Definitions of Language

 Language is a structured system of arbitrary

vocal sounds and sequences of sounds
which is used in interpersonal
communication and which rather
exhaustively catalogs the things, events, and
processes of human experience(Carol, 1973).
 Language is an open system interacting
with, changed by, and changing its
environment as part of culture. The
humanness of language and its place in
human society is one of the most necessary
and complex of all social skills.
 Language is a system which relates meaning
to substance. Language is a mental
phenomenon. It is innate. Man has
genetically imparted ability for language
learning (Chomsky).
 Language is any set or system of linguistic
symbols as used in a more or less uniform
fashion by a number of people who are thus
enabled to communicate inteligibly with
one another (Random House Dictionary of
the English Language).
 Language is a system of arbitrary vocal
symbols used for human communication
(Wardhaugh).
 Language is a system of arbitrary, vocal
symbols which permit all people in a given
culture, or other people who have learned
the system of that culture to communicate
or interact (Finocchiaro).
 Still common definitions found in introductory
linguistics include the concept of:
1. the generativity or creativity of language;
2. the presumed primacy of speech over
writing; and,
3. the universality of language among human
beings.
 Important points worth considering in relation to the
various definition of language:
1. Language is used for communication.
2. Language is essentially human, although possibly
not limited to humans.
3. Language is a set of arbitrary symbols.
4. Those symbols are primarily vocal, but may also be
visual.
5. The symbols have conventionalized meanings to
which they refer.
6. Language is systematic and generative.
7. Language operates in a speech community or
culture.
Theories about the Nature of
Language
A. Behaviorist/Empiricist Theory – Leonard
Bloomfield, B.F. Skinner, and Charles Fries
1. Language is a set of arbitrary symbols.
2. Language is a system of habits.
3. Language is acquired behavior through conditioning
and reinforcement.
4. Language is surface structure.
B. Rationalist/Cognitivist/ Mentalistic Theory -
Noam Chomsky
1. Language is a mental process – a creative process.
2. Language is a rule – governed behavior.
3. The speaker – hearer has internalized the rules of
the language.
4. There is a universal grammar – universals of
language. At a highly abstract level, all languages
must share key characteristics.
5. A language has a deep structure and a surface
structure.
C. Nativist Theory – Eric Lenneberg
1. Language is an innate or inborn capacity of man.
2. Man has LAD – Language Acquisition Device.
3. Language is specie – specific.
D. Sociolinguistic Theory – Sociology of Language –
Dell Hymes, Michael A.K. Halliday
1. Communication Theory
Input Output
Encoding----------- Code language ------------- Decoding
Speaker/ Sounds/ Listener/
Writer Graphemes Reader
Language is not only a set of rules of
formation (linguistic competence) but also a
set of rules for the use of language.
2. Pragmatic Theory – John Oller
a. Participants in a conversation should have shared
knowledge or presupposition.
b. Language has two elements:
1. Factive or cognitive element which refers to the
use of language through words, phrases, and
sentences.
2. Emotive or affective attitudinal element which is
man’s outlook about others and his non – verbal
communication.
First Theory: Nature of Language
 Language acquisition is a habit formation
then the language teacher must concentrate
on pupils’ performance by giving them
plenty of drills to establish habits of
behavior. There is a need to reinforce them
for correct responses and eliminate wrong
responses. Let them learn inductively,
inferring the rules for themselves after much
practice.
 Second Theory:
The Nature of Language
 Language acquisition is a matter of
learning code, then the language teacher
must ensure that the pupils internalize the
rules that will enable them to produce
sentences.
 In the Cognitive – Code Learning Theory,
knowledge of the facts and formal rules of
the language can really be of help in guiding
the learner to form the right language habits.
The facts of the language should be presented
in a form easy to understand and appropriate to
the learner’s age and ability. Abstract rules
should be illustrated with a number of
concrete examples.
 Activity 1-1:Which Theory?
 Write a one comprehensive paragraph which
theory you follow – the cognitive – code
learning theory or the audiolingual habit
theory.
 Activity 1 – 2: The Critiquing
 Write a one – page critique of one
theory in terms of practical
soundness and validity.
Characteristics: Elements and
Functions of Language
 Common characteristics of
language:
1. Language is recursion. It means that
sentences may be produced with other
sentences inside them. This is done through
a process known as relativization (the use of
relative clauses)
Example:
This is the boy that found the dog that chased the cat
that ate the chicken in the kitchen.
2. Language is arbitrary. The relation
between a word and its meaning is a matter
of convention.
Example: English (dog); Spanish (perro);
Bahasa (anjing) Filipino (aso)
Words have the meaning they do have and
occur in the order they do, just because the
native speakers of the language agree to
accept them as such.
3. Language is productive or creative. It
refers to the ability of the native speakers to
understand and produce any number of
sentences in their mother tongue.
4. Language is a social phenomenon. It is a
means of communication between
individuals. It also brings them into
relationship with their environment.
Language is therefore a socially learned
behavior, a skill that is required as we grow
up in society.
5. All languages are equally complex. Each
language is part of the culture that produces
it and is adequate for the needs of the
people who use it. Any language is as good
as any other in that it serves the purposes of
the particular culture. Words may b be
created or borrowed as the need arises. No
language is intrinsically better or worse than
any other.
ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE
 Elements of Language
1. Phonology – the study of sounds
In relation to phonology is the term phoneme. It is
the smallest unit of sound that makes a difference in
meaning in a language.
Two kinds of phonemes:
a. Segmental phonemes – vowels, consonants,
consonants clusters, diphthongs
b. Suprasegmental phonemes – pitch, stress,
intonation, and juncture.
2.Lexis/ Lexicon – the study of words and their
meanings.
3. Grammar – subdivided into three (3) essential
components:
a. Morphology – refers to word formation
Morpheme – the smallest unit meaningful
units of a language.
a. Free Morpheme – can meaningfully
occur alone: book, pencil, love, give,
b. Bound morpheme – cannot occur
alone: books, pencils, loves, gives
 b. Syntax – refers to the arrangement of words in a sentence
Lexical words express primarily lexical (or content) meaning and
function words convey primarily grammatical meaning.
The janitor polishes the floor.
The mother bakes a cake.
A guard inspects the building.

The sentences refer to different people and different situations.

However , they have the same grammatical meaning. Each sentence is
made up of the same sequence of word classes:

Determiner Noun Verb Determiner Noun

The janitor polishes the floor
The mother bakes a cake
A guard inspects the building
 c. Semantics – refers to meaning
Part of your linguistic competence as a language teacher has
to do with your ability to determine the meaning of the
sentence. Your competence also allows you to determine
when sentence has more than one meaning. This is
semantics.
The shooting of the hunters occurred at dawn.
This sentence have two possible meanings:
1. The hunters were shot at dawn.
Somebody shot the hunters. It occurred at dawn.
2. The hunters went shooting at dawn.
The hunters shot something. It occurred at dawn.
4. Cultural Load – refers to the cultural component
of a particular utterance, sentence, or discourse in
a language.
It is apparent that culture, as engrained set of
behaviors and modes of perception, becomes
highly important in the learning of a second
language. A language is a part of a culture and a
culture is part of language; the two are intricately
interwoven so that we cannot separate the two
without losing the significance of either language
or culture.
GENERAL FUNCTIONS OF
LANGUAGE
 According to Michael A.K. Halliday:
1. Instrumental. Language allows speakers to get
things done. It allows them to manipulate the
environment. People can ask for things and cause
things to be done and happen through the use of
words alone. this is also known as the I Want function
of language. some of the micro-function included are:
naming, pronouncing, betting, suggesting, demanding,
persuading, ordering, directing, and commanding.
2. Regulatory. Language is used to control events
once they happen. Those events may involve the self or
others - language regulates encounters among
people; it helps to mark roles, provides devices for
regulating encounters and affords a vocabulary for
approving and disapproving. It is this function of
language which allows people to exercise deliberate
control over events that happen. This is called the Do
As I Tell You function of language. Some of the micro
– functions included are: approving, disapproving,
answering the phone, setting the rules for playing, and
addressing the action.
3. Representational. Language is used to
communicate knowledge about the world, to report
events, make statements, give accounts, explain
relationships, relay messages and others. Certain rules
exist to regulate language behavior when an exchange
of information is involved. this is also known as the
I’ve Got Something To Tell You function of language.
some of the micro – functions included are: reporting,
giving accounts, explaining, relaying messages,
informing/misinforming, telling lies, and making
statements.
4. Interactional. Language is used to ensure social
maintenance. This function refers to all uses of
language which help to define and maintain groups:
teenage slang, family jokes, professional jargon,
ritualistic exchanges, social and regional dialects.
People must learn a wide variety of such different
kinds of language usage if they are to interact
comfortably with many others. This is also called the
You and Me function of language. Some of the micro
– functions included are: greetings, leave – takings,
joking, teasing, inviting, parting, and accepting.
5. Personal. Language is used to express individual
personality. Individuals have a voice in what happens
to them. They are also free to speak or not to speak, to
say as much or as little as they wish, and to choose how
to say what they say. This is also called the Here I
Come function of language. Some of the micro –
functions included are: exclaiming, endorsement,
cursing, expressing anger, and apologizing.
6. Heuristic. Language is used as an instrument itself
in order to acquire knowledge and understanding.
Language may be used to learn things about the world.
Questions can lead to answers; argumentation to
conclusions; hypothesis testing to new discoveries.
Language allows people to ask questions about the
nature of the world in which they live and to construct
possible answers. This is also called the Tell Me Why
function of language. Some of the micro – functions
included are: questioning, probing, answering, arguing,
concluding, defining, hypothesizing, analyzing, testing,
and experimenting.
7. Imaginative. This is sometimes called the Let’s
Pretend function of language. Language is used to
create imagining systems whether these are literary
works, philosophical systems, or utopian visions, on
the one hand, or daydreams and idle musing on the
other. The imaginative function is prized when it
leads to artistic creation.
 General Functions of Language
According to Roman Jakobson:
1. Cognitive or Referential – to convey messages
2. Conative – to persuade and influence others through
commands and entreaties
3. Emotive – to express attitudes, feelings, and emotions
4. Phatic – to establish communion with others
5. Metalingual – to clear up difficulties about intentions,
words, and meanings
6. Poetic – to indulge in language for its own sake
General Functions of Language
 According to U.P. Robinson:
1. Aesthetic