L2_Second year English_Linguistics Answers_semester 1__2017

Mohamed KHEIDER University of Biskra Faculty of Letters and Languages Department of Foreign Languages Section of English Level: Second Year ((All All groups)

Academic Year: 2016/2017 Due time: 1 h & 30 mn Group number : number : ……….…… Full name: name: …………...….…….. ………………..…..

(Answers) Topic One: Write short notes on the following statements.

(05 pts)

1. Language has often been viewed as a natural behaviour. Behaviourists believe that language is not different from other human behaviour and is acquired in the same way by process of observation, imitation, repetition….and reward or punishment.

2. According to the Divine Source Theory, language comes from God. The advocates of this theory rely on the Bible (God offered Adam the ability to speak) to prove that language has a Divine source.

3. By means of the Narrowing Process, a word such as "Mete" has changed to "Meat". "Narrowing" is a process by which a word (Mete= all types of food in the past → Meat= animal edible flesh in the present) starts to be used with less general meaning than its first use.

4. Human beings are able to produce sentences which have never been produced before. "Productivity" or creativity is a major feature of human language. Animals cannot produce new signals to convey messages; they are obliged to repeat the language (sounds) of parents over and over.

5. A good user of a language may make of it a means of entertainment. The "Poetic Function" of language refers to the speaker's or writer's good command (manipulation) of words and expressions, which may enable him to make people smile, laugh…

Topic Two: Put Two: Put true (T) or (T) or false (F) in (F) in the blank specified. 1. Traditional Grammar refers to all grammatical work done in the 20thc.

(05 pts) …………………F …………………F……

2. Prescriptivists always attempt to lay down forms and usages which they personally prefer. ……T …… T….. 3. In the Medieval Period, Latin did not witness any remarkable expansion over Europe.

…F….

4. The Atomistic Approach sees any language as a collection of individual elements.

…T……

5. According to de Saussure, the immanence of Langue is due to its idiosyncrasies.

….F ….F…...

Topic Three: Read Three: Read the passage and answer the questions briefly.

(05 pts)

Structuralism as far as language is concerned is that the units out of which utterances are made can be identified only in terms of their relationships with the other units in the same language. We cannot determine what those units are and then, at a subsequent stage of the investigation, inquire what structural relationships hold between them. Linguistic units derive both their existence and their identity from their interrelations. Every distinct unit - sound, words, meaning - are but points in the structure or network of relations…

1. What is Structuralism? Structuralism is the approach which sees language as a system of related elements/the elements of which are intertwined.

2. Where do linguistic units exactly derive their existence and identity? Linguistic units derive their existence and identity from the paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations (interrelations) which they contract. 1/2

3. How could you explain the shift from f rom Traditional Grammar to Structuralism? The shift to Structuralism was mainly due to the Weakesses of Tradirional Grammar. T G could not answer many questions (incomplete grammatical descriptions).

4. How could you (also) explain the non-existence of an "Ideal Grammar"? In fact, no grammar is perfect/complete/100 ℅ able to describe every single component of language. There are always some questions to answer, situations to remedy…

5. Is grammar really the subject-matter of linguists? Yes, it is

Topic Four:  Four:  Write two (2) medium length paragraphs (no more than 6 lines for each paragraph) indicating whether the following assertions are in contradiction or in harmony with Saussurean linguistics. 1. The states of a language overlap, overlap, they are not neatly segmented.

(2.5 pts)

In Contradiction with Saussurean Linguistics Argument One: Synchronic linguistics studies language at a particular point of t ime. Argument Two:  A "Language State" requires no extension along the time dimension.

2. Language is inherent in society.

(2.5 pts)

In Harmony with Saussurean Linguistics Argument One: One principle of Synchronic is to place language in its social environment. environment. Moreover,

language exists perfectly only within a collectivity Argument Two:  The influence of Emile Durkheim: language is a product of the collective mind.

Topic Five: Write Five: Write one (1) medium length paragraph (no more than 10 lines) indicating the main merits and demerits of Traditional Grammarians?

(05pts)

Merits of Traditional Grammar/Grammarians

a. Provides a deductive method of learning  b. Enables the learner to use particular grammatical grammatical structures structures c. Presents a clear basis for checking learning d. Develops writing skills e. Illustrates the rules of grammar grammar through high standard literary language. Demerits of Traditional Grammar/Grammarians

a. Prescriptive rather than descriptive grammatical grammatical rules  b. Translation from the first language to the target language language encourages encourages tongue interference (negative transfer) transfer) c. Provides linguistic competence and ignores communicative communicative competence d. Inadequacy and incompleteness incompleteness of grammatical grammatical descriptions e. No socio-cultural factors which can motivate the language learner Good Luck,

2/2

Your Teachers: Dr. R. MEHIRI Mr. B. Turqui