Learning about Language StructureChapter 2

Language Universals: Language is dynamic

Vocabulary changes

New words come about

Pronunciation changes over time (do not pronounce [k] in know!)

Structure of the language changes over time

Word order became fixed in English

Language is COMPLEX!Language is COMPLEX!

All languages equally complex; not primitive (Spanish is easier than German – HA)

Language is arbitrary

Language comes easy to humans – regardless of race, geography, economics, social class learns language

Language is open-ended – you can create an infinite number of sentences from limited system!

Phonology: Is it English?

Correct pronunciation is one of the most difficult features of learning a L2

Teacher Tip: overemphasis of correct pronunciation when learners are in early stages of learning English may hinder risk-taking. Helping with pronunciation through chants, songs and other ways is best

Which of the following are possible English words and which would be impossible because they do not fit into the English sound system?

Dschang, borogrove, jëfandikoo, nde, takkies Phonemes are sounds that make up words Number of phonemes ranges from 20 to 50 with English

rounding out around 34-45 depending on dialect (ok, we are on the higher end!)

English Sounds not in other languages

Your ELL student may come from a background that uses very different sounds– the following sounds do not exist in these three languages!

Chinese: /b/ /ch/ /d/ /dg/ /g/ /oa/ /sh/ /s/ /th/ /v/ /z/ Japanese: /dg/ /f/ /i/ /th/ /oo/ /v/ /schwa/ Spanish: /dg/ /j/ /sh/ /th/ /z/ Phonemic sequences are the acceptable melding together of

sounds in a language in a certain order – we can say /sp/ for spring, speak, spank but in Spanish you could not start a work with /sp/ - this is why a Spanish speaker may say “Estephanie” “espeak”

Arabic speakers may say “barking lot” instead of “parking lot” because in Arabic no one hears a difference!

Morphology: words of Morphology: words of languagelanguage

Smallest meaningful unit of language

Chocolates – chocolate + s (plural derivational morpheme)

Free and bound! – free stand alone (chocolate, the, a, eat) – bound must occur with others (often looked at as grammatical in the traditional sense) [-s, -ing, -est, -ceive]

Derivational/inflectional – first changes the part of speech (speak (v), speak + er (N), speak + ing (N)) and second makes sentences correct (he eat + s = eats instead of ungrammatical he eat)

Even a little knowledge that there are parts that produce new words (derivational) and grammatical pieces (inflectional) can help you when working with ELL students

Syntax

Sentences are formed of word order. The teacher asked the students to sit down *Sit the students down the teacher asked.

We may think we teach this in school but children acquire syntax on their own

Syntax and grammar: not the same…there may be perfectly syntactically correct sentences in English but they may not be grammatical I ain’t got no pencil I’m fixing to go to the store

Chinese Speakers learning Chinese Speakers learning EnglishEnglish

Verb tense: I see him yesterday (adverb tells when)

Subject/verb agreement: He see me (verbs do not change to show agreement -- He sees me

Word-order: I at home ate (PP come before verbs)

Plurals: They give me 3 dollar (3 indicates plural and that is all that is needed)

Semantics & Vocab Development

English has lots of vocabulary – maybe 3 million – average adult uses 2000 a week!

Helping ELL students learn vocabulary is very important – think back on that video!

Use concept maps Key word or topic notes Thinking tree Word hierarchy These may help to develop the semantic

relationships

Nonverbal Communication

Body language, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact and proximity convey a LOT of meaning but are not verbal

Could cause challenges – parent/teacher conference may need to be aware that some parents may not feel comfortable with you sitting on the desk or moving closer to show student work

Gestures/Eye Contact

American gestures may be misinterpreted and vice versa

Come here is signaled by palm upward; many cultures see this as disrespectful – something you do to call an animal

No (shaking head horizontally may be YES in another culture)

Classic eye contact problem!

ProximityProximity

Personal space requirements are different from place to place

South Americans may stand closer than Northern A. wish and NA stand closer than Scandinavians do (think about pairings!)

Violating personal space is often interpreted as aggressive behavior – what sort of implication might this have in the classroom?

Bumping into someone in the US usually gets an “excuse me” – in Arab culture you will not find this

Concepts of Time

Northern American time usually punctual

Time is an object – saving time, using time wisely…..

When teacher sees student not on task – the student is “wasting time”

Different cultures think of time differently – arriving late for conferences or school – have to relate to families by helping them understand that appointments in US really are for the time stated!

Some teachers tell parents to come between certain hours to help with this difference.

Samples of ESL Production: What do you notice?

And another….