OVERVIEW OF THE INTRODUCTION

TO LINGUISTICS

Lesson 1: Linguistics as the Science of Language

EXPECTED OUTCOMES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to discuss the scientific study of
language in relevance to language teaching, learning and benefits to community.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

To understand better the lessons, use the following questions as guide to process
the bits of information in the following section:

1. What is linguistics?
2. Why is it said that linguistics is a science?

EXPLORING CONTENT

Linguistics is a field which has been overly studied throughout the years. Many
experts have tried to explain the underpinnings of the field but much has yet to be
unraveled as human beings continuously develop.
Linguistics has been broadly defined as the study of language. A definition which
has received many criticisms from experts in the field. Meriam-Webster on the other
hand defines it as the study of human speech including the nature, structure and
development of language or of a language or group of languages. A more thorough
definition of the term comes from the Wikipedia which states that linguistics is
the scientific study of language. It involves the analysis of language form,
language meaning, and language in context. Linguists traditionally analyze human
language by observing an interplay between sound and meaning. Linguistics also deals
with the social, cultural, historical, and political factors that influence language, through
which linguistic and language-based context is often determined.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics)
Many experts agree to the definition that linguistics is the scientific study of
language. The question that would then be asked next is why would linguistics be
considered a science if it does not even fall under any field of science.
To enable us to better understand this point of view Denham and Lobeck (2013)
explains that much of the discussion in the study of language would always focus on the
question, “What is language?” or more specifically, “What is it that we know about
language?” Accordingly, here are some of the basic facts that we’ve learned about
language.
 We have all unconscious knowledge of a linguistic rule system.
 Languages exist independent of writing systems.
 All languages have grammar (phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax and
semantics).
 All languages have the same expressive power.
 All children acquire language if exposed to it, without instruction.
 All languages change over time, no matter how hard we try to stop that change.
 A language is really a continuum of language varieties.
 All languages have a common set of basic grammatical properties (Universal
Grammar), and some may be parameterized.

According to them these properties of language are relatively recent discoveries and
are the result of subjecting language to rigorous scientific analysis, or the scientific
method. These experts say that language scientists examine data, form hypotheses
about the data, test those hypotheses against additional data, and formulate theories, or
collections of hypotheses, that can be tested against competing theories. Linguistics, the
scientific study of language, is informed by a long history of the study of grammar, and
many of the ideas central to current linguistic theory go back to ancient times.
Hence, when you hear the word linguist, probably you will now start to rewire your
thoughts to refer to someone who is a language scientist and not someone who speaks
many languages or someone who is a professional translator.
Finally, Denham and Lobeck (2013) state that many people are unaware of what
linguistics is and of what linguists do, partly because the field of linguistics is so young
and also because the scientific study of language represents a significant departure from
better-known ways in which language has been studied in the past.
 EXPANDING SKILLS

After going through the lesson, answer the following questions:

1. What is linguistics?
2. How can linguistics be considered as a science?
3. Would you agree that the study of linguistics follows the scientific method?
Why or Why not?

ENRICHING LEARNING

For added learning, open the link below and watch the material intelligently.

https://essentialsoflinguistics.pressbooks.com/chapter/chapter-1/

Answer the following questions after viewing the material:

1. What does the material say about linguistics?

2. Is the information relevant to our lesson?
3. How can this information benefit you as a future teacher?

References

Denham, K. and Lobeck, A. (2013). Linguistics for everyone: an introduction. second edition.
Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics