Question1:(PhD)

Linguistics provides us with a large part of the theoretical basis of language teaching.
Can we then assume that to be a good teacher one has to have a thorough training in
linguistics?

Answer:

It has been argued that every teacher should go through a training in linguistics drawing
on all what is best from this academic field in order to support a wide range of learning
and teaching needs both in the classroom and beyond. So, to what extent knowledge
about language and the awareness of how it works in terms of its structures, systems, and
uses is deemed to be important for teachers? And why do some scholars insist on the fact
that linguistics is not so important as it thought to be for teachers?

As Halliday (1981) writes, “A child doesn’t need to know any linguistics to use language
to learn; but a teacher needs to know some linguistics if he wants to understand how the
process takes place—or what is going wrong when it doesn’t.” According to him,
teachers armed with linguistics knowledge can help all their students learn language.

On a more concrete level, understanding more about the nature of language, which is the
core of linguistics, enables teachers to understand the relationship between oral language
and its written representation. This might be useful to the understanding of why some
students have an easier time mastering the written language than others. Linguistics
doesn’t necessarily provide direct answers to such questions, but it does provide an
additional way of thinking about them.

The greater a teacher’s understanding of basic language structures and processes, the
easier it is for that teacher to make good decisions on tough topics like phonics, spelling,
and grammar. The more teachers understand language, the more effectively they can help
their students develop their knowledge of language.

Yet, some linguists like Johnson (1967) and Lamendella (1969) expressed their
disagreement to the assumption that to be a good teacher one has to have a thorough
training in linguistics. For Lamendella (1969) it is a mistake to look to transformational
grammar or any other theory of linguistic description to provide the theoretical basis for
second language pedagogy. What is needed in the field of language teaching are not
applied linguists but rather applied psychologists.

Even though the reassessment of the relationship between linguistic theory and language
teaching has shown the emergence of two distinct viewpoints about the importance of
linguistics to teachers, one has to recognize the great contributions of linguistics to the
field of teaching in using explicit knowledge about language for practical classroom
work.
Question 2:(PhD)
"Structural approaches to foreign language learning produce structurally competent but
communicatively incompetent learners". Discuss fully.
Answer:
During the past decade, considerable changes have taken place in the field of Language
teaching. Due to the rapid developments witnessed, the need for learning foreign
languages has been increasingly higher. Therefore, a number of teaching methodologies
have been proposed by language scholars and educators.
Both, the Oral and Audiolingual methods which correspond with the British and
American structuralist traditions of foreign language teaching (FLT) became dominant,
especially, after World War II. these Structural Approaches stress the importance of
arranging the structural items or patterns into a suitable order. The teacher gives choral,
group and individual oral drills to reinforce the language items taught since the basis of
teaching is Structures and patterns of English.
These FLT approaches have made the learners structurally competent and have
developed in them the ability to produce grammatically correct sentences. One might say
that once the linguistic competence is acquired, the communicative competence will
follow as a more or less automatic consequence. However, Widdowson's evidence (1978)
suggests that this is not the case. The acquisition of linguistic competence does not seem
to guarantee the consequent acquisition of communicative competence in a language. On
the contrary, overemphasis on drills and exercises for the production and reception of
sentence tends to inhibit the development of communicative competence. Johnson and
Morrow (1981) argue that the students coming out of the traditional classrooms are likely
to become "structurally competent but communicatively incompetent."
In this sense, D.Hymes (1971) had, also, argued that there are rules of use without which
the rules of grammar would be useless. These structurally competent but
communicatively incompetent learners know the grammar but lack the ability to be
appropriate as well as fluent. These learners know the rules of grammar but do not really
know the rules of ‘use’ of the language.
Chomsky in his book, Syntactic Structure (1957), has clearly explained the incapability
of structuralism to take into account the fundamental characteristics of language. Students
who have received several years of formal English teaching often remain deficient in the
use of language in normal communication whether in spoken or written form of sentences
to perform a variety of different acts of an essentially social nature. Students mostly fail
to communicate what they really want to do, not because they lack ideas, thoughts and
feelings but because they have not been taught so far how and when these communicative
tasks and acts are performed. Consequently, they are not able to communicate and
whatever they communicate is enough proof that their communicative competence needs
to be developed
Since the view of language as a' set of structures was regarded as too confining, as it
ignored the communicative purposes for which language is used, the appearance of new
approaches became more than a necessity as William Littlewood (1981), asserts that
language scholars and educators need to be more strongly aware that it is not enough to
teach learners how to manipulate the structures of the foreign language. They must also
develop strategies for relating these structures to their communicative functions in real
situations and real time.
Question3:(PhD)
Account for the general evolution of linguistic theory in the last half century (structural
Linguistics; Transformational Generative Grammar;Psycholinguistics;Sociolinguistics…
etc.) in correlation with the general trends in foreign language teaching.
Answer:
It’s universally acknowledged that any new language teaching theory cannot come into
being without the break in linguistic theory first. And any generation of linguistic theory
has brought about new language teaching theory as well. the theories of linguistics have
experienced different stages in their history from traditional grammar to structuralism and
then functionalism. They are closely related to each other and generated the change of
language teaching theories.
traditional grammar refers to the grammar theories originated from ancient Greece and
Rome, which became popular in the end of the 18th century before the birth of historical
comparative grammar and dominated the research of grammar and language teaching for
a long time in Europe. It values the old language model, emphasizes written language,
neglect oral language. It tries to purify language and settle language. So it’s called
prescriptive grammar, which was adopted by most school in their language class. In this
case, it’s called school grammar as well.
The direct influence language teaching received from traditional grammar theory is
grammar translation method of language teaching. The ultimate purpose of foreign
language teaching is to read materials written by foreign language, such as reading
foreign classics, so written language is emphasized rather than oral language. And
Because oral language ability is not the goal of this kind of teaching, it results in many
learners who have learnt even more than ten years buy still couldn’t use it to
communicate with native speakers of the language he or she had learnt. Langue form, i.e.
grammar, is emphasized. Students are always encouraged to grasp this part. In order to
make students understand this part clearly, teachers always use their native languages to
conduct the lessons.
Because in GTM The whole process of foreign language teaching is mechanical, paying
attention only to written language instead of spoken language, Some scholars gradually
became not satisfied with it They thought it blocked the way of further research of
language. It eventually would cause negative effect on language development and the
development of linguistics. They looked for new approaches to language study, and this
brought about structuralism (structural linguistics).
Structuralism is an approach to linguistics which stresses the importance of language as a
system and which investigates the place that linguistic units such as sounds, words,
sentenced have within this system.
If we study the two approaches carefully, we find they have the following differences
- Traditional grammar consider written language to be the first place, spoken language
the second. But for structuralism, it’s just the opposite.
- Traditional grammar is prescriptive. It holds that pure language must be in accordance
with grammar, otherwise it corrupts language. Structuralism is descriptive. They think if
we want to study language, we must describe language first. Whether a language is pure
or not is just a matter of how we set the criteria.
- Traditional grammar does study about the inner part of languages independently, it does
not view the different parts of a language are closely related with each other.
Structuralism gives systematic study to all the layers of a language as a general principle.
- The description of language by traditional grammar is always subjective because its
research is often based on the meaning rather than language form. However, structuralism
gives objective description of language materials. Any subjective involvement in the
description of language is not allowed.
From the above comparison, we can see that their differences are rather huge. Their
difference has made us realize that structuralism is more scientific than traditional
grammar. It more objectively describes languages on a whole. Because of all these, it was
welcomed by scholar since the end of the 19th century, and soon became popular in the
whole world.
Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, called as the father of modern traditional linguist,
is widely respected as the founder of structuralism. Saussure championed the idea that
language is a system of arbitrary signs, and his conceptualization of the sign has been
highly influential.
A number of structural theories have made a considerable amount of influence to
language teaching. Leonard Bloomfield, one of the founders of American structural
linguistics used behaviorism to guide his structuralist approach to language study, and
audio-lingual language teaching method was brought forward.
Bloomfield used behaviorism to guide his structuralist approach to language study, and
audio-lingual language teaching method was brought forward. Drilling is a central
technique in a language class conducted by way of Audio-lingual language teaching
method. This method considers that every language has a certain amount of sentence
patterns that help students form the habit of using it. The purpose of language teaching is
to let students acquire these sentence patterns. They learn sentence structures before
vocabulary. Oral language is considered to be more important than written language, so
oral practice is more emphasized in the whole course of teaching and learning. And
Teachers play the role of a model for the target language; students should try their best to
mimic the pronunciation and intonation of the teacher. the final purpose of audio-lingual
language teaching method is to train the students in the target language and let them have
the ability to use it to communicate with the native speakers.
In the second half of the 19thcentury, Noam Chomsky developed a new linguistic theory
where he explained the incapability of structuralism to take into account the fundamental
characteristics of language. This theory called Transformational-generative (TG)
grammar marked the beginning of the Chomskyan Revolution. Chomsky believes that
language competence is somewhat innate, and that our children are born with a language
acquisition device (LAD), or language competence, which fit children for language
learning. LAD is supposed to consist of three elements: a hypothesis-maker, linguistic
universal, and an evaluation procedure. Chomsky further put out a new theory,
―generative grammar. By this, he simply means a system of rules that in some explicit
and well-defined way assigns structural descriptions to sentences.
Dell Hymes is one of the persons who do not completely agree with Chomsky. He
pointed out that Chomsky’s theory about language competence is not convincing enough
to interpret language phenomenon. He put forward the theory of communicative
competence. In it, he argues that ―language competence is part of communicative
competence.
These new theories finally brought the ideal of functional-notional grammar and
functional-notional approach in language teaching. This new approach holds that the
functions of language used in the real daily life are most important and it is essential for a
language learner to take part in the everyday language activities such as giving directions,
buying a ticket, bargaining or consoling and so on. That is to say, to know the forms of a
language are important, but it is more important to know the functions and decide which
situations to use each kind of function, the learner should practice real and practical
communication in a language learning class.
M. A. K. Halliday is the representative of systemic-functional linguistics. In this theory,
Halliday has intended to create a new approach in linguistics that regards language as
foundational for the building of human experience. A key concept in Halliday's
linguistics is the "context of situation" which obtains "through a systematic relationship
between the social environment on the one hand, and the functional organization of
language on the other"
With such great enrichment of language theories, new theories have made it clear that
communication is the most basic function and characteristic of language. Meanwhile,
they have brought the birth of communicative approach of language teaching. This
approach was first mentioned by Wilkins and Widdowson.
The communicative approach is characterized by a set of ideas that include not only a
reconsideration of which aspects of language to teach, but also an emphasis on how to
teach.
In communicative approach of language teaching, what matters most is that students
should be aroused the desire to communicate something, supply them a purpose of
communicating, for example, to write a letter to a friend or to make an appointment with
a teacher. Students should concentrate on the content and use a variety of language
structures rather than just
a single language structure. such activities should attempt to take the place of real
communication in life. The multiple roles a teacher plays include planner, participant,
diagnostician, provider, manager, and organizer.
History has proved that new language-teaching theories are the off springs of new
language theories. How much we understand our languages, how far we can go in
teaching them. Only depending on new language theory , language teaching theory can
move forward step by step . Luckily, the buds of spring are indeed round the corner. W
ith several new branches of linguistics, such as computational linguistics, corpus
linguistics, psycholinguistics, etc., are marching forward in a fast speed in our time with
the assistance of information technology, brain science, psychological science, and so on,
we hopefully will witness the day that new language teaching theories will emerge in the
near future.
Question4:(PhD)
What is the basic nature of language and how will this affect teaching?
Answer:
By examining the different theoretical views of the nature of language one can follow the
different practices and principles in language teaching.
The first and the most traditional view is structuralism which views language as a system
of structurally related elements for the coding of meaning. Language learning is seen to
be done through the mastery of phonological units, grammatical units and operations in
addition to lexical items. The Audiolingual method embodies this particular view of
language as do the Silent Way. Audiolingualism holds that language learning is like other
forms of learning. And since language is a formal and rule governed system, it can be
formally organized to maximize teaching and learning efficiency. It advocates a speech-
based instruction with the prime objective of oral proficiency and dismisses the study of
grammar and literature. The language skills are taught in the order of listening, speaking,
reading and writing. This, the starting point is a linguistic syllabus which contains the key
items of phonology, morphology and syntax of the language. On the other hand, the silent
way is based on the premise that a teacher should be silent as much as possible and that
the student should be encouraged to produce language as much as possible. The sentence
is the basic unit of teaching. And the teacher focuses on propositional meaning, rather
than communicative value. Students are presented with the structural patterns of the
target language and learn grammar rules through largely inductive processes.
The second view of language is the functional view in which language is a vehicle for the
expression of functional meaning. The communicative movement in language teaching
subscribes to this view of language. This theory emphasizes the semantic and
communicative dimension rather than merely the grammatical characteristics of
language, and leads to a specification and organization of language teaching content by
categories of meaning and function rather than by elements of structure and grammar. In
communicative language teaching learners learn a language through using it to
communicate. Communication involves the integration of different skills. And the
learning process involves trial and error.s
The third view of language can be called the interactional view in which language is seen
as a vehicle for the realization of interpersonal relations and for the performance of social
transactions between individuals. Language is seen as a tool for the creation and
maintenance of social relations. This draw on the development of interactional
approaches to language teaching including interaction analysis, conversation analysis and
ethnomethodology. Language teaching content, according to this view, may be specified
and organized by patterns of exchange and interaction.
Question5:(PhD)
The phrase “learner-centered” makes it sound as if the teacher is not in control of the
classroom. In the light of your readings, discuss fully the notion of learner centeredness
and its application in Algeria.

Answser:
When considering the different approaches to teaching, the debate over the role of the
teacher in a student-centered environment comes in the forefront.
Though the phrase “learner-centered” makes it sound as if the teacher is not in control of
the classroom, but in such kind of instruction, both the student and the teacher share the
focus. Students and teachers interact equally. Group work is encouraged, and students
learn to collaborate and communicate with one another.
As opposed to teacher-centered approaches where instruction is direct, deductive and
expository, learner cantered approaches (sometimes referred to as discovery learning,
inductive learning, or inquiry learning) place much a stronger emphasis on the learner’s
role in the learning process. The teacher is no longer a filter through which all
information must pass before reaching the learner.
In the most traditional and classical modes of teaching, there are two main roles that
teachers perform:
- Knower: the teacher is the source of knowledge.
- Activity organizer: the teacher sets up and steers learning activities in the right
direction, motivates and encourages students, and provides authoritative feedback on
students' performance.
In a learner-centered approach, teachers have more functions than is thought to be. These
roles can be summarized as information-gatherers, decision-makers, motivators,
counselors, Facilitators of group dynamics, and Providers of opportunities for
communicative and authentic language use.
As far as the Algerian context is concerned, a certain unreadiness for implementing
learner-centeredness has been noticed. Pupils still consider the English teacher as the first
and the most responsible in their learning. This teacher-dependent characteristic is due to
pupils’ lack of motivation, their negative attitudes. Besides, the absence of autonomy
oriented training for them and teachers to accept the change easily .
We might say that the development of learner autonomy is hardly a reality in Algeria.
Teachers without any training may experience difficulties in creating such a classroom
culture. Hence, the earlier language teachers are made aware of the importance and
necessity of learner autonomy in their initial teacher training, the more easily they will be
able to implement this approach in their own future classrooms. In addition to that, other
attempts need to be taken at the level of institutional rules and instruments, tools such as
textbooks and computers so as to fully implement the notion of learner-centeredness in
Algeria.
Question 6:(PhD)
“Applied Linguistics is a field in which collaboration cuts across disciplines and where
theories and methods are involved in the search for an understanding of problems relating
to language and language discourse.” Discuss.

Answer:
Over time, the term Applied linguistics has broadened from being restricted to the
application of linguistic research to mother tongue education and to the teaching and
learning of foreign and second languages to the much broader interpretation given by
Gunnarsson (1995) in which he sees that AL “is a field in which collaboration cuts across
disciplines and where theories and methods are involved in the search for an
understanding of problems relating to language and language discourse.”
Early AL studies and works reflect the linguistic trends at that time (structuralism and
functionalism), as linguistics has expanded to include pragmatics, discourse analysis,
semiotics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, conversation analysis and many other new
disciplines, AL has also undergone some changes. The study of smaller units of words
and sentences has yielded ground to studies of larger units of texts and discourse.
Disciplines like socio and psycholinguistics, for instance, have brought a
multidisciplinary approach to the study of language and discourse. This collaboration
across disciplines has evolved being able to solve new types of problems related to
gender and language, medical discourse, language and education in multilingual
settings…etc.
This new situation for linguistic research has blurred the borderline between general and
applied linguistics where the latter plays a role in the development of linguistic theory
and methods.
Applied linguistic research has acquired a dynamic and an expansive character. The
narrower view of applied linguistics as an area dealing with the application of linguistic
theories to language teaching is most certainly no longer valid.
1
Question 7:(PhD)
Successful classroom management involves not merely responding effectively when
problems occur but rather preventing them. Discuss

Answer:
Recent research has shown that there is no systematic difference between effective
classroom managers and those who lack good management skills when responding to
student misconduct. Yet, the two groups differ in other ways. In particular, teachers who
are said to be effective classroom managers systematically minimize the frequency with
which students become disruptive in the first place. So, how do some teachers manage
their classrooms effectively?
Effective managers stop problems in the beginning before they could escalate into
disruption. It is clear that this is not achieved through a few isolated techniques but
instead is the result of a systematic approach to classroom management which starts with
good preparation and planning and implemented initially through systematic
communication of expectations and establishment of procedures and routines at the
beginning of the year, and is maintained throughout the year, not only by consistency
following up on stated expectations, but by presenting the students with a continuous
stream of well-chosen and well prepared academic activities that focus their attention
during group lessons and engage their concentrated efforts during independent work
times.
Effective managers are able to monitor the classroom regularly, stationing themselves
where they could see all of the students and scan all parts of the classroom continuously.
This and related behaviors let students know that their teachers are aware of what was
happening at all times and likely to detect inappropriate behavior early and accurately.
Effective managers also have to do more than one thing at a time when necessary. When
conferring with an individual pupil, for example, they would continue to monitor events
going on in the rest of the classroom. When ' teaching reading groups, they would deal
with students from outside the group who come to ask questions, but in ways that do not
involve disrupting the reading group. In general, they handle routine housekeeping tasks
and met individual needs without disrupting the ongoing activities of the class as a whole.
That’s why, it becomes very clear that successful classroom management involves not
merely responding effectively when problems occur but preventing problems from
occurring very frequently at all. In turn, this prevention is accomplished primarily by
good planning and instruction that “keeps students profitably engaged in appropriate
academic activities.
Question 8:(PhD)
The process of foreign language learning can be affected by several factors. Discuss

Answer:
If we take a look at foreign language learners, it is quite obvious that not all of them learn
in a similar way. There are students who obtain very good results while others achieve
very little. Numerous attempts to classify the factors that affect the process of foreign
language learning have been presented.
Among these is P. Martinez representation of the variables in foreign language learning.
According to him there are three independent factors (teaching, learner and context) and
two dependent ones (learning and outcome) which are determined and conditioned by the
previous ones. Each of these factors need also to be subdivided further as they are
affected by several factors or elements.
The first element, teaching, makes references to the teaching conditions under which
instruction is being conducted. Factors such as the type of methodology used, the
syllabus selected, the teacher profile and the resources available play a relevant role.
The second factor is centered on the learners themselves and on all the variables that may
directly affect them. These can be cognitive, such as intelligence, cognitive style and
aptitude for language learning. The physical and psychological factors such as age and
personality also affect learners.
The third variable is related to the contextual conditions where language learning takes
place. It is quite clear that the opportunities for language use and practice vary
considerably thus affecting the process of learning.
The fourth point is no doubt the most complex of them all because it is influenced by the
previous three. It consists of two kinds of processes: unconscious and conscious. The
former being uncontrollable directly by the learner because it is determined to a high
degree by the learners first language (L1). The latter, learning strategies, are monitored
by the learner and include mechanisms that are used by learners. They can be different
types: cognitive, metacognitive and social.
Finally, outcome, shows the results of learning process or the proficiency level attained
by the learner as well as several aspects of language performance, such as errors and
external reaction to the language, the people and the culture that the target language
represents.
Question9:(PhD)
The applied linguist, the teacher and the learner are all agents of the language
learning/teaching process. Each one has a particular task to perform for the efficiency of
this experience.

Answer:
The joint relation between the applied linguist, the teacher and the learner is complex
matter that show how interrelated it is. Each one of them has a vital role in the efficiency
and success of the language learning/teacher process. So what task each one of these
agents perform?
Teachers’ roles can change from one task to another or form one stage of an activity to
another, and an ability to be flexible in moving between roles can contribute to the
success of the language learning process. Harmer (2001) identifies eight major roles that
teachers can perform to assist classroom learning: controller, assessor, organizer,
prompter, resource, participant, tutor, and observer. Hedge (2000) adds a number of
interpersonal roles to these pedagogic ones, noting that teachers may be called on to
counsel, mediate and support learners as well as work to create a positive classroom
atmosphere. Roles are partly influenced by the task, for example, whether the teacher is
providing instruction on a language point, organizing group discussions of a reading,
monitoring a group work, or assessing the accuracy of a finished project. Such a variation
in roles is essential to facilitate learning.
As far as learners are concerned, their role should not be that of passive receivers of
information. They have to understand why they are learning specific topics, accept
responsibility for their learning, take the initiative in planning and executing learning
activities and are willing to assess their own learning. Learners’ active participation in
and responsibility for their own learning process are essential in the field language
learning. Learners are the makers of their own fortune. Learners need to build up their
own personal criteria for the quality of their work and develop independence from the
teacher as the sole judge of their weaknesses and strengths. This helps the learners make
informed decisions about their next steps in the learning process and removes the
dependence on the teacher.
When it comes to applied linguists, Howatt [26] mentioned that their role in language
teaching is an honorable one. He added that if there is one single source which has been
responsible for stimulating innovation and activity in language teaching, it is applied
linguistics.
Over the years, applied linguistics has tried to investigate the real-world problems of
language teaching and learning. Van Lier [27] argued “I think that it is the applied
linguist, who works with language in the real world, who is most likely to have a realistic
picture of what language is and not the theoretical linguist who sifts through several
layers of idealization.”
The role of applied linguists has been mostly concerned with solving or at least
ameliorating problems involving language. Generally, these problems are likely to be
revolving around Language learning such as (emergence, awareness, rules, use, context,
automaticity, attitudes, expertise). And language teaching such as (resources, training,
practice, interaction, understanding, use, contexts, inequalities, motivations, outcomes).
Applied linguists has offered and still produce a wealth of knowledge about language
from uses of a languages sound system to create meaning, to factors that affect language
teaching and learning, to knowledge of how people structure conversation, to ways of
how people use language to signal membership in particular language communities,
among other issues.
As a conclusion, we can say that the applied linguist, the teacher and the learner are all
agents of the language learning/teaching process. Their roles, though different, are to a
large extent complementary; thus, each one has a task that helps in the efficiency of the
language learning/teaching experience.
Question10:(PhD)
Language learning is part of mental, emotional and physical development of learners and
it takes place in a multidimensional context of the society. So how did psycholinguistics
and sociolinguistics influence language learning?

Answer:
Psycholinguistic study gives us knowledge of the underlying processes of language in the
human mind, how we come about to store linguistic information and understand each
other in communication. Psycholinguistic contributions made by Stern (1984), Mackey
(1978), Rivers (1964), Wilkins (1972), Corder (1973) have become fundamental pillars in
the solution of classroom problems – dealing specifically with perception, memory,
aptitude, motivation, attitude, foreign language learning strategies, problems concerning
the best age to learn another language, the concept of repetition, etc.
as Jackendoff, 1994 states, Language is extremely complex; therefore, it is essential to
realize how essential it is to become familiar with all the processes comprised in language
learning. Since the language classroom is the lab room where different learning
experiences take place, language teachers can function as researchers who, utilizing the
principles psycholinguistics offers, can find and devise methods and approaches that
benefit students’ language learning and development
Language is a social phenomenon. This implies that teachers will have to depend on
sociolinguistic data to carry out their job more efficiently. No teacher would deny the
benefit that he can get from the findings of sociolinguistics with regards to the factors
which affect language learning in a specific community. Sociolinguists have studied
language use and the described the communicative competence of speakers from various
speech communities This prompted foreign and second language specialists to look to
sociolinguistic research for clues in designing syllabuses for language teaching like the
notional/functional syllabuses, and developing teaching methodologies suitable for the
teaching of this material such as the communicative methodology.
psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics are necessary for the process of language learning.
Although are not seen as the most important part of language teaching, their contributions
to language learning cannot be ignored. Both fields brought and still bring to teachers
better knowledge about language; thus, enabling teachers to make decisions about
teaching process and satisfy the students’ need related to language.
Question11:(PhD)
Researchers recently pointed out the importance of both affective and cognitive factors in
the acquisition of a foreign language. Discuss with particular reference to foreign
language acquisition.

Answer:
In foreign language learning, some students progress rapidly while others struggle along
making very slow progress. Researchers recently pointed out the importance of some
factors that influence greatly the learning process. These involve both the cognitive and
affective factors.
Cognitive factors refer to characteristics of the person that affect performance and
learning. These factors serve to modulate performance such that it may improve or
decline. These factors involve cognitive functions like aptitude, intelligence, language
learning strategies, former language experience and training. These factors which
determine the different individual differences are good indicators of the rate of learning
and the eventual success.
Affective factors are emotional factors which influence learning. They can have a
negative or positive effect. These factors involve motivation, attitudes, learning style and
anxiety. For, Ellis (2008), the learners affective state is influenced by anxiety, a desire to
compete, and whether learners fell they are progressing or not. Thus, affect, which
involves aspects of feeling, emotion, mood and attitudes that have impact on behavior
may impede or facilitate language learning.
The primacy of cognitive factors over affective factors was acknowledged till the late
1990s. the last decade has witnessed the recognition of the importance of affective factors
and their influence on success in foreign language acquisition. Stern (2003) states that the
affective component contributes as much and often more to language learning than the
cognitive skills.
Even though recent research studies pointed out the importance of both affective and
cognitive factors in the acquisition of a foreign language, it remain difficult to make a
precise prediction about how individuals characteristics influence the success in language
learning.
Question12:(PhD)
One of applied linguistics main objectives is to solve language teaching problems.
Discuss.

Answer:
In contrast with general linguistics or theoretical linguistics, applied linguistics tackles
real-world problems in which language is a central issue. One of its main objectives is to
solve language teaching problems.
From difficulties learning a new language to assessing the validity and reliability of
language, applied linguistics covers an interdisciplinary domain of problems. According
to "The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics" by Robert B. Kaplan, "The key point
is to recognize that it is the language-based problems in the world that drive applied
linguistics."
One such example comes in the form of language teaching problems wherein scholars try
to determine which resources, training, practice, and interaction techniques best solve the
difficulties of teaching a person a new language. Using their research in the fields of
teaching and English grammar, linguistic experts attempt to create a temporary-to-
permanent solution to this issue.
A teacher of English as foreign language might wonder why groups of learners sharing
the same first language regularly make a particular grammatical problem that learners
from other language backgrounds do not. A recourse to applied linguistics might be
helpful so as to resolve this problem.
Even small variations like dialects and registers of modern vernaculars present problems
that can only be solved through applied linguistics, affecting translation and
interpretations as well as language usage and style.
In applied linguistics, today the term ‘language problem’ has become a key concept. This
discipline is primarily devoted to seeking “a practical answer to a language problem.”
Question13:(PhD)
The need for an eclectic approach to second language learning combines the best features
of different approaches. However, the translation of such general conclusions into actual
classroom practice is a complicated affair.”
Elizabeth Ingram (1976) P.289.

Answer:
It is very important for a teacher to become aware of the thoughts that guide actions in
the classroom. In this sense, it becomes very important to recognize that there are links
which connect thoughts and actions, because teaching is not entirely about one or the
other. Methods are a coherent set of such links.
As language teachers have many approaches and methods from which to choose, it is
extremely difficult to come to conclusion about which methods and approaches are best
and most appropriate to develop learners’ language abilities. If we take a deeper look at
methods know to language teachers one can easily find advantages as well as drawbacks
in each of them. For instance, a natural approach to language follows the natural steps
from L1 acquisition but there are times where grammar is necessary. The Silent way is a
good choice for novice teachers who got little to no teaching experience yet how can
learners get to speak if they don’t have a model (the teacher) to follow. In a
Suggestoppedia atmosphere, there is no anxiety but it is often not easy to find an ideal
situation as the method tells.
From this, it is impossible to conclude that one method is the best simply because there
are many variables which enter into play in a teaching-learning situation. In this sense,
Bonner (1999) argues that a single teaching method typically cannot create all the
conditions necessary for a given learning objective. Teachers who follow blindly one or
another method will certainly at some moments face problems of student resistance and
incomprehension. Toledo (1998) laments the fact that teachers who try affective learning
and humanistic teaching, who try drama and other role-play communicative techniques,
fall flat on their faces in secondary classes where students are not interested and who
merely wish to get good grades.
Teaching and learning is a contract between two parties for which they both need to agree
on terms. Therefore, the framework for choosing a teaching method should primarily be
based on a deep understanding of learning objectives and the surrounding conditions. All
this amounts to eclecticism where decisions about what and how to teach are based
essentially on objectives and what seems to work. Eclecticism refers to a teaching
situation in which the teacher does not use any one particular method but includes a
mixture of different methods to suit the class and the learning objectives.
Those who support eclecticism, like Freeman and Mellow, argue that it has the
protentional of keeping teachers open to alternatives and achieve success easily because a
single teaching method typically cannot create all the conditions necessary for a given
learning objective. Those who oppose this view say that eclecticism degenerates into an
unsystematic and an unprincipled pedagogy. If one choses mixed methods, it is very
likely that all kinds of conflicts will arise.
The real issue when dealing with eclectic method of teaching, is the translation of such
method into actual classroom practice. If a teacher fails to use the methods he adopts
carefully, confusion and chaos in the classroom will be the result. If one is adopting new
techniques and mixes it with conflicting and contradictory one, the effect of new
technique will be diluted. That’s why there has to be principled combination of different
methods and techniques to avoid frustration among students like the principals proposed
by Mellow (2002) for categorizing, selecting and sequencing activities in such a mixed
method approach.
The knowledge about language teaching methods and being able to implement them in
the classroom is vital in developing one’s personal approach to teaching, an approach in
which teachers do not just follow recipes, but use their own methods shaped by their
understanding of what happens in the classroom.
Question14:(PhD)
L.Van Lier stated that theorising, researching and practising are inseparable ingredients
in the professional conduct of a language educator. Do you agree with this statement?
Give reasons.

Answer:
L. Van Lier’s combination of theoretical discussion, empirical research report and
pedagogical model intended primarily for language teachers and educators rejects the
ubiquitous theory /practice dichotomy has been a mile stone around the neck of language
teachers for decades. He regards theory research and practice as inseparable ingredient in
the professional conduct of a language educator.
The research done in classrooms should always serve to refine and improve teaching
practices. It must also contribute meaningfully to debates on theoretical accounts of
language learning, provide useful description about what happens in the classroom and
thus, generates hypotheses and research questions that fuel further studies.
Educators should carry out both qualitative and quantitative studies. Through comparing
and contrasting classroom observations, interviews, questionnaires and language
assessments, studies of such a kind will certainly help in tracking progress, analyzing
deficiencies, and providing solutions.
Question15:(PhD)
The technological explosion of the last 50 years has impacted all domains of our daily
life. Education is no exception to this; it has not remained inflexible towards the profound
changes taking place in other areas of knowledge. Nowadays, many researchers advocate
a technological approach to language learning/teaching while other remain reluctant. So
how would ICTs make language education more effective?

Answer:
For advocates of technology, when students are able to use technology in class the
generational gap is diminished and teachers are seen as part of their daily life. For them,
In an era in which technology is an everyday issue for adolescents and young adults, the
fact that technology should be implemented by teachers in their classes is a must.
That’s why there are many advantages in introducing technology in language classes. It
makes learners more interested about the subject, it decreases learning time, and it
provides opportunities to learn in non-traditional ways. The resources for teaching have
significantly changed and technology is transforming the way students learn.
In many arenas, ICTs equal or surpass human performance. They surpass human
performance in storing large amounts of information, categorizing or sorting it and
retrieving it quickly. Much of language learning is facilitated by repetition. ICTs are
useful in delivering drills for practice whether in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation or
listening, as they are tireless. Unlike human interlocutors who may grow weary of
repeating a word for a learner, ICTs will repeat a word a hundred times if the user wishes.
Students show more interest in classes in which technology is used as a primarily
resource that those that use the traditional methods. Increased access to authentic
materials, and collaborative activities spur student motivation to learn languages.
When instructors decide to use ICT materials, some considerations need to be taken in
order for the process of learning to be fruitful as much as possible. Good instructional
materials should not just be attractive. Effectiveness and good design go beyond being
merely eye-catching. The activity should be something that is done better using
technology than without.
In practice, however, the realization of integrating technology may lie beyond the realm
of language learning. Institutions might be constrained by a lack of resources, embedded
teaching practices, and large class sizes. Instructors must be well trained in order to be
able to use technology in the best way.
In addition to that, although ICTs are useful adjuncts in language learning, there are still
many things it cannot accomplish. Machine translation is a problematic issue where tools
fail to create a text that a native speaker would consider idiomatic or even grammatical
when doing the task of translation. Mechanized systems do not have the ability to
customize feedback with the same sensitivity that a human instructor does. In fact, the
best systems provide nothing but a simple explanation of what is right and what is wrong.
Though many modern systems are equipped voice recognition software, these programs
are still inefficient in accurately detecting natural speech and converse it into discrete
words. Modern word-processing software usually comes equipped with grammar-
checking tools. Unfortunately, most fall short of the grammatical editing a language class
requires.
There is nothing certain about the future of technology, except that it will no doubt
become more ubiquitous and powerful. technology provides the interdisciplinary and
multicultural learning opportunities for students to carry out their independent studies.
Learning a language is a continuous process as well as technology, this let us to
understand that both processes can become together to improve students’ language skills
and make them to feel that language classes are becoming part of their daily life.
Question16:(PhD)
Harmer believes that failure in EFL teaching is largely due to the fact that many
approaches and methods are based on a very western idea of what constitutes good
learning

Answer:
The field of foreign language teaching has been dominated mostly by Western views.
While some of these views can indeed be implemented, many others stumble over
problems when implemented on non-western societies due to their incompatibility with
local constraints.
These western-based approaches and methods where sometimes the students are asked to
talk about themselves and their lives in a potentially revealing way, or where the students
are asked to take charge of the class and the teacher is just a helper and guide rather than
the only source of knowledge an authority, seem to fall flat or fly in the face of an
educational tradition of a different culture.
On a more concrete level, for instance, the implementation of community language
learning (CLL) in our country seems to bring tremendous amount of practical problems.
The ratio between students and the teacher is unrealistic. If in some countries the luxury
of one teacher to one student is possible, in many other communities, it would be a dream
to have a class in public schools of less than 50 students.
Another example deals with one big practical problem that arises with the
implementation of total physical response(TPR) in an Eastern society where class setups
in public schools cannot be modified very easily to accommodate just for language
classes. Schools teach many other subjects, not just language. Demanding a language
class to be set up differently would create envies among other teachers.
In some other cultures, it would be a violation of accepted cultural norm not to see the
teacher as the authoritative figure. Thus, integrating a learner-centered approach to
language teaching would be impossible as both teachers and students still believe in the
traditional relation between them.
Toledo (1998) lamented the fact that some teachers who try drama and role-playing and
other communicative techniques fall flat on their faces in secondary classes because
students are not used to all what is related to theatre and are not interested and merely
wish for good grades.
These are some of the realities that western methodologies ignore. therefore, we must
admit that many of these ideas in foreign language teaching cannot be readily adopted in
Eastern societies.
Question17:(PhD)
Do you believe that language learning teaching should focus on function rather than
form?

Answer:
During the past decade, considerable changes have taken place in the field of Language
teaching. Due to the rapid developments witnessed, the need for learning foreign
languages has been increasingly higher. Therefore, a number of teaching methodologies
have been proposed by language scholars and educators.
Different from the structuralist tradition of language teaching which was established in
the early twentieth century and which stresses the importance of teaching language
structure, new approaches emerged. The new view of language teaching emphasized the
study of language in relation to its setting, participants and their relationship.
Krashen (1982) argued that the process of language acquisition is achieved by focusing
on meaning rather than form and that formal instruction in grammatical patterns and rules
had no part to play in the process. For him, the traditional FLT approaches have made
learners structurally competent and have developed in them the ability to produce
grammatically correct sentences. In this sense, Widdowson's evidence (1978) suggested
that the acquisition of linguistic competence does not seem to guarantee the consequent
acquisition of communicative competence in a language. That’s why Johnson and
Morrow (1981) argue that the students coming out of the classical traditional classrooms
are likely to become "structurally competent but communicatively incompetent."
Advocates of new communicative teaching methods focus on teaching meaning rather
than grammar so as to fulfill some communicative functions like requesting, greeting …
etc. language teaching in these methods uses functional units organization and practice to
replace grammatical ones.
Yet, this view was criticized. The writings of Rutherford (1987) and other have
emphasized the importance of rising the learner’s conscious awareness of grammatical
form. For Al-Humaidi (2013) the stress on function rather than meaning generates an
ignorance towards reading and writing skills. That’s why, Hughes (1983) says that such a
communicative approach leads to the production of fluent but inaccurate learners since
the focus is put on fluency rather than accuracy in grammar.
From all these contradicting views, I believe that we need to make language classrooms a
place where genuine and meaningful communication because both under-and over
emphasis on grammatical structures lead to language learning problems.
Question18:(PhD)
Discuss the implications of inductive vs deductive teaching of grammar in terms of
students' reaction and differences in effectiveness.

Answer:
Grammar teaching holds a crucial role in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL),
as without good command of grammar, the language use will be constrained. The
controversy over methods of teaching grammar has developed in the recent past, leading
to the opposition of two distinct instructional approaches which are inductive and
deductive. but the question remains as to the relative effectiveness of these two different
approaches.
Both approaches can offer certain advantages. The deductive approach derives from
deductive reasoning where the concept goes from general to specific. Rules, patterns,
principles are presented first, and then moves to the examples. Deductive approach which
is also known as rule-driven teaching goes straightforwardly to the point and can,
therefore, be time-saving. A number of rule aspects (for example, form) can be more
simply and clearly explained than elicited from examples. A number of direct
practice/application examples are immediately given. The deductive approach respects
the intelligence and maturity of many adult learners in particular and acknowledges the
role of cognitive processes in language acquisition. It confirms many learners’
expectations about classroom learning particularly for those who have an analytical style.
On the other hand an inductive approach starts with some examples from which a rule is
inferred. In grammar teaching, teachers present the examples at the beginning then
generalizing rules from the given samples. In Inductive approach Learners are trained to
be familiar with the rule discovery; this could enhance learning autonomy and self-
reliance. Learners’ greater degree of cognitive depth is “exploited”. The learners are more
active in the learning process, rather than being simply passive recipients. In this activity,
they will be motivated. The approach involves learners’ pattern recognition and problem
solving abilities in which particular learners are interested in this challenge. If the
problem-solving activity is done collaboratively, learners get an opportunity for extra
language practice.
Both methods seem effective when teaching grammar. No one has been able to support
their claims with an unquestionably conclusive research about which method is more
effective. Many teachers use a combination of these two approaches based on their
students.
Question19:(PhD)
Why has the teaching concern shifted from teacher centeredness to learner centeredness?

Answer:
Deriving from the constructivist view of learning, a learner-centered approach has been
advocated during the last few decades over a teacher-centered approach. This shift from
one approach to another can be explained by taking a deeper look at both of them.
To understand learner-centered teaching, it is necessary to begin with the teacher-
centered approach, which is closely related to the behaviorist tradition. It assumes that
learners are passive and that they become active by reacting to stimuli in the
environment. Therefore, the teacher’s role is to create an environment which stimulates
the desired behavior and discourages those that are believed to be undesirable. This role
makes the teacher the focus of attention.
By contrast, the learner-centered approach assumes that learners are active and have
unlimited potential for individual development. The individual learner rather than the
body of information is the focus of teaching. Kain (2003) explains that in learner-
centered approaches, the construction of knowledge is shared, and learning is achieved
through learners’ engagement with various activities.
With a move away from teacher centeredness to learner centeredness, students are not
only made responsible for their learning journeys, but more importantly educators, in
their new role, help create a path of achievable success.
The learner-centered approach is praised in research and practice to address individual
learners’ needs. However, instructors still use traditional, teacher-centered styles.
Therefore, a discrepancy between theory and practice needs to be identified so as to
promote more training in the learner-centered approach.
Question20:(PhD)
Discuss the extent to which "Grammar" can be viewed as order-seeking and / or order-
imposing.

Answer:
When we talk about the grammar of a language, we mean the set of rules a speaker
knows that allow him or her to produce and understand sentences in the language. a
grammatical sentence is therefore a possible sentence in the language. an ungrammatical
sentence is one that is impossible in a given language, one that a native speaker of that
variety would never utter naturally.
There are two very different conceptions of grammar. There is one school of thought that
views grammar as a collection of rules that must be learned in order to use language
“correctly.” For this school, users of language who do not adhere to the rules are using an
“inferior” or “sloppy” form of the language. The correct rules must often be learned and
practiced, and may at times be contrary to what even educated native speakers use in
formal language contexts. This is the prescriptive school of grammar.
On the other hand, the descriptive school of grammar sees it as a blueprint of language.
For this school, grammar guides speakers in how to string together symbols, sounds, and
words to make coherent, meaningful sentences. This type of grammar knowledge is
intuitive and reflects the innate ability of speakers to learn and use their native language.
Children, for instance, do not memorize rules as they learn to speak; what they actually
learn are the rules or patterns governing their language. Grammar is what allows
language users to create and understand an unlimited number of new and original
sentences.
Prevailing academic approach to grammar quite often opt for the descriptive approach but
professional approaches often agree on the convenience of adopting both of them
simultaneously.
Question21:(PhD)
Assess the different meanings of the concept of "rule" from the perspective of traditional
linguistics and modern linguistics.

Answer:
When linguists study language, Perhaps the most important background fundamental
assumption they make is that human language at all levels is governed by systematic
regularities in the form of rules.
Every known language has systematic rules governing pronunciation, word formation,
and grammatical construction. Further, the way in which meanings are associated with
phrases of a language is characterized by regular rules. Finally, the use of language to
communicate is governed by important generalizations that can be expressed in rules.
This usage of the term “rule” is very different from the traditional views of language. In
classical school learners were taught so-called rules of grammar, which were told to
follow in order to speak and write ‘‘correctly”. Rules of this sort are called prescriptive
rules; that is to say, they prescribe, or dictate to the speaker, the way the language
supposedly should be written or spoken in order for the speaker to appear correct or
educated.
In sharp contrast, when modern linguists speak of rules, they are not referring to
prescriptive rules from grammar books. Rather, linguists try to formulate descriptive
rules when they analyze language, rules that describe the actual language of some group
of speakers and not some hypothetical language that speakers ‘‘should’’ use. Descriptive
rules express generalizations and regularities about various aspects of language. Thus,
when we say that language is rule-governed, we are really saying that the study of human
language has revealed numerous generalizations about and regularities in the structure
and function of language.
Even though language is governed by strict principles, speakers nonetheless control a
system that is unbounded in scope, which is to say that there is no limit to the kinds of
things that can be talked about. The tradition view of Prescriptive rules has nothing to do
with prescription of grammar but rather with prescription of style.
Question22:(PhD)
The concept of 'native speaker' is central in linguistics, but it often leads to a number of
difficulties when one tries to define it.
Consider some aspects that might be critical to the definition of this concept

Answer:
The native speaker occupies a curious position in linguistics. This concept is rich in
ambiguity. It raises, quite centrally, the issue of the relation between the particular and
the universal. So how does the concept of native speaker lead to a number of difficulties
when trying to define it?
Disputes and differences of opinion about the native speaker arise because the concept is
interpreted differently. That is why it has been referred to as both myth and reality
(Davies 2003). Discussions of the native speaker concept get trapped in the very different
ideas of what is being talked about. One main type of approach sees the native speaker as
the repository and guardian of the true language. Chomsky, as a protagonist of the
universalist position, sees that to be a human is to be a native speaker. For him, 'everyone
is a Native Speaker of the particular language states that the person has 'grown' in his/her
mind/brain. Chomsky's view is uninfluenced by any social factor or contextual constraint.
The other type of approach, concerns the native speaker as the standard setter. The two
views are related and merge into one another. But what they reflect is that different
positions can be taken on the basis of interest in and concern for the same phenomenon,
because what is at issue is the individual speaker in relation to his/her social group, and to
its community norms, i.e. the standard language.
Failure to define the native speaker may indicate that, like other majorities, native
speakers define themselves negatively as not being non-native speakers. To be a native
speaker means not being a non-native speaker.
At bottom, we can say that the native speaker is both metaphor and embodiment of the
language-parole and of the competence-performance distinctions.
Question23:(PhD)
“What we can do as a part of investigation of language is concentrate on those properties
which make human language a unique type of communication system”
* Discuss.

Answer:
The human species is the only creature which has the capacity to speech. However, the
human creature is not the only one that is capable of communicating. All creatures from
apes to zebras are capable of doing so. Thus, as Yule argues, “what we can do as a part of
investigation of language is concentrate on those properties which make human language
a unique type of communication system.” In this sense, Linguists have suggested six
distinguishing features that make the human language properly human.
Humans can refer to past and future time. This property of human language is called
displacement. It allows language users to talk about things and events not present in the
immediate environment. Indeed, displacement allows us to talk about things and places
(e.g. angels, fairies, Santa Claus, Superman, heaven, hell) whose existence we cannot
even be sure of.
the property of reflexivity (or “reflexiveness”) accounts for the fact that we can use
language to think and talk about language itself.
The aspect of the relationship between words and objects in human language is described
as arbitrariness where here is no “natural” connection between a linguistic form and its
meaning. The connection is quite arbitrary.
Humans are continually creating new expressions by manipulating their linguistic
resources to describe new objects and situations. This property is described as
productivity (or “creativity” or “open-endedness”) and essentially means that the
potential number of utterances in any human language is infinite.
This process whereby a language is passed on from one generation to the next is
described ascultural transmission. It is clear that humans are born with some kind of
predisposition to acquire language in a general sense. However, we are not born with the
ability to produce utterances in a specific language such as English. We acquire our first
language as children in a culture.
Human language is organized at two levels or layers simultaneously. This property is
calledduality(or “double articulation”). When we speak, we have a physical level at
which we produce individual sounds, liken, bandi. As individual sounds, none of these
discrete forms has any intrinsic meaning. In a particular combination such as bin, we
have another level producing a meaning that is different from the meaning of the
combination in nib. So, at one level, we have distinct sounds, and, at another level, we
have distinct meanings. This duality of levels is one of the most economical features of
human language because, with a limited set of discrete sounds, we are capable of
producing a very large number of sound combinations (e.g. words) that are distinct in
meaning.
These properties may be taken as the core features of human language. A unique
communication system, which seem extremely unlikely that other creatures would be
able to understand it.

Question24:(PhD)
Discuss fully the statement made by Chomsky (1972 ):
“Personally, I am primarily intrigued by the possibility of learning something. From the
study of language that will bring to light inherent properties of the human mind”.

Answer:
There are any number of questions that might lead one to undertake a study of language.
For Chomsky, an investigation of human language might be intrigue by the interest and
possibility of learning something. For him, studying language will bring to light inherent
properties of the human mind.
The most interesting aspects of contemporary work in language are the attempts to
formulate principles of its organization which, are universal reflections of properties of
mind; and the attempt to show that on this assumption, certain facts about particular
languages can be explained.
And since language, for Chomsky, is a mirror of the mind, studying language would draw
our attention to the relation between language and thought and to the strong ties between
the language of a people and their spirit or culture. Consequently, linguistic forms can be
used to investigate the differences in the history of "mental development" of various
cultures.
understanding language is also a vital aim of stylistics because the discipline is basically
concerned with investigating style as a property of the creativity in the human mind. With
formal and qualitative analyses, its purpose is to study how a work of art reflects the
artist's mind.
So, as Chomsky says, From the study of language one can learn something.
Question25:(PhD)
Some schools of linguistics share similarities while some others have totally different
views about language. Discuss.

Answer:
Modern linguistics emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the
shift of focus from historical concerns of changes in languages over time to the idea that a
language can be viewed as self-contained. This lead to the emergence of different schools
of thought which share similarities as well as differences.
Based on the work of Ferdinand de Saussure, structuralism emerged as an approach to
linguistics that focuses on the idea that languages are fixed systems made up of many
different units that connect with each other. This school of thought marked a shift from
historical linguistic analysis to non-historical analysis. Structural linguistics involves
collecting a corpus of utterances and then attempting to classify all of the elements of the
corpus at their different linguistic levels: the phonemes, morphemes, lexical categories,
noun phrases, verb phrases, and sentence types.
In Europe, Saussure influenced: the Geneva School of Albert Sechehaye and Charles
Bally, the Copenhagen School of Louis Hjelmslev, the Paris School of Algirdas Julien
Greimas, and the Prague School of Roman Jakobson and Nikolai Trubetzkoy, whose
work would prove hugely influential, particularly concerning phonology. Prague school
is one of the representatives of functionalism, which is best seen as a particular
movement in structuralism. Functional theories of language propose that since language
is fundamentally a tool, it is reasonable to assume that its structures are best analyzed and
understood with reference to the functions they carry out. The Prague school has always
acknowledged its debt to Saussurian structuralism, although it has tended to reject his
point of view on certain issues especially on the sharpness of distinction between
synchronic and diachronic linguistics and on the homogeneity of the language system.
In America, linguist Leonard Bloomfield's reading of Saussure's course proved
influential, bringing about the Bloomfieldean descriptivism phase in American linguistics
that lasted from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. Bloomfield "bracketed" all questions of
semantics and meaning as largely unanswerable, and encouraged a mechanistic approach
to linguistics.
Bloomfieldean linguistics in America was challenged later by the work of Noam
Chomsky, initially articulated in his publication Syntactic Structures in 1957. This work
which has developed as a reaction to Bloomfieldean linguistics became the basis for the
generativism approach to linguistics. It was originally a way to explain how humans
acquire language in the first place, but soon it came to be used to explain the different
phenomena that occur in all natural languages. The generative theory of language
suggests that, in its most basic form, language is made up of certain rules that apply to all
humans and all languages. This led to the theory of “universal grammar”, that all humans
are capable of learning grammar.
As a reaction to generativism, the cognitivist linguist school of thought emerged. In basic
terms, cognitivism says that language emerges from human cognitive processes. It
challenges “universal grammar” by suggesting that grammar is not something that all
humans can inherently understand, but rather it is learned by using language. In this
sense, it is a bit similar to functionalism. However, the main focus of cognitivism is how
language is based on meaning that the mind creates.
Contemporary linguistics is a richly diversified field, with so many specializations that
acquired their separate identities from approaches guiding their orientations and goals.
Some schools of thought in linguistics emerged as an evolution while other as a
revolution and reaction to other schools.