Language & Meaning

TASK 1

ENG 2013

Instructions: Respond to the following questions the best you can. There are no wrong or right answers to this. 1. How many are (give quantities): a. a few? _________ b. c. d. several? _________ many? _________ a lot? _________

2. If someone tells you that a store is not far away, what is the amount of time it should take you to get there? ___________________________ 3. Your friend tells you, he needs to buy a cheap car. How much do you estimate he wants to spend? _____________________________ 4. If someone tells you that her sister is very tall, how tall do you think she is? _________________________ 5. If someone says he often goes to the library, how many times do you think he visits the library in a week?

What does this activity tells you about verbal language?

TASK 2 Instructions: Match each situation with the type of language problem demonstrated. a. b. c. d. Jargon Relative word Euphemism Inference After promising not to raise taxes, the administration requires that additional money be paid by each person buying gasoline. It insists that this is not a new text, but a revenue enhancer. Your friend borrows your shirt and returns it soon. You are angry because it is the end of the day and he has not returned it. He used soon to mean by the end of the week. My teacher did not call on me when I raised my hand so she must not like me.

______ 1.

2. ______

3. ______ 4. ______

The x-ray technician asked whether my doctor required a dry or a wet x-ray. I did not understand what he meant.

Language & Meaning

TASK 3 Instructions: Circle the correct answer. 1. The term that refers to the arrangement of words is a. grammar. b. code. c. encoding. d. syntax. 2. Which of the following is an example of indexing? a. Fords get great gas mileage. b. My Shih Tzu chews on everything. Does yours do that as well? c. Everyone in the Midwest farms. d. All landlords are unhelpful. 3. Which of the following does not mean that words are arbitrary? a. Words have inherent meaning. b. Words are created by people. c. The meaning of words is decided by listeners. d. Things are named by people.

ENG 2013

4. Technical language that has been developed by a professional group is known as a. irony. b. paraphrase. c. colloquialisms. d. jargon. 5. Semantics can be defined as the a. science of meaning in language. b. study of transformational grammar. c. discipline devoted to creating words. d. systematic examination of spelling and syntax. 6. Which of the following examples best depicts the denotative meaning of a word? a. Abortion is the murder of a fetus. b. Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy in the first trimester. c. Abortion is the last ditch birth control. d. Abortion is the death of a human soul. 7. Which of the following statements about language is false? a. Words have only meanings which people give them. b. Words also have connotative meanings. c. The context in which a word occurs helps us determine which of the possible meanings is intended. d. The meaning of a word does not change once it is included in the dictionary. 8. Which of these statements is an example of euphemism? a. toilet b. dead c. headphone d. powder room

Language & Meaning

9. Which of the following is not a true statement about slang and jargon? a. Jargon is likely to be used by technical/professional people. b. Slang is likely to be used in the neighborhood and on the streets. c. Jargon is most likely to be used in the workplace. d. Slang is not understood or used by most people.

ENG 2013

10. The same bottom-feeding fish known as bullheads in Minnesota are called catfish in Ohio. This language phenomenon is classified as a. slang. b. regionalism. c. euphemism. d. colloquialism.

11. Paraphrasing is the act of a. repeating what you think you heard. b. repeating what you think you heard in your own words. c. reporting what you think you heard in the same words that you think you heard. d. responding to what you think you heard with a creative interpretation of what you think you heard.

12. Which of the following statements is descriptive as opposed to evaluative? a. That test was the toughest torture Ive experienced. b. The test made my hair stand on end. c. I counted twenty questions of which I was uncertain. d. I think I flunked the test because it was unfair.

13. Justin, who is majoring in political science, is giving a speech in class about the Electoral College. During his speech, he often talks very intimately about the legal functions and rules of the Electoral College. Justin ultimately bores his audience and does not get a very strong grade. What error might Justin have committed with his language usage? a. irony b. paraphrase c. colloquialisms d. Jargon 14. Which of the following is the best example of concreteness? a. Im from the States. b. My hometown is Isle, Minnesota, population 409. c. Sure, Im from the Midwest. d. The place where Im from is the friendliest town in America. 15. l If a person says Give me pencil the please instead of Give the pencil to me, which kind of rule is most obviously been broken? a. Phonological b. Semantic c. Pragmatic d. Syntactic

Language & Meaning

16. Which statement is least abstract? a. Youre the best friend I have ever had. b. I think you have just been terrific. c. I appreciated your letting me borrow your car. d. You are so thoughtful.

ENG 2013

TASK 4 Instructions: State one inference you could make based on each of the following facts. a. Benny works full time and takes college classes. ________________________________________________________________________ b. Matt scored A for all his subjects for the past three semesters. ________________________________________________________________________ c. Alex drives expensive cars to the university. ________________________________________________________________________ d. Mr. Smith has forgotten his wedding anniversary for the fifth time. ________________________________________________________________________

(Questions are adapted from Pearson et al., 2011. Human Communication. Singapore: McGraw-Hill/ Adler, R. B. & Rodman, G. 2006. Understanding Human Communication. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press)