LINGUISTICS

Microlinguistics&

Macrolinguistics

Framework

Levels Categories

Models

Contrastive Analysis

Goal

Means

Contrastive Analysis

GOAL MEANS

Explanation of L2 learning

Psychology

Description of the language

Linguistic

MACROLINGUISTICS:

MICROLINGUISTICS: It is a branch of linguistics that concerns itself with the study of language systems in the abstract, without regard to the meaning of expressions. The language is reduced to the abstract elements of syntax and phonology. Thus the language is analyzed for their own sake and without reference to their social function.

It is a field of study concerned with the language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioural features associated with language. It embraces different aspects of language.

Semantics: the study of meaning, changes in meaning and the principles that govern the relation ship between sentences or words and their meanings.

Sociolinguistics: a descriptive study of the effects of any and all aspects of society on the way language is used and the effects of language used on society.

Ethnomethodology: It refers to the analysis and interpretation of every spoken interaction.

Macrolinguistics

Discourse Analysis: It is concerned with how we build up “meaning” in the larger communicative rather than grammatical units, meaning in a text, paragraph, conversation, etc rather than a single sentence.

Speech-act Theory: an approach to the meaning of language which stresses the use made of language, rather than the literal meaning of the combined words. Emphasis what we do with language rather than what we say.

Macrolinguistics

FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories ModelsPhonology

Grammar

Lexis

Unit

StructureClass

System

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

LEVELS OF LANGUAGE

Level of phonologyLevel of lexisLevel of morphology Level of syntax

Procedural Orientation:

Synta

x

Phonology Morphology

Mixing Levels:Nowadays mixing is sometimes necessary to account for some fact of language.

TWO STEPS

The stage of description

The stage of juxtaposition for comparison

FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories ModelsPhonology

Grammar

Lexis

Unit

StructureClass

System

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

CATEGORIES OF GRAMMAR

Linguistic descriptions are in terms of these categories.

There are four categories : unit, structure, class and system.

They are universal , that is they are necessary and sufficient as a basis for the description of any

language.

Category: 1- UNIT

The Units of grammar are:

Sentence – Clause – Phrase – Word - Morpheme

Rank Scale

UNIT

In CA usually single sentences are juxtaposed, But the shortcoming is that sometime one word in L1 is equivalent to a sentence in L2.

The pupil (who has fallen asleep) is Peter. (E)Der eingeschlafene Schuler ist Peter. (G)Two clauses in English while one in German

Interlingual Rank Shift

CA is concerned with the possibilities of maintaining 1:1 correspondence of units at ranks below sentence.Example:

FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories ModelsPhonology

Grammar

Lexis

Unit

StructureClass

System

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

Category: 2- STRUCTURE“A structure is an arrangement of elements

ordered in “places” (Halliday)

Example: Tom (S) took (P) the keys(C) from the

table (A)

Four syntactic structures in a sentence: subject, predicate, complement, adjunct

Structure A Structure in the level of phonology:

cccvc: strict

cvc: راه

contrast in word structure:

apple: apples

Apfel: Äpfel

STRUCTURE

CA have traditionally focused on the category structure: linear arrangement of clauses, phrases and words

Examples:

1)- My father, who plays chess, is very patient.Mein Vater, der Schach spielt, ist sehr geduldig.Clause

3)- Past participle: gespielt / played Nouns plurals: Apfel-Apfel: / Apple-Apples Word

FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories ModelsPhonology

Grammar

Lexis

Unit

StructureClass

System

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

Category: 3- CLASS

There are restrictions on which units can operate at given places in structures.

Example:

V Londone tumano (R) : * In London is foggy (E)

London is foggy

…eine unter meinem Wagen schelafende Katze… : * a sleeping under my car cat…

…A cat sleeping under my car…

class

a certain group of words which can be used in the same place in sentence.

like the class of verbs, or nouns

They have no …… .

They can …… .

FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories ModelsPhonology

Grammar

Lexis

Unit

StructureClass

System

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

Category: 3- SYSTEM Each language allows its speaker choices from sets of

elements which are not determined by the place which the element occupies in the structure.

CHOICE: “The selection of one particular term at one particular place on the chain in preference to another term or other terms which are also possible at that place” (paradigmatic)

Systems operate over the domains of units: systems of sentences, of clauses, of groups, of words and of morphemes.

Example: systems at clause rank: “mood”

Indicative Imperative

Declarative Interrogative

Language may differ, not in demanding different structural exponents, but in offering different ranges of options.

System number

Singular vs. Plural (E)

Singular,Plural,Dual (A)

System of case

Common andGenitive (E)

Nominative, accusative, genitive, instrumental, prepositional and dative (R)

FRAMEWORK

Levels Categories ModelsPhonology

Grammar

Lexis

Unit

StructureClass

System

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

Model A theoretical framework for description of language.

In description phase we should use the same model.

Two linguists, can produce different analyses of the same language data if they use different models in their analysis.

take took 1- 1.Based on an item - and - process

/(Ʊ/ei /+ )/teik//=//tƱk past = present+ diphthong /eI/ replaced by the

vowel Ʊ

2.Bsed on item - and – arrangement//tƱk /=/t-k/+/-Ʊ-

Past=root+/Ʊ/inserted to mark past tense

Four main models

Structural or TaxonomicTransformationalGenerativeContrastiveGenerative

Case

1- Structuralist Model developed and elaborated by Bloomfield and Harris.

Immediate constituent (IC ) is the analytic technique =

any grammatical construction which can be reduced to pairs of constituent.

e.g.

i( Disgraceful disgrace + ful

ABC AB + C Unit

ii( Ungraceful un + graceful

ABC A+BC

The same procedure applies to larger constructions : phrases or sentences

e.g i) Nice old woman

A + B C Structure ii) Very old woman

A B + C

John is the nicest boy who speaks French.

It has two Ics ,the main clause and the dependent clause

In such analysis no reference is made to the meaning of the constructions.

Definitions are based on distribution: what goes with what.

e.g.

N ii( Adv Adj N i( Adv Adj

rather nice girl rather nice girl

A construction A non-construction

Adj + N Adv + N

The weaknesses in the structural model : She is a beautiful dancer.This sentence contains an ambiguity which can not be

accounted for by IC.

The identity of the position or distribution is no guarantee of identity of function. Structural models confine themselves to observations about surface structure.

a) John is easy to please = It is easy to please John.

John stands in an Object-Verb relation to pleaseb)John is eager to please = *It is eager to please John.

John is in a Subject-Verb relation to please.

Fries (1952) (a structuralist), defines grammar as “the devices of form and arrangement”.

Arrangement: relative order of elements in constructions.

Formal devices operating at the level of grammar

are of three kinds:

1.Morphological markers like affixes

2.Function words Articles, preposition, conjunction

3.Suprasegmental Stress and intonation

In CA, we are likely to discover that L1 renders a certain meaning by one device, while L2 conveys the same meaning by another device.

eg.She gave the cat a rat.

S + V + IO + DOIn English direct object nouns are differentiated from indirect

objects by the later coming before the former.

Sie gab der Katze eine Ratte. S + V + IO + DO German exploits morphology to achieve the same ends.

So there are three different ways for talking about how pairs of language

:can differ

1.Level shifts1.Level shifts

2.Rank shifts2.Rank shifts

3.Medium shifts3.Medium shiftsIn the same level but different toolsIn the same level but different tools

Transformational –generative grammarTransformational –generative grammar T-GG elaborated by Chomsky Syntactic Structure(1957) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax(1965)

The most important feature of this grammar: Recognizing two levels of deep and surface structure The two levels are related by transformations

Reason for using T-GG in CA Explicitness: An explicit rule must be formulated for each step in

deriving Surface from deep structures.

Universal Base Hypothesis: Deep structure are Universal

Transformations as Formal Universal English German

DS: I have an apple +The apple is red DS: Ich habe einen apfel. Der apfel ist rot

a. Relativisation a. Relativisation

I have an apple which is red

b. whiz- deletion b. dist deletion

I have an apple red

c. adjective shifting c. adjective shifting

I have a red apple .SS Ich habe einen roten Apfel. SS

Explanation for sentential ambiguities :It provides for the two languages identical, means for explaining the nature

of sentential ambiguities.

The two different readings are derived from two different deep structures.

The industrious Chinese dominate the economy of Asia. 1- The Chinese who are industrious: restrictive 2- the Chinese, who are industrous: nonrestrictive

Reference to deep structure can explain different surface-structure possibilities between languages.

GermanDer ganzen Nachmittag unter dem Wagen Schlafende Hund

English The dog sleeping under the car The sleeping dog under the car

So in TG we explain the difference between two languages through difference in application of TRANSFORMATIONS on deep structures.

Types of differences in rule application:

1.One of the languages applies the rule, whereas the other doesn't .

S1 S2 S1 S2

I know it+ they see him Ich weiß es + Sie sehen ihn

1- Embed S2 in S1

I know that they see him Ich weiß, daß Sie sehen ihn

2 O-V permutation in S2

)Does not apply( Ich weiß, daß Sie ihn sehen

Types of differences in rule application:

2. In L1, the rules is obligatory ,but in L2 it’s optional (or vice versa)

Optional: The grammar generates equally correct sentences irrespective of wheather the transformation is applied.

That was the film )which( I saw

Das war the Film, DEN ich gesehen habe

*Das war the Film, ich gesehen habe

Object Relative Pronoun insertion

Types of differences in rule application:

3- Difference in the order of application

Transformational are extrinsically ordered ,or apply in a certain fixed order.

In English, Reflexivisation should apply before Imperative rule.

You wash you.

You wash yourself. )Reflexivisation(

Wash yourserf! )Imperative(

While in German it can apply after that.

Sie waschen Sie

Waschen Sie Sie! )Imperative(

Waschen Sie sich! )Reflexivisation(

Types of differences in rule application:

4- different scope of application

Some transformational are less specialised or have a border scope, than others.

Copula Insertion rule in Engish & Russian

فعل زیرساخت در که است این بر باور .to beاصوال ندارد وجود In English CIR applies, whenever there is no verb or auxiliary in

deep structure. But in Russian the application of this rule is more limited. It applies

only if the auxiliary is non-present in tense (past or future)

moj brat student

)My brother student(

Types of differences in rule application:

5- Two different areas of the grammar call for the application of one and the same transformational rule

English

The problem, about which John thought . . .

The problem which John thought about . . .

German

Das Problem, über das Hans dachte . . .

*Das Problem ,das Hans dachte über . . .

Types of differences in rule application:

6- Some rules imply others:Not only do some transformational rules strictly precede or follow others but

sometimes some rules produce proper input for the application of others.

e.g:

Raising generates structures that undergo passivization in English:

1.They believe that John is a clever boy.

2.They believe John to be a clever boy. )raising(

3.John is believed)by them( to be a clever boy. )Passivisation(

German

No 2 is practically Non –existent. So No 3 does not exist.

*Hans Wird geglaubt, ein kluger zu sein.

Microlinguistic Contrastive Analysis

Practical steps of doing CAs. No total ca of two languages sofar. Not feasable So its better to do relevant parts of CA not two whole languages. According to Corder, description should be parallel: describing parallel levels

through the same model. Although different models are suitable for different facet of language. .مثال یک مدل خاص ممکن است بهتر بتواند یک زبان خاص را توصیف کند If you don’t use the same model: it is not clear whether 1- the observed

differences are because of difference in models: description induced contrast

2- or because of difference in linguistic structures: data induced contrast

Dilemma: On one hand good reasons for using the same model On the other hand practical reasons for using different

models 2ways out of this dilemma: 1- using two models but then translating the 2 description

into a form which is model-neutral. : a language which is a composite of the two, a ‘supralingua’ containing features of both languages.

2- no need to describe the 2 languages equally.

since usually the second language need more description.

Less attention needs to be paid to l1. So chose a model which is more suitable for L2.

Types or Tokens? In the second phase we describe types not tokens.

structures rather than sounds

Pronoun+1st Person+Sing- Auxiliary –Past, Participle

I have arrived.

Pronoun+1st Person+Sing-Prefix+Verb+Perfective+Past+Feminine

Ya prishla

A type is an idealisation which represents an infinite number of realisations.

A sentence is the basis of many utterances.

Utterances : stretches of parole produced by native speakers out of sentences generated by system of elements and rules which constitute the Langue

Practical steps of doing CA

1- Assemble relevant data in two languages

2- State the realisation of each grammatical category for each language

3- Supplement more data.

4- Formulate the contrast: either in terms of imbalanced equations: Item and Arrangement or in terms of operations: Item and Process: a set of instructions

which , when applied to the grammar of one language , will yield the grammar of another language

Phonological CA Phonetics is concerned with three types of physical reality.

1- articulatory phonetics: movement of speech organs

2- acoustic phonetics: acoustic features (aspiration of p in French and English)

3- auditory phonetics: hearing process + brain activity

Phonology: the way sounds function in a language.

how many of them are used in a language.

not he physical reality but the mental reality

dark l in English and Russian

Four steps in a contrastive sound system

1- draw up the phonemic inventory of L1 and L2

2- equate phonems interlingually

3- list the phonemic variants (allophones)

4- determine the distributional restrictions

Phonological Models: taxonomic vs. generative Taxonomic: Determining the phonemic system, combinational possibilities of

phonems (phonotactics) and allophones Through comparison of two systems it provides the relative

difficulties of pronunciation hypothetically. But not always ture: Consonant clusters in German which are not present in English.

Or claim that whenever a sound is not present in one language

the native speakers cannot perceive that sound but the sound

Generative Phonology Surface structure phonology is derived from the deep

structure phonology by transformation.: phonological rules mediate between phonetic and phonemic level.

Distinctive features: with plus minus values Universality of features

Macrolinguistics and CAMicrolinguistic has a traditional approach.

Like mathematic and formal logic; deals with abstract formal aspect of language.

An idealization of data (in micro):

1- regularization:

Lang is full of mixed constructions, hesitations, fals starts and etc. because of memory limitations, distractions, and shift of attention.

These should be regularized out of data.

2- standardization:

Selection of standard dialect for description

3-decontextualization: studing isolated sentences

a: by removing the sentence from preceding and following Ss: cotext

b: by seperating it from the real-world situation:context

In Mac. ; study of language in relation to social, psychological, and cultural context.

Mac ; scientific understanding of how people communicate

Shift of attention from code to process

from langue to parole

Object of linguistic studies: Communicative Competence

Hymes (1974) identifies six variables which he suggests the ethnographer of speaking must refer to in characterizing any particular speech event: setting, participants, purpose, key, content and channel.

Setting: the time and place of speech PARTICIPANTS: Addressor, speaker, addresse and audience PURPOSE: persuasion, commanding KEY : ‘tone, manner or spirit’ in which the speech act is performed CONTENT: what one is talking about: taboo CHANNEL:speech and writing

Broadening of scope: units of linguistic organization larger than the single sentence.

1- On formal level: text linguistics:Concerned with formal devices used for establishing inter-sentential

connections and units above sentence

2- On functional level: discourse analysis:Correlation of situational variables with linguistic variables

Two areas of Macrolinguistics

Widdowson’s distinction between use and usageUse : grammaticality of sentence

Usage : use in appropriate context

Appropriacy: 1- formal: not violating textual organization= cohesive text

2- functional: communicates what its speaker intends= coherence

Violation of this principle = incoherence= breakdown in communication

Example:

A: Who broke the window.

B1: What John broke was the window.= incohesive

B2: John has studied Biophysics. = incoherent

Text Analysis Text Analysis is concerned with different types of relationship

among sentences in a text. : intertextuality of sentences in the text.

The following text demonstrates lake of cohesion in the text:

i. He will give you the name of one or two suitable doctors.

ii. Should there be any hitch, ask to speak to the physician-in-chief.

iii. If you need a doctor for your child in a strange town, find the name of the best hospital.

iv. The physician-in-chief will in all probability not be a children’s specialist.

v. Telephone and ask for the name of a pediatrician on the staff.

Formal devices of textuality:

LexicalForemost among the lexical cohesive devices are the relations of synonymy

and hyponym.

Doctor for your child = pediatrician

doctor = pediatrician + physician + specialist

cohyponyme

Usually hypernymy which is more general is used at the beginning of the text in more general sentences = in topic sentences

There are also simple to complex lexical correspondences

Lexical items which summarize complete propositions

One hundred hours a week were devoted to study and 45 minutes to football. This bias was not wholly popular.

GrammaticalHalliday and hasan identify four major grammatical means of textual cohesion in English:

reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction

1- REFERENCE:

A. exophoric: refence to real world

1- anaphoric: back-referring (p. 106.1)B. endophoric: reference in text

2- cataphoric: anticipatory reference (p. 106.2)

2- ELLIPSIS: creating cohesion by leaving out what can be inferred by preceding discourse

Ellipsis can be either anaphoric or cataphoric. (page. 107. 2)

3- ComparisonComparison is not invariably located in one sentences, although this is probably the most economical and most explicit way of stating comparison, as in:

John is more intelligent than his sister.

There are ten boys in his class. John is the most intelligent.

4- parallel structure Two or three sentences with parallel structure

To tie the sentences together conceptually

i.Have you ever seen a pig? Have you ever seen a fish walk?

ii.My painting the visitors admired. My sculptures they dislike.(sov)

To indicate that the two sentences are to be read as contrast

Functional Sentences Perspective

Analysis of sentences in perspective of their function Successive sentences in the text must do two things: they must

be informative, and , at the same time be relevant.

Informative: presenting ‘new’ information

Relevant: information which is already known to the reader , ‘given’ either by preceding context or by the situational context.

In FSP terms, ‘given’ information are ascribed to the function Theme, and ‘new’ information to the function Rheme.

In English usually Subject is Theme and Object is Rheme and verb is referred to as the Transition between the two. (in unmarked structures)

But this order can be different in marked sentences, through transposing object to sentences-initial position (page110)

Or through Tonic Stress

But since the word order is relatively fixed in English, there are other linguistic tools used for the same function.

Cleft Sentences: It was John who red the lesson

Pseudo-cleft: starting with WHAT

PASSIVISATION: The basic function of the passive transformation is

to reorder, relative to one another, the two semantic categories Agent and Goal.

i) John has picked these strawberries

Agent Active Goal

Theme Transformation Rheme

ii) These strawberries were picked by john

Goal passive Agent

Theme Transformation Rheme

DEFINITNESS-MARKING:

In English Theme or Given information is presented with a definite article. (page 112)

However the Slavonic languages, while they enjoy a greater freedom of word-order than English, have no article system, unlike English, and word order shows the definiteness of the words.

Contrastive Text Analysis

three possible approaches:Textual characterization

Text type

Translated text

Textual characterization What types of devices for achieving textual cohesion

Every language uses certain set of devices for cohesion

While ellipsis is a mark of “good style” in English,

In Mayan languages, repetition is a sign of “good style” .Put a ring on his hand and put shoes on his feet.

The job of CA is to explore the type and the frequency of these devices in each language.

Text typology:Different types of text perform different function

According to Nida:

functions: 1- expressive: poems, narratives

2- informative: news reports, journal papers, text books

3- imperative: instructions

Point: Texts are seldom pure: not just one of the three functions

One single text: maybe of three functions

But what concerns CA is what the features of each type in each language are.

Institutionalised text types: texts that perform certain conventional function in the daily life of a society, such as , commercials, official letters, maintenance instructions,…

Translated texts: Can be a basis for textual CA. But limitations interference from

source language transferring features of the source language to the target language.

Another case: in bilingual society paired text:

In road signs and press announcements usually independently produced text.

But even these text may suffer from impaired translation.

Discourse Analysis is not one about form but about its use. Discourse analysis functionality

Speech Acts: we do things through languages,

Such as, asking, refusing, describing, condemning

Functions of speech act:

1- marked: by specific verbs like warn

2- implicit: without explicit words I advise you to see a doctor. I’d see doctor if I were you.

According to Austin:All performatives can be reduced to a sentence

beginning with a performative verb.

Discourse Markers: show the function of sentences and the logical relationships between sentences.

Discourse Markers are optional (120)

Depending on context and how precise we need to be.