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English Notes
English Notes
I. Linguistics
Morphology – studies the patterns of forming words by combining sounds into minimal
distinctive units of meanings called morphemes.
Morpheme is a short segment of language which (1) is a word or word part that has meaning,
(2) cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violating its meaning, (3) recurs in
different words with a relatively stable meaning.
Allomorphs – are morphs which belong to the same morpheme e.g., /s/, /z/, and /ez/ of the
plural morpheme /s/ or /es/.
Free morphemes can stand on their own as independent words, e.g., beauty in beautifully, like
in unlikely. Thus, they can occur in isolation.
Bound morphemes cannot stand on their own as independent words. These morphemes are
also called as affixes.
Inflectional morphemes never change the form class of the words or morphemes to which
they are attached. They show person, tense, number, case, and degree.
Derivational morphemes are added to root morphemes or stems to derive new words.
Syntax – deals with how words combine to form phrases, clauses, and sentences, and studies
the way phrases, clauses, and sentences are constructed.
Structure of predication –refers to the two components : subject and predicate
Structure of complementation – has two basic elements : verbal and complement
Structure of modification – includes two components : head word and modifier
Structure of coordination – covers two components : equivalent grammatical units
Semantics – attempts to analyze the structure of meaning in language and deals with the level
of meaning in language.
Lexical ambiguity – refers to the characteristic of a word that has more than one meaning.
Syntactic ambiguity – refers to the characteristic of a phrase that has more than one meaning
e.g. Filipino teacher.
Pragmatics – deals with the contextual aspects of meaning in particular situations ; studies how
language is used in real communication.
Speech act theory – advances that every utterance consists of three separate acts (1)
locutionary force – an act of saying something and describes what a speaker says, (2)
illocutionary force – the act of doing something and what the speaker intends to do by uttering
a sentence, and (3) perlocutionary act – an act of affecting someone; the effect on the hearer
of what a speaker says.
Categories of illocutionary acts – refers to categories proposed by John Searle to group
together closely related intentions for saying something.
Representative – stating, asserting, denying, confessing, admitting, notifying, concluding,
predicting, etc.
Directive – requesting, ordering, forbidding, warning, advising, suggesting, insisting,
recommending, etc.
Question –asking, inquiring, etc.
Commissive – promising, vowing, volunteering, offering, guaranteeing, pledging, betting,
Expressive – apologizing, thanking, congratulating, condoling, welcoming, deploring,
objecting, etc.
Declaration – appointing, naming, resigning, baptizing, surrendering, excommunicating,
arresting, etc.
Discourse – studies chunks of language which are bigger than a single sentence.
Language Views / Theories of Language
The Structuralists support the idea that language can be described in terms of observable and
verifiable data as it is being used.
Language is a means of communication.
Language is primarily vocal
Language is a system of systems.
Language is arbitrary.
Cognitive learning theory. Noam Chomsky believes that all normal human beings have an
inborn biological internal mechanism that makes language learning possible.
Cognitivists / innatists ‘ mentalists account of second language acquisition include
hypothesis testing, a process of formulating rules and testing the same with competent
speakers of the target language.
Krashen’s Monitor Model (1981).This is the most comprehensive theory in second language
acquisition. It consists of five central hypotheses.
The acquisition / learning hypothesis – claims that there are two ways of developing competence in
L2:
Acquisition – the subconscious process that results from informal, natural communication
between people where language is a means, not a focus nor an end in itself.
Learning – the conscious process of knowing about language and being able to talk about it,
that occurs in a more formal situation where the properties of a language are taught
The natural order hypothesis suggests that grammatical structures are acquired in a
predictable order for both children and adults _ certain grammatical structures are acquired
before others, irrespective of the language being learned.
The monitor hypothesis claims that conscious learning of grammatical rules has an
extremely limited function in language performance: as a monitor or editor that checks output.
The input hypothesis. Krashen proposes that when learners are exposed to grammatical
features a little beyond their current level those features are acquired.
The affective filter hypothesis. Filter consists of attitude to language, motivation, self-
confidence and anxiety. Learners with a low affective filter seek and receive more input,
interact with confidence, and are more receptive to the input they are exposed to.
Teachers must continuously deliver at a level understandable by learners
Teaching must prepare the learners for real life communication situations
Teachers must ensure that learners do not become anxious or defensive in language
learning.
Formal grammar teaching is of limited value because it contributes to learning rather than
acquisition
Literary Criticism – involves the reading, interpretation and commentary of a specific text or
texts which have been designated as literature. Literary criticism is the application of a literary
theory to specific texts. Literary theory identifies what makes literary language literary and the
function of literary text in social and cultural terms.
Classical Literary Theory –literature is an imitation of life.
Mimesis (Plato) – literature is an imitation of life.
Dulce et utile (Horace) – function of literature is to entertain or to teach/instruct
Sublime (Longinus) – style may be low, middle, high, or sublime
Catharsis (Aristotle) – purgation of negative emotions of fear and pity
Historical – Biographical and Moral – Philosophical Approaches
A literary work is a reflection of its author’s life and times or the life and times of the characters
in the work.
It emphasizes that literature functions to teach morality and to probe philosophical issues.
Romantic Theory. William Wordsworth articulated it in his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads as
literature which should
have a subject matter that is ordinary and commonplace
use simple language, even aspiring to the language of prose
make use of the imagination
convey a primal, simple, uncomplicated feeling
present similitude in dissimilitude (similarities in differences)
New Criticism – believes that literature is an organic unity. To use this theory, one proceeds by
looking into the following : the persona, the addressee, the situation (where and when), what the
persona says, the central metaphor (tenor and vehicle), the central irony, the multiple meaning of
words.
Psychoanalytical Theory – applies Freudian psychoanalytic ideas to literature.
a. It looks into the character’s or author’s motivations, drives, fears, desires.
b. It believes that creative writing is like dreaming – it disguises what cannot be confronted
directly – the critic must decode what is disguised.
Marxist Literary Theory. It aims to explain literature relation to society – that literature can
only be properly understood within a larger framework of social reality. Marxist literary critics
would like to look at the structure of history and society and then investigate whether the
literary work reflects or distorts this structure. They insist that literature has a social dimension
– it exists in time and space, in history and society. Moreover, writers are constantly formed by
their social contexts and social class.
Feminist Criticism. Branching out from Marxism, it is a political discourse; a critical and
theoretical practice committed to the struggle against patriarchy and sexism.
a. Feminism asks why women played a subordinate role to men in society.
It studies the male-dominated canon to understand how men have used culture to further their
domination of women.
b. It studies literature by women for how it addresses or expresses the particularity of women’s
life and experience. Feminist critics insist that women’s experience is different from men’s.
Fries Approach – Charles Fries’ basic concept : Learning to read in one’s native language is
learning to shift, to transfer, from auditory signs for the language signals which the child has
already learned to visual or graphic signs for the same signals for language perception. The aim
is to develop high-speed recognition responses to English spelling patterns.
Eclectic Approach
Reading as interest – development of the recreational reading habit; the major approach is
personalized or individualized reading.
Reading as language process
The Linguistic Approach – look at reading as recognizing and interpreting graphic symbol
representing spoken sounds which have meaning. It stresses sound-symbol regularity and
systematic exposure to frequently used sounding patterns.
The Phonics Approach – believes that the English spelling system is essentially regular in its
correspondence between letters and speech sounds and that letter sounds can be blended
together to form words. For second language learners short phonics drills on crucial sounds like
f, v, j, sh, th, z, a and the schwa are needed.
Programmed Instruction – includes step-by-step learning, learning, immediate feedback,
regular and constant review and individual progress through materials.
The Skills Monitoring Approach – reading is analyzed in terms of skills arranged in hierarchies.
(1) a scope and sequence chart of reading skills
(2) a battery of tests for pre-assessment of reading abilities
(3) based on test results, instruction to adjust to pupils’ interest, abilities, and needs
(4) a continuous assessment using both formative and summative tests
(5) a corrective or remedial measures
(6) an adequate and challenging enrichment activities for the bright pupils
Stage and Speech Arts
Asyndeton – Connectives are committed between words, phrases, or clauses, e.g., “I’ve
beenstressed, destressed, beat down, beat up, held down, held up, conditioned,
reconditioned.”
Polysendeton – Connectives are always supplied between words, phrases, or clauses, as when
Milton talks about Satan pursuing his way, “And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.”
Loose Sentence – a sentence whose elements are loosely related to one another, follow in no
particularly antithetical climactic order, and do not suspend its grammatical completion until
the close. A sentence so loose as to verge on incoherence is often called a run-on sentence.
Isocolon – the Greek word means, literally, syntactic units of equal length, and it is used in
English to describe the repetition of phrases of equal length and corresponding structure,
e.g., “Harry, now I do not speak to thee in drink but in tears, not in pleasure but in passion,
not in words only, but in woes also.”
Chiasmus – is the basic pattern of antithetical inversion, the AB:BA pattern. The best example is
probably from John F. Kennedy’s first inaugural address: “Ask not what your country can do
for you, but what you can do for your country.”
Anaphora – begins a series of phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word. Churchill’s
exhortation in 1940: “We have become the sole champion now in arms to defend the world
cause. We shall do our best to be worthy of this high honor. We shall defend our island
home, and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable until the curse of Hitler is
lifted from the brows of mankind. We are sure that in the end all will come right.”