Structuralism (De Saussure, F . / Bloomfield, L. et

alii).

UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADORINSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO CARACAS

VICERRECTORADO DE INVESTIGACIÓN Y POSTGRADOCOORDINACIÓN NACIONAL DE POSTGRADO

Maestría en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera

Prof. Héctor Escalona

StructuralismStructuralism

EuropeanEuropean1920’s1920’s

North American North American 1930’s – 1960’s1930’s – 1960’s

Dead languages

Linguists tried to reconstruct dead languages on the basis of the similarities that were found to exist between languages thought to be related historically to those dead languages.

In short, during the 19th century scholars in linguistics worked from a historical, diachronic, perspective.

European Structuralism

Ferdinand de Saussure

1857 - 1913

De Saussure was not satisfied with the historical comparison of language. He stated that such comparison only answered where a language comes from, but not what language is.

Main tenets

1) Language has a structure

2) Language is a system of sings

3) Language operates at two levels: langue and parole

European Structuralism

1) Language has a structure

Language is a structure in which each elements interact.

European Structuralism

Main tenets

2) Language is a system of signs

Noise is language only when it expresses or communicates ideas.

European Structuralism

Main tenets

Signified Signifier

Physical dimension of language

SignCar

/ka:r/

European Structuralism

Langue

The abstract system

Parole

European Structuralism

Actual speech

Main tenets

North American StructuralismBeginning: a group of

anthropologists describing fast-disappearing American-

Indian tribes.

They found that there was no methodology for them to

follow in order to describe these languages.

A new step in the American Structuralism

Leonard Bloomfield

1887-1949

NA Structuralism centers in what people actually say

North American Structuralism

North American Structuralism

1) Linguistics is a descriptive science.

2) The primary form of language is the spoken one.

3) Every language is a system on its own right.

4) Language is a system in which smaller units arrange systematically to form larger ones.

5) Meaning should not be part of linguistic analysis.

6) The procedures to determine the units in language should be objective and rigorous.

7) Language is observable speech, not knowledge.

Main tenets

1) Linguistics is a descriptive science.

Describe what people say, not what people should say.

North American Structuralism

Main tenets

2) The primary form of language is the spoken one.

Reasons:

1) Not every language has a written form.

2) Everybody learns an oral language.

3) The spoken form comes first than the written one.

North American Structuralism

Main tenets

3) Every language is a system on its own right.

Language should not be described in terms of another language, but rather, it should be described on its own terms.

North American Structuralism

Main tenets

4) Language is a system in which smaller units arrange systematically to form larger ones.

These linguists proposed a procedure in which they began analyzing the smallest units and classifying them, and describing the patterns into which they combined to form larger units.

/l/

[lang-gwIʤ]

Language is a system

North American Structuralism

Main tenets

5) Meaning should not be part of linguistic analysis.

Bloomfield and many other structuralism followers consider meaning as abstract and unobservable, therefore, unscientific.

Prato?

North American Structuralism

Main tenets

6) The procedures to determine the units in language should be objective and rigorous.

NA Structuralism rejected traditional definitions of, for example, a noun as “the word that refers to persons, animals or things” (definition based on meaning).

North American Structuralism

Main tenets

6) The procedures to determine the units in language should be objective and rigorous.

North American Structuralism

In this respect, they provide two observable criteria for defying the items of language: Form and Distribution.

Main tenets

North American Structuralism

7) Language is observable speech, not knowledge.

Langue and parole were rejected as unscientific abstractions. The main objective would be to make a taxonomy of language based on observable samples of speech (corpus/corpora)

Phonemes-morphemes-sentences patterns.

Main tenets

Thanks

REPÚBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELAUNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR

INSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO CARACASVICERRECTORADO DE INVESTIGACIÓN Y POSTGRADO

COORDINACIÓN NACIONAL DE POSTGRADO Maestría en Enseñanza del Inglés como Lengua Extranjera

Prof. Héctor Escalona

Aitchison, J. (1978). Linguistics. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Chomsky, N. (1959). “Review of B.F. Skinner, Verbal behavior”. Language. 35: 26-57. --------------- (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. --------------- (1966-1973) “Linguistic theory.” In Oller J. and J. Richard (eds.) Focus on the

Learner. Rowley, Mass.:Newbury House. Culler, J. (1976). Ferdinand de Saussure. London : Penguin Books. Department of Linguistics. The Ohio State University (1972). Language Files.

Reinoldsburg, Ohio: Advocate Publishing Group. Halliday, M.A.K. (1973). Explorations in the functions of language. London: Edward Arnold. Hymes, D. (1971/1979). “On communicative competence.” In Brumfit, C. and K. Johnson

(eds.) The communicative approach to language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lyons, J. (1968). Introduction to theoretical linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mackey, W. (1966/1973). “Language didactics and applied linguistics.” In J. Oller and J. Richard (eds). Focus on the learner. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

O’Grady, W., M. Dobrovolsky and M. Aronoff. (1989). Contemporary linguistics: an introduction. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

De Saussure, F.

References

Structuralism

Let us discus these questions together:

1) How Structuralism, Functionalism and Generativism have contribute to our present understanding of language?

2) Why haven’t the questions what is language and how does language work haven’t been completely answered?

3) In which aspects European and North American Structuralism meet and differ?