paralinguistic
Extralinguistic
Phonetics
Laughing
Haptics
Phonology
Crying
Proxemics
Morphology
Sighing
Kinesics
Syntax
Pausing

Facial
Expressions

Semantics
Pragmatics

The Subdivisions of Linguistics

As mentioned above, there are three types of communication. One of these types is linguistic communication, which refers to communication through language. The academic field of linguistics is concerned with the study of languages. The field of linguistics seeks to describe the nature of language in general and the nature of individual languages in particular. In general, all languages have six different aspects, which are listed in the table above and defined below:

  • Phonetics: The sounds or signs that are combined to form units of meaning
    • Articulatory phonetics: studies the place and manner of producing sounds in the vocal tract.
    • Acoustic phonetics: studies the physical properties of sounds
    • Auditory Phonetics: studies the perception of speech sounds by the ears
  • Phonology: the study of the rules that a language uses to combine sounds together into units that carry meaning
  • Morphology: The study of word formation rules in a language
  • Syntax: The study of sentence formation
  • Semantics: The study of the ways meanings are attached to linguistic symbols, especially to words and syntactic patterns.
  • Pragmatics: The study of the ways speakers use language

While all human languages have sounds or signs, not all languages use exactly the same ones or even the same number. Likewise, all human languages have rules for putting sounds together to form words and word parts as well as rules for putting those words together into phrases and sentences. When linguists look to describe language in general, they seek to identify features that all languages have in common. These common features are referred to as language universals. The list below gives examples of some of the language universals that have been identified.

Language Universals

  • A particular grammar describes the system one language follows
  • Universal grammar describes the system that all languages follow
  • Universal grammar is thought to be innate, an instinct that humans are born with
  • All human societies have language
  • All languages are equal
  • All languages change
  • All languages have arbitrary relationships between their signs and the meanings of the signs
  • All languages use a finite set of signs to create an infinite number of sentences
  • All languages have rules for forming words and sentences
  • All spoken languages have consonants and vowels that are discrete sounds
  • All languages have grammatical categories of words
  • All languages have ways to negate, question, command, and refer to time
  • Any normal child can learn any language as a native language

Continue to Part 5
American Sign Language The sign language used by the deaf community in the United States.
Test of English for International Communication. A standardized exam for Educational Testing Services that is intended to determine the general capability of an NNSE to use English to conduct business. It is used by some businesses, predominantly in Asia, in hiring.
Test of English as a Foreign Language. A standardized exam from Educational Testing Services that is intended to determine the general capability of an NNSE to use English as the language of insruction .It is used as an admissions requirement by most US universities and colleges for international students.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. A term that encompasses both TEFL and TESL. It is the name of the professional organization to which many teachers belong. TESOL the organization has many regional affiliates both in the US and abroad.
Teaching English as Second Language. Refers to the activity of teaching the English language as a tool necessary for some daily task like instruction, shopping, or interpersonal interactions.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Refers to the activity of teaching the English language as an intellectual, academic pursuit to non-native speakers of English.
Native Speaker of English. Refers to a person who acquired English in infancy and young childhood as a first language.
Native Speaker. Refers to a person whose relationship to a language is that it was encountered in infancy and young childhood as the dominant language of the environment.
Non-Native Speaker of English. Refers to a person who didn't acquire English as a first language, but came to it after another language was established.
Non-Native Speaker. Refers to a person whose relationship to a particular language is that he/she didn't encounter it while initially acquiring language, but came to it after another language was established.
Limited English Proficient. An adjectival phrase used to refer to the same students as ELL refers to. LEP is falling into disuse as it focuses attention on student deficiency rather than on the positive attribute of learning. Is being replaced by ELL.
Second Language. Refers to any language gained subsequent to the first or native language. It is acquired or learned secondarily to the native language. Doesn't refer to the ordinal numbering of languages, only to the relationship of a particular language to a persons native language.
First Language. Refers to the language that an individual encounters as an infant and young child; a persons native language.
English for Specific Purposes. Refers to the goal of learning English to use it for highly focused activity, such as for business or for aviation communication.
English as a Second Language Program. refers to a school program that is purposefully structured to provide instruction on the English language to NNSEs. An ESL program does not typically include instruction in any other subjects than English. An ESL program may be a component of a larger ELL program at a school.
English as a Second Language. Refers to the subject matter of the English language and the methodology for teaching the English language to non-native speakers. ESL makes no reference to the subjects other than English, but it is not methodology alone either, it refers to teaching the English language as content area. Typically, ESL refers to the study of English in a country where it is used for at least one daily task, such as instruction, interpersonal relations, or shopping.
English Langauge Learner Program. Refers to a school program that is purposly structured to provide instruction on the English language and instruction in other content areas to English Language Learners.
English Language Learner. Refers to students who are in the process of learning English, whether they are in ESL classes exclusively or a combination of ESL classes and other subject area classes.
English as a Foreign Langauge. Refers to the study of English as an intellectual, academic pursuit, not a a language whose use is necessary or desirable for daily life, although it may be used as a research tool. Typically, EFL is the study of English in a country where English is not a language of instruction or daily interactions, such as in Italy or in Saudi Arabia.
English for Academic Purposes. Refers to the goal of learning English to use it as the language of instruction for other subject areas.
Refers to a school program that is purposely structured so that students will use two languages on a daily basis.
Refers to the use of two languages in any capacity on a daily basis. A bilingual person uses two languages on a daily basis--for work and at home, perhaps, or for different subjects at school. Can also refer to the ability to use two languages, even if not used daily.