English Language General Information And Features

 

Lead your English class !!  

                   

          Definition of English

The English language first emerged in Britain during the early medieval period. It is the first language of over 400 million people worldwide and is recognised as being the national language of the UK, Australia, Ireland, the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

                                                               Objective 

To facilitate students' ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in real-life situations. To develop communicative competence in all its dimensions. To foster fluency as a primary goal, without neglecting accuracy. To create a student-centered learning environment with meaningful interaction.

                                      Methodology

 The Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Audio-Lingual Method, the Silent Way, Suggestopedia, Community Language Learning, and Total Physical Response (TPR). Additionally, more modern approaches like task-based learning, project-based learning, and gamification are also gaining popularity.

Roles of Teachers

Facilitators of communication and creators of opportunities for authentic language use. Guides who support the communicative process. Needs analysts and designers of relevant tasks. Learning monitors who offer feedback.
 

Roles of Learners

Active and responsible participants in their own learning. Communicators who negotiate meaning and collaborate with their peers. Risk-takers who experiment with the language. Communicative problem-solvers.

                                              

                                                  Assesment use 

 Focuses on communicative competence and performance, rather than solely on grammatical accuracy. Assessment tasks are often communicative and require the use of language in meaningful contexts (role-plays, interviews, presentations, writing tasks with a real purpose). Fluency, appropriateness, and the overall effectiveness of communication are evaluated.

 

                                                English (Features)

 The key features of English according to the five main branches of linguistics: Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, Semantics, and Pragmatics. This provides a structured way to understand the language's characteristics.

Phonology

Phonology is the branch of linguistics concerned with the categorisation of speech sounds in languages; in other words, how these sounds are organised in the mind and used to convey meaning.
Phonological systems are made up of phonemes (we'll come back to phonemes in a bit), and each language has its own phonological system. This means that the study of phonology is language-specific.
For example, the phoneme  /ɛ/ is different from the  phoneme   /i:/, so if we use the word set [sɛt] instead of seat [si:t], the meaning of the word will change.

Morphology

Morphology is the study of linguistics that examines the composition and structure of words. It is concerned with how smaller units, or morphemes, are combined to form meaning.It explores how prefixes,suffixes,roots, and other word parts contribute a words meaning grammatica function.
For instance, consider the term “unhappiness.” “Un-” is a prefix meaning negation, “happy” is the root meaning emotion, and “-ness” is a morpheme changing it to a noun. All these parts are what make us know what exactly is meant by unhappiness.

Syntax

Syntax is a branch of linguistics that seeks to understand how languages' grammar is generated and how sentences are formed.Syntax is an essential component in determining the meaning of sentences. Syntax illustrates how words are structured to communicate meaningful concepts. A slight change in structure can change the whole message, highlighting its significance in communication.
Syntactic knowledge covers its underlying principles. Among its most important rules is the subject-verb-object order, which provides the structure of most English sentences. Seen in “The cat (subject) chased (verb) the mouse (object),” the simplicity comes out.

 Semantics

Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It can be applied to entire texts or to single words.For example, "destination" and "last stop" technically mean the same thing, but students of semantics analyze their subtle shades of meaning. In a simpler definition, semantics studies how we assign meaning to words, phrases, symbols, and signs. It’s like when you read a text message that says, “I’m up for it.” The semantics involves understanding if “up for it” means the person is awake and available or if they are expressing their eagerness to participate in an activity. Linguists work with semantics to ensure that the intended message is conveyed and received accurately.

Pragmatics

Pragmatics is a field of linguistics concerned with what a speaker implies and a listener infers based on contributing factors like the situational context, the individuals’ mental states, the preceding dialogue, and other elements. Pragmatic language is the use of appropriate communication in social situations (knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it).An example of pragmatics meaning is: “It's hot in here! Can you crack a window?"

• Conclusions

This comprehensive study of the main characteristics of English covers the wide variety of features that make English a dynamic, complex and expressive language, understanding them allows for deeper analysis, more efficient teaching and better communication skills.

                                      References

 

https://www.twinkl.com/teaching-wiki/english-language
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/211091556.pdf
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/linguistics/home/all-about-linguistics/about-website/branches-linguistics/morphology/what-morphology
Harmer,J (2004) How to Teach English .Pearson Education

                                What are your teaching goals?

 

By Miriangel Aguero