CHAPTER 1: REVIEW ON LINGUISTIC COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE

Language sets people apart from all other creatures. Every known human society
has had a language and though some nonhumans may be able to communicate with
one another in fairly complex ways, none of their communication systems begins to
approach language in its ability to convey information. Nor is the transmission of
complex and varied information such an integral part of the everyday lives of other
creatures. Nor do other communication systems share many of the design features of
human language, such as the ability to communicate about events other than in the
here and now. But it is difficult to conceive of a human society without a language.
Language, like culture, that other most human attribute, is notable for its unity in
diversity: there are many languages and many cultures, all different but all
fundamentally the same, because there is one human nature and because a
fundamental property of this human nature is the way in which it allows such diversity in
both language and culture.

Reading would not exist without the human capacity for language. Because the
components of language and their associated terminology align with our demarcations
for many of the elements of reading, they are described briefly in this section. Linguists
have identified five basic components (phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and
pragmatics) found across languages. Language acquisition progresses across these
components with increasing quantity (e.g., sounds, words, and sentence length) and
gradual refinement, and understanding of the subtler and more complex points of usage
(e.g., using “taught” rather than “teached”). Readers are encouraged to explore the
literature in the field of language development to better understand and appreciate the
oral language skills students may bring to the reading process. Speech and language
pathologists are a great resource for identifying resources in this area and assisting in
determining whether a child’s language skills are developing normally and providing
support when assessment and intervention may be required.

 Phonology
The study of speech structure within a language, including both the patterns of
basic speech units and the accepted rules of pronunciation, is known as phonology.
The smallest units of sound that make up a language are called phonemes. For
example, the word “that” contains three phonemes the “th” represents one phoneme
/th/, the “a” maps to the short a sound /ă/, and the “t” to its basic sound /t/.
 Morphology
Moving to the next level of language, we find the study of the smallest units of
meaning, morphemes. Basically, morphology is the study of how words are put
together. Morpheme refers to the base words. For example, the word cats is put
together from two parts: cat, which refers to a particular type of furry four-legged animal
( ), and -s, which indicates that there's more than one such animal ( ).
 Syntax
Syntax is the order or arrangement of words and phrases to form proper sentences.
The most basic syntax follows a subject + verb + direct object formula. That is, "Jillian
hit the ball." Syntax allows us to understand that we wouldn't write, "Hit Jillian the ball."
Man hiking in the Andes as syntax in writing examples.
 Semantics
Semantics refers to the ways in which a language conveys meaning. 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.
 Pragmatics
“‘Pragmatics’ refers to the ways the members of the speech community achieve
their goals using language.” The way we speak to our parents is not the same as the
way we interact with a sibling, for example. The language used in a formal speech may
bear little resemblance to what we would hear at a lunch with five friends. The
conversational style of day-to-day interactions is quite different from the language used
even when reading a storybook to a toddler. Knowing the difference and when to use
which style is the essence of pragmatics.
Examples:
Will you crack open the door? I am getting hot.
Semantically, the word "crack" would mean to break, but pragmatically we know
that the speaker means to open the door just a little to let in some air.

I heart you!
Semantically, "heart" refers to an organ in our body that pumps blood and keeps
us alive. However, pragmatically, "heart" in this sentence means "love"-hearts are
commonly used as a symbol for love, and to "heart" someone has come to mean that
you love someone.

If you eat all of that food, it will make you bigger!

Semantically, "bigger" in this sentence would mean larger than you are currently.
Think about how this sentence, pragmatically, would mean something different
depending on the context. If it is said to a young child, pragmatically, it would mean to
grow bigger. If it is said to a grown person who is already obese, it would mean
something entirely different.

Facility with language is critical to social interactions. Our ability to effectively

communicate with others through spoken and written language is considered one of the
ultimate goals of our educational system, with reading receiving much-needed
emphasis. “Reading is essential to success in our society. The ability to read is highly
valued and important for social and economic advancement.” In the following section
the components identified by experts as critical to developing reading skills are
reviewed.

WHAT ARE MACRO-SKILLS?

There are four macro skills that we must deal within order to communicate
effectively. Macro skills refer to the primary, key, main, and largest skill set relative to a
particular context. It is commonly referred to in English language. The four macro skills
are reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Each skill has its reasons of why we should
be knowledgeable on how to communicate using the four macro skills.
These skills are essential for communicating. It is tough to study a balance of the
four macro skills which are writing, reading, writing, and listening. Being good at only
one of these communicative skills will not help us smooth away the difficulties in
communicating. With these four macro skills, it can make a big difference in your
workplace in social situations and personal achievements.
Learning and consistently seeking to improve these macro skills are important for
effective communication and to be successful in many different perspectives. Ideas,
emotions, opinions and feelings need to be conveyed in different manners and in a
variety of ways. To know when to use which macro skill to acquire, access, encounter,
and evaluate information and ideas is a higher order of thinking skill that can be learned
overtime with much practice and strategies. In each skill, it is equally vital as each is
related. These can be divided in to receptive; reading and listening, and productive skills
which are speaking and writing. Within each skill, there are sub skills, for example, in
writing there are specific.

 Listening – This basic skill is about hearing and perceiving other people's
opinions, and absorbing facts and emotional intelligence derived from the spoken
word. However, not every person must hear to listen.
 Speaking - Speech is a vital form of self-expression; it is also an important tool
for survival. For example, speech can be used to indicate danger, or to defend
against threats.
 Reading – Literacy is the key to social progress, without the reading skills
needed to get an education, citizens will lag behind. Many people still struggle
with illiteracy or learning disorders, such as dyslexia; however, there are
excellent new methods for tackling these issues.
 Writing – Writing is another fundamental tool for expression ideas, facts and
figures. Cursive writing and printing are important methods, but both are slowly
being replaced by typing, since the world has become centered around
electronics, computer keyboards, and texting devices.
 Viewing – is the fifth macro-skill today. It refers to perceiving, examining,
interpreting, and construction meaning from visual images and is crucial to
improving comprehension of print and non-print materials. This is the skill to be
taught as the learners are exposed on multimedia.

IMPORTANCE OF MACRO-SKILLS’

Macro-skills in communication are the most important skills in teaching a

particular language. Each of them is indispensable in the learning process and teaching
performance on behalf of the learners and mentors. These skills such as listening,
speaking, reading, and writing will use as the main vehicle to obtain definitely a certain
language and to serve as a conduit to encompass widely the interrelated realms of
communication and global community.
 The learners' ability to speak is marvelous and his mastery in other areas of
learning such as listening, reading and writing gives a clear indication that he has the
distinct opportunity of being a learner of a fantastic classroom teacher.
Communication Skills is something that can bridge you between the unknown
world and the known world with sufficient information to dish out. Likewise, it's about
expressing and conveying your thoughts, emotions, notions and concepts with another
human beings.
Communication Skills is the key progress and advancement in continuing to learn
things more accurately and effectively. Without communication nothing would get done
and the world would pretty much stand still. All five macro skills of communication are
indispensable in everyday life and should never be underestimated.

Language is the most significant aspect which makes us different from all other
species. Accordingly, language acquisition is the most impressive aspect of human
development both in psychological and cognitive perspective. However, all the normal
human beings acquire the language they first encounter as children. Then they might
learn multiple languages but those languages will always be different from the first
language they acquired by being exposed to. So, it is evident that there are a lot of
differences between the first language and the second language of a person.

Let’s explore the differences:

A first language is the mother tongue or native language of a person while a

second language is a language a person learns in order to communicate with the
native speaker of that language.
The first language is like an instinct which is triggered by birth and developed
with the experience of being exposed to it. A second language is a personal choice of a
person.
There is no other alternative to a first language. A person cannot decide his/her
first language. It comes to him/her as an inheritance/legacy/birthright. On the other
hand, a second language is always fixed by the person. There are many alternatives to
a second language. A person/community can choose a second language among other
languages.
The acquiring process of the first language is very rapid while the learning process of
the second language can vary from language to language and from person to person,
but can never be as rapid as the first language acquisition.
The first language is ‘acquired’ and the second language is ‘learned’. The
difference between these two words describes the qualities of the two languages.
‘Acquire’ means “to come into possession or ownership of” which indicates that the first
language is like a dynamic and abstract property which comes into possession of a
person. On the other hand, ‘learn’ means “to gain knowledge or skill by study,
instruction, or experience” which indicates that there is nothing passive in second
language learning.

STANDARD ENGLISH
 It is an undeniable fact that English has become the global lingua franca.
However, as far as English teaching and learning are concerned, there is a prevailing
belief that the world should be learning not just any English variety but rather what is
termed Standard English. Despite the fact that English is supposed to be learned for
global communication, British English and American English have long been the two
models underlying English instruction in most EFL countries (Trudgill&Hannah, 2002).
The American English taught in Taiwan is regarded as ‘good’ English or Standard
English(Chang, 2009; Tsou& Chen, 2014) because of the close historical and political
relationship between the USA and Taiwan (Chang, 2004), as well as the superpower
status of the US in military and economic aspects. English language teaching and
learning in Taiwan is usually in reference to American English teaching and learning.
Standard English is “the variety of English used by the formally-educated people
who aresocially, economically, and politically dominant in English speaking countries”
(Farr, 1994, p. 4338).Kaplan(1999) argues that Standard English is “a sociolinguistic
construct, reflecting both the reality that English is a pluricentric language, and the
popular notion that one or another variety has greater social cachet” (p.5). There is a
continuing debate over Standard English in the global context.
There are two main standard varieties for the EFL countries: British and
American English (Trudgill& Hannah, 2002). The choice of Standard English depends in
part on each nation’s history (Bhatia, 2009; Friedrich, 2002; Gill, 2009). For
geographical, political and historical reasons, EFL countries in Europe tend to select
British English as their Standard English because they see it as “prestigious”, “proper”
and “correct” (Modiano, 2001, p. 168). When a country chooses a pedagogical model, it
reflects a valorization of the speakers of the model (Petzold, 2002). In other words, for
Taiwanese learners of English who seek native-like competence, the goal often is to
master American English. As a result, users of English regard an American native
speaker as the model with the greatest prestige (Holliday, 2005;Jenkins, 2009; McKay,
2002). As Baker(2012) notes,for effective communication, users of English need to
master more than the features of syntax, lexis and phonology of native speaker-like
English that is the traditional focus in ELT: “In the diverse sociocultural settings of
intercultural communication through English …the skills of multilingual communicators
are needed” (p.63).Furthermore, “the most powerful strategy in ELT seems to be to
foster critical awareness with regard to English domination, construction of identities,
and social, linguistic, racial, and ethnic inequality” (Kubota, 1998, p. 302).
Although many different varieties of English have been spoken for several
centuries, it is only surprisingly recently that the field of study that has become to be
known as World Englishes has been established. A key figure in the field is Braj Kachru.
His debate with the British linguist Randolph Quirk drew the boundaries between two
distinct positions. Quirk’s (1985) position was that a single standardized form of English,
based on British English, should be the model for all non-native learners of English.
Kachru (1985) took the opposite view and argued that there were many varieties of
English, all of which were linguistically equal. In his 1985 paper, Kachru classified
Englishes using the now famous “three circles” model. These were concentric circles
and he called them the inner, outer and expanding circles. The inner circle countries
were those in which English was traditionally the first language of the majority of
the speakers. These countries included Great Britain, the United States and
Australia. The outer circle countries were those in which English played an official
or institutional role and were, typically, postcolonial nations; Nigeria, Kenya,
India, Singapore and the Philippines provide examples. The expanding circle
countries were those in which English was generally used only as a foreign
language which played no institutional or official role within the country; countries
such as China and Japan were examples of expanding circle countries.
Kachru’s position on the plurality of Englishes led to the establishment of the
World Englishes field of discipline. However, it is probably true to say that, whereas the
majority of linguists and applied linguists would agree that there are many linguistically
equal varieties of English, the notion that the “best” model for learners of English
remains an inner circle variety remains common, not least among the learners
themselves. In this chapter, I shall review current developments and debates in the field
and conclude with some tentative predictions for the future.