SemanticSemantic ApproachApproach

IMPLEMENTINGLANGUAGE

COMPETENCIES

LIC. RODOLFO ChavianoUniversidad Americana (UAM)

SEPTEMBER 2006

Word-Meaning & Concept Formation

•

“

” ...a problem must arise that cannot be solved otherwise than through the formation of new concepts” (Vygotsky, 1962:55)

Once the child realizes that everything has a name, each new object presents the child with a problem situation, and he solves the problem by naming the object. When he lacks the word for the new object, he demands it from adults. The early word-meanings thus acquired will be the embryos of concept formation.

By explaining human language development and cognitive development, Vygotsky's theory serves as a strong foundation for the modern trends in applied linguistics. It lends support to less structured and more natural, communicative and experiential approaches and points to the importance of early real-world human interaction in foreign language learning.

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BASIC SKILLS FOR COMMUNICATION

PERCEPTION MEANING

NAME

DEFINITIONDESCRIPTIONL

EXPLANATION

ITEM WORD CATEGORYPERCEPTION LANGUAGE

a treea plant

with leaves ...fruits ...etc.

An apple treethat grows in

... RCh.

Competencies

OUR LANGUAGE COMPETENCIES RELY MAINLY ON:

the acquisition of word-meaning. the formation of concepts. the understanding of the socio-cultural meaning of language.

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meaning

SPEECH COMPETENCE

LEXICAL COMPETENCE

WRITING COMPETENCE

AUDITORY COMPETENCE

LISTENING COMPETENCE

SYNTAGMATIC COMPETENCESYNTAGMATIC COMPETENCE

GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE

INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE COMPETENCE

Etc.

BEINGCOMPETENT

HAVINGmultiple

Competencies

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syn•tag•ma \sin-"tag-m€\ noun pl syn•tag•mas or syn•tag•ma•ta m€-t€\ [Gk, fr. syntassein] (1937) : a syntactic element syn•tag•mat•ic \'sin-'tag-"ma-tik\ adjective 

par•a•digm \"par-€-'dïm also -'dim\ noun [LL paradigma, fr. Gk paradeigma, fr. paradeiknynai to show side by side, fr. para- + deiknynai to show — more at diction] (15c) 1: example, pattern; esp : an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype

©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Conveying meaning is syntagmaticsyntagmatic..

Grammatical competence is paradigmaticparadigmatic..

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The Tip of the Iceberg – ??  The most visible part of language.

  

  Meaning

Sounds Words

Utterances Multi-word units

Lexical Units Syntactic Units

Syntagmatic Units Paragraph Building

Essay / Writing Intercultural Awareness

The Social Meaning of Language   Semantic Categories

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Using Utterances*

• Students should get familiar with and use utterancesutterances such as• Good morning, See you! , Excuse me, I guess so, So do I, Gee!, My Lord! Of course!, What´s more!, Hush!, What for?, On top of that, etc.

*ut•ter•ance (ut'uhr uhns) n. 1. an act of uttering; vocal expression. 2. something uttered, esp. a word or words. 3. manner or power of speaking. 4. Ling. any speech sequence consisting of one or more words preceded and followed by silence or a change in speaker.

©1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

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Multi-word Units *

• Students should understand and use multi-word unitsmulti-word units from the very start.

• A computer screen, a flower vase, a pepperoni pizza, a waste paper basket, a helping hand, a ceiling fan, the state-of-the-art technology, etc.

* term coined by Lewis, Michael. The Lexical Approach, 1994.

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The Social Meaning of Language

• This semantic category , semantic category , the most difficult to be understood and mastered, lies at the bottom of the iceberg structure. Unfortunately, it is slowly learned, and often, after dealing with language units for a long time. It´s quite hard, even for those living in the target language milieu. 

• There are lexical unitslexical units such as hot-desking, that would seldom be understood by the foreign learner. Because of their syntactical relations or their incomprehensible surface meaning.

• The use of interjections, inflexions of the voice, idioms, mottos, proverbs, sayings, phrasal verbs, cliché, slogans, fixed phrases, and word collocationsword collocations such as, a thick moustache, a distant relative, dropped the flower vase, spoil the food, etc. are among the most common.

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Understanding SyntagmaticSyntagmatic Competence

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Performance Competence

fluencyaccuracy

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MEANING

WORD

LANGUAGEPERFORMANCE

LANGUAGE PERCEPTION

LANGUAGECOMPETENCE

memory

WORD-MEANING & FORMATION OF CONCEPTS

It is a tree. It is a plant. It has leaves and a solid trunk.It’s tall and green. It provides shade and oxygen. It grows in the forest or everywhere around us.

It’s a mango tree. It’s grown in tropical areas.It’s well known. It bears delicious fruit. It is usually canned during the harvest season so as to have enough fruit available throughout the year. RCh.

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TEST YOUR LANGUAGE PERCEPTION.

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23

Which animal in the group chirps?

Which animal croaks and jumps?

Which animal trills and flies?

Which animal crows?

Which two animals neigh and moo respectively? RCh.

TEST YOUR LEXICAL COMPETENCE

17

Which animal(s) in the group has fins?

Which animal(s) in this group has a mane?

Which animal(s) has a beak ?

Which animal(s) has horns?

Which two animals have feathers? RCh.

TEST YOUR DESCRIPTIVE COMPETENCE

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Hibernates all winter and has a thick coated skin

Takes part in races and is used to pull carriages

Undergoes metamorphosis and lays eggs.

Hatches for 21 days before cracking the shell.

It’s a beast of burden and is related to poor intelligence RCh.

TEST YOUR EXPOSITORY COMPETENCE

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TEST YOUR MEMORY

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TEST YOUR MEMORY

• What colors did you see?

• How many squares did you count?

• Which was the first color you saw?

• Which color appears more times?

• Which was the last color you saw?

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TEST YOUR PERCEPTION

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29

Which row has less squares?

Which row contains more squares?

Where are the two yellow squares?

Is there a third yellow square?

Are the two yellow squares exactly the same? RCh.

TEST YOUR PERCEPTION

30

TEST YOUR SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCE

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CONCLUSIONS

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Some Ideas to Implement Language Competencies

Some Ideas to Implement Language Competencies

• Meaning is on top of any communicative act.

• English students should get familiar with, and

use utterances.

• Students should understand and use multi-

word units from the very start.

• Students should understand and derive words

by analogy, and by developing association

strategies.

• The formation of simple syntactic units is

fundamental in the understanding & building

up English.

• Extended syntagmatic units are those needed

to expand ideas within the same sentence.

•Do Writing practice from the very beginning.

• The Social Meaning of Language is quite hard,

even for those living in the target language

milieu. 

• English is a phonemic language.

• Students should be given theoretical

information on writing styles.

• Intercultural Awareness Skills are needed to

build up competence

• Grammatical competence is paradigmatic.

•  Paradigmatic Competence relies on

Grammar Categories.

• Syntagmatic Competence relies on Semantic

Categories.

•Understanding Syntagmatic Competence

means doing an re-doing the language

meaning.

• Syntagmatic competence is at the core of

language competence.

• Conveying meaning is syntagmatic. 

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SEMIOTICS:

SEMIOTICS The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behavior; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.

DIVIDES INTO THREE BRANCHES:

PRAGMATICS: Linguistics concerned with the relationship of sentences to the environment in which they occur. Relation between linguistic expressions (signs) and theiruses.

SEMANTICS: A branch of semiotics dealing with the relations between signs and what they refer to, and including theories of denotations, extension, naming, and truth. The meaning or relationship of meanings of a sign or a set of signs; especially connotative meaning.

SYNTACTICS: It’s a branch of semiotics that deals with the formal relation between signs or expressions in abstraction from their signification and their interpreters.

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Intercultural Awareness Skills

These are attitudes and skillsattitudes and skills that are needed to build competence. Among them are:

- observing, identifying and recognizing- comparing and contrasting- negotiating meaning- dealing with or tolerating ambiguity- effectively interpreting messages- limiting the possibility of misinterpretation- defending one's own point of view while acknowledging

the legitimacy of others - accepting difference

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MethodologyMethodology

●GTM Grammar Translation Method = Learning Rules & Structures (Grammatical Rules) Grammatical Competence was a priority  Memorizing words and rules

●ALM Audio Lingual Method = Learning by Repetitive Drills ( Behaviorism ) Repeating patterns would lead into language performance

●CLT Communicative Language Teaching = Learning the functions of language.

( Communicative Acts) Focus on fluency rather than accuracy. Claims Integrative Skills Practice 

● LA Lexical Approach = Advocates Lexical Competence (Lexical Units) The priority should be on lexis (corpus linguistics) rather than on grammar

● SA Semantic Approach = Understanding Semantic Categories ( Learning Chunks of Language) Conveying meaning is a priority regardless of accuracy or fluency

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Semantic Approach

Thank you verymuch!

LI C. RODOLFO ChAVIANOUniversidad Americana (UAM)

Sept 2006