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LUCKNOW
0522-4006074
 Dr. Anurag Agrawal
M.A. (English), NET, Ph.D, M.B.A.

ENGLISH LITERATURE
SUBJECT CODE – 30

9935977317
0522-4006074

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 LANGUAGE BASIC CONCEPTS,
THEORIES AND PEDAGOGY

Definition of Language
Man invented language to communicate and converse with different sort of people.
Only human beings possess language and that too, uniformly. Animals also have a
communication system but it is not a developed system. That is why, language is said to be
species-specific. It does not pass from a parent to a child. A child has to learn language and
he/she learns the language of the society he/she is placed in.
Human beings can communicate with each other. We are able to exchange
knowledge, beliefs, opinions, wishes, threats, commands, thanks, promises, declarations,
feelings. We can laugh to express amusement, happiness, or disrespect, we can smile to
express amusement, pleasure, approval, or bitter feelings, we can shriek to express anger,
excitement, or fear, we can clench our fists to express determination, anger or a threat, we can
raise our eyebrows to express surprise or disapproval, and so on, but our system of
communication before anything else is language.
So it is a system of communication based upon words and the combination of words
into sentences. Communication by means of language may be referred to as linguistic
communication, the other ways mentioned above– laughing, smiling, shrieking, and so on –
are types of non-linguistic communication. Language– as defined above–is an exclusively
human property.

Few definitions of Language.

1. "Language is a primarily human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas,
emotions and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols" (Sapir).
2. "Language, in its widest sense, means the sum total of such signs of our thoughts and
feelings as are capable of external perception and as could be produced and repeated at
will" (A. H. Gardiner).
3. "Language may be defined as the expression of thought by means of speech-sounds"
(Henry Sweet).
4. "A system of communication by sound i.e., through the organs of speech and hearing,
among human beings of a certain group or community, using vocal symbols possessing
arbitrary conventional meanings." (Mario A Pei & Frank Gaynor).
5. "A language is "audible, articulate human speech as produced by the action of the tongue
and adjacent vocal organs... The body of words and methods of combining words used
and understood by a considerable community, especially when fixed and elaborated by
long usage; a tongue" (Webster)

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE
Language is Arbitrary
Language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no inherent relation between the words
of a language and their meanings or the ideas conveyed by them. There is no reason why a
female adult human being be called a woman in English, aurat in Urdu, Zen in Persian and
Femine in French.

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 The choice of a word selected to mean a particular thing or idea is purely arbitrary but
once a word is selected for a particular referent, it comes to stay as such. It may be noted that
had language not been arbitrary, there would have been only one language in the world.

Language is Social
Language is a set of conventional communicative signals used by humans for
communication in a community. Language is a possession of a social group, comprising an
indispensable set of rules which permits its members to relate to each other, to interact with
each other, to co-operate with each other; it is a social institution. Language exists in society;
it is a means of nourishing and developing culture and establishing human relations.

Language is Symbolic
Language is a symbol system. Every language selects some symbols for its selected
sound. These symbols form the alphabet of the language and form meaningful words when
combined with different symbols, symbols are arranged in certain fixed or established,
systematic order to form meaningful units or words. The intelligibility of a language depends
on a correct interpretation of these symbols.

Language is Systematic
Although language is symbolic, yet its symbols are arranged in a particular system.
All languages have their system of arrangements. Every language is a system of systems. All
languages have phonological and grammatical systems, and within a system there are several
sub-systems. For example, within the grammatical system we have morphological and
syntactic systems, and within these two sub-systems we have systems such as those of plural,
of mood, of aspect, of tense, etc.

Language is Vocal
Language is primarily made up of vocal sounds only produced by a physiological
articulatory mechanism in the human body. In the beginning, it appeared as vocal sounds
only. Writing came much later, as an intelligent attempt to represent vocal sounds. Writing is
only the graphic representation of the sounds of the language. So the linguists say that speech
is primary.

Language is Non-instinctive, Conventional

No language was created in a day out of a mutually agreed upon formula by a group
of humans. Language is the outcome of evolution and convention. Each generation transmits
this convention on to the next. Like all human institutions languages also change and die,
grow and expand. Every language then is a convention in a community. It is non-instinctive
because it is acquired by human beings. No body gets a language in heritage; he acquires it
because he an innate ability.

Language is Productive and Creative

Language has creativity and productivity. The structural elements of human language
can be combined to produce new utterances, which neither the speaker nor his hearers may
ever have made or heard before any, listener, yet which both sides understand without
difficulty. Language changes according to the needs of society.

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 THEORIES OF LANGUAGE TEACHING

Background
The history of language teaching has been characterized by a search for more
effective ways of teaching language. Although much has been done to clarify these and other
important questions in language teaching, the profession is continually exploring new options
for addressing these and other basic issues and the effectiveness of different instructional
strategies and methods in the classroom. According to Richards and Rodgers (2001),
language teaching came into its own as a profession in the twentieth century. The whole
foundation of contemporary language teaching was developed during the early part of the
twentieth century. Since then, a number of teaching methods and approaches have been
developed.

We will be learning these theories mainly:

1. The Behaviourist Theory
2. Rationalist Theory(otherwise called as Cognitive Theory)
3. Empiricist Theory(Audio Lingualism)
4. The Grammar Translation Method
5. The Direct method
6. The Eclectic Method

1. Behaviourist theory
It is basically a psychological theory in its essence, which was founded by J.B.
Watson which is actually a theory of native language learning. The supporters of this theory
are Leonard Bloomfield, O.N. Mowrer, B.F. Skinner amd A.W. Staats. It was a new approach
to psychology in the early decades of the 20th century. It marked a particular emphasis on the
importance of verbal behaviour.
It rests on the analysis of human behaviour n observable stimulus-response interaction
and the association between them. E.L.T Thorndike was the first behaviourist to explore the
area that learning is the establishment of associations on the particular process of behaviour
and consequences of that behaviour.

Basic Tenets of this Theory are:

1. It dwells(works) on the spoken language. The primary medium of the language is oral
speech because there are many languages without written forms, as we have learn o speak
before we learn to read and write.
2. It is the habit formation theory of language teaching and learning remind us of the
structural grammar.
3. The Stimulus-response chain is a pure case of conditioning.
4. All learning is the establishment of habits as the result of reinforcement and reward.
Positive reinforcement is a reward while negative reinforcement is a punishment.
5. The learning, due to its socially-conditioned nature can be the same for each individual.
(In other words, each person can learn equally if the conditions in which the learning
takes place are the same for each person.)

2. Description of Cognitivism
Cognitivism is a learning theory that focuses on the processes involved in learning
rather than on the observed behavior. As opposed to Behaviorists, Cognitivists do not require
an outward exhibition of learning, but focus more on the internal processes and connections

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that take place during learning. Cognitivism contends that “the black box” of the mind should
be opened and understood. The learner is viewed as an information processor. Knowledge
can be seen as schema or symbolic mental constructions and learning is defined as change in
a learner’s schemata.
Some important classroom principles from cognitive psychology include meaningful
learning, organization, and elaboration.

Cognitivism as a reaction against Behaviorism

Cognitivist theory developed as a reaction to Behaviorism. Cognitivists objected to
behaviorists because they felt that behaviorists thought learning was simply a reaction to a
stimulus and ignored the idea that thinking plays an important role. One of the most famous
criticisms addressed to Behaviorism was Chomsky’s argument that language could not be
acquired purely through conditioning, and must be at least partly explained by the existence
of some inner abilities.

The role of the learner

The learners according to cognitivists are active participants in the learning process.
They use various strategies to process and construct their personal understanding of the
content to which they are exposed. Students are not considered anymore as recipients that
teachers fill with knowledge, but as active participants in the learning.

Notable cognitivists
A few of the cognitivists who have contributed to developing the cognitive theory are
the following:
 Piaget
 Bloom
 Bruner
 Ausubel

Chomsky’s Theories
One of the greatest linguists of all times, Noam Chomsky asserts that language is
innate. He wrote his famous book, “Language and Mind" in 1972, in which he proposed his
famous theories on language acquisition. In this book Chomsky wrote, “When we study
human language, we are approaching what some might call the ‘human essence,’ the
distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man." According to
Chomsky, language is one characteristic that is unique to humans among all other living
beings. Chomsky’s theories have made it easier to understand the evolution and development
of the languages.
Chomsky’s theories on language are based upon the importance of linguistics in
modern sciences. According to him, to study languages, it is important study human nature
that lies in human mind.

Chomsky on Language Acquisition

Noam Chomsky postulated that the mechanism of the language acquisition is derived
from the innate processes. Innate is something which is already there in mind since birth. The
theory proposed by Chomsky is proved by the children living in same linguistic community.
Moreover, they are not influenced by the external experiences which bring about the
comparable grammar. He proposed that all of us live in a biological world, and according to

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him, mental world is no exception. He also believes that as there are stages of development
for other parts of the body, language development can also be achieved up to a certain age.

Language acquisition vs. language learning

According to linguists, there is an important distinction between language acquisition
and language learning.
As you may well have noticed, children acquire their mother tongue through
interaction with their parents and the environment that surrounds them. Their need to
communicate paves the way for language acquisition to take place. As experts suggest, there
is an innate capacity in every human being to acquire language.
By the time a child is five years old, s/he can express ideas clearly and almost
perfectly from the point of view of language and grammar. Although parents never sit with
children to explain to them the workings of the language, their utterances show a superb
command of intricate rules and patterns that would drive an adult crazy if s/he tried to
memorize them and use them accurately. This suggests that it is through exposure to the
language and meaningful communication that a first language is acquired, without the need of
systematic studies of any kind. When it comes to second language learning in children, you
will notice that this happens almost identically to their first language acquisition. And even
teachers focus more on the communicative aspect of the language rather than on just rules
and patterns for the children to repeat and memorize. In order to acquire language, the learner
needs a source of natural communication.
In some other scenarios, in which there is a teacher, the work done in class is mostly
grammatically oriented: tenses, rules, multiple choice exercises and so on and so forth. Is this
similar to the way in which a child “acquires a language?” Definitely not. No wonder why so
many people fail in acquiring a second language naturally. Simply because whatever they are
doing is highly unnatural and devoid of meaning to them. This is the field of language
learning.
Language learning as seen today is not communicative. It is the result of direct
instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your
young learners – as it is not for adults either. In language learning, students have conscious
knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge.
They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page. Research has shown, however, that
knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing. A student
who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to succeed on a standardized test
of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.
As teachers, it is our duty to make sure that our students “acquire” rather than “learn”
the language.
There is an important distinction made by linguists between language acquisition and
language learning. Children acquire language through a subconscious process during which
they are unaware of grammatical rules. This is similar to the way they acquire their first
language. They get a feel for what is and what isn’t correct. In order to acquire language, the
learner needs a source of natural communication. The emphasis is on the text of the
communication and not on the form. Young students who are in the process of acquiring
English get plenty of “on the job” practice. They readily acquire the language to
communicate with classmates.
Language learning, on the other hand, is not communicative. It is the result of direct
instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your
young learners. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new
language and can talk about that knowledge. They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page.
Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in

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good speaking or writing.r A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be
able to succeed on a standardized test of English language but may not be able to speak or
write correctly.

Langue and Parole

Langue and parole are more than just 'language and speech' (although this is a
useful quick way of remembering them).

Langue
La langue is the whole system of language that precedes and makes speech possible.
A sign is a basic unit of langue.
Learning a language, we master the system of grammar, spelling, syntax and
punctuation. These are all elements of langue.
Langue is a system in that it has a large number of elements whereby meaning is
created in the arrangements of its elements and the consequent relationships between these
arranged elements.

Parole
Parole is the concrete use of the language, the actual utterances. It is an external
manifestation of langue. It is the usage of the system, but not the system.

Speech Act Theory

The speech act theory considers language as a sort of action rather than a medium to
convey and express. The contemporary Speech act theory developed by J. L. Austin a British
philosopher of languages, he introduced this theory in 1975 in his well-known book of ‘How
do things with words’. Later John Searle brought the aspects of theory into much higher
dimensions. This theory is often used in the field of philosophy of languages. Austin is the
one who came up with the findings that people not only uses that language to assert things
but also to do things. And people who followed him went to greater depths based on this
point.
“ A theory of language is a theory of action”- Greig E. Henderson and Christopher
Brown.
The theory emphasis that the utterances have a different or specific meaning to its
user and listener other than its meaning according to the language. The theory further identify
that there are two kinds of utterances, they are called constative and performative
utterances. In his book of ‘How do things with words’ Austin clearly talks about the
disparities between the constative and performative utterances.
A constative utterances is something which describes or denotes the situation, in
relation with the fact of true or false.

Example: The teacher asked Olivia whether she had stolen the candy. Olivia replies
“mmmmmm”. Here the utterances of Olivia describes the event in pact of answering her
teacher whether the situation was true or false.
The performative utterances is something which do not describes anything at all. The
utterances in the sentences or in the part of sentences are normally considered as having a
meaning of its own. The feelings, attitudes, emotions and thoughts of the person performing
linguistic act are much of a principal unit here.

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Example: Bane and Sarah have been dating for the past four years. One fine evening Bane
took Sarah to the most expensive restaurant in town. And he ordered the most expensive wine
available in the restaurant. Then he moved closer to her and asked her that “ Will you marry
me?”. Sarah burst with contentment and replied “I will”. Here the “I will” of Sarah express
her feelings, attitudes and emotional towards the context. This utterances have its specific
meaning only in relation to it specific context.

Further Austin divides his linguistic act into three different categories.
They are,
1. Locutionary act – This is the act of saying something. It has a meaning and it creates an
understandable utterly to convey or express.
2. Illocutionary act – It is performed as an act of saying something or as an act of
opposed to saying something. The illocutionary utterance has a certain force of it. It well
well-versed with certain tones, attitudes, feelings, or emotions. There will be an intention
of the speaker or others in illocutionary utterance. It is often used as a tone of warning in
day today life.
3. Perlocutionary act – It normally creates a sense of consequential effects on the
audiences. The effects may be in the form of thoughts, imaginations, feelings or
emotions. The effect upon the addressee is the main charactership of perlocutionary
utterances

For example
The locutionary act describes a dangerous situation, the illocutionary act acts as a
force of the warning and perlocutionary acts frighten the addressee.
Austin himself admits that these three components of utterances are not altogether
separable.“We must consider the total situation in which the utterance is issued- the total
speech act – if we are to see the parallel between statements and performative utterance, and
how each can go wrong. Perhaps indeed there is no great distinction between statements and
performative utterances.” Austin.
Searle suggested that the basic unit of linguistic communication is speech act. It can
be a word, a phrase, a sentence or a sound, it should fulfil the task of expressing the intention
of the user. Understanding the user’s intention can lead to complete understanding of the
speech act.

The Great Vowel Shift

The Great Vowel Shift was a massive sound change affecting the long vowels of
English during the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. Basically, the long vowels shifted
upwards; that is, a vowel that used to be pronounced in one place in the mouth would be
pronounced in a different place, higher up in the mouth. The Great Vowel Shift has had long-
term implications for, among other things, orthography, the teaching of reading, and the
understanding of any English-language text written before or during the Shift.

The Direct Method

This method came into practice as a solution for the problems confronted by the
teachers who used the Grammar-Translation Method in their classrooms. As the name
suggests, this is a method of teaching English directly through English. The advocates of this
method believed that a language was best learnt when the learner was exposed to that

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