Semester 1 Outline
Weeks
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Topics
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Specificity
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7-9
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Language and Culture
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Link btw. Language/Culture; Uniqueness of
Humans
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Language vs. A Language
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Active Competence vs. Passive Competence
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Characteristics of Language
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Uniqueness: Human-based, Systematic, Symbolic
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Purposes and Functions of Language
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Communication, Reflection, Ritual, Expressive
etc.
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Caribbean’s Linguistic Situation
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Slavery and Domination
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Pidgin, Dialect, Creole, Jargon, Slang, Register
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Origin
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Characteristics of Creole Languages
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Features
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Acrolect Mesolect and Basilect
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Post Creole Continuum
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Attitudes to Creole and Standard English
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Positive and Negative
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Types of Discourse /Styles of Writing
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NEAD-Narration, Exposition, Argument,
Description
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Click on comments for Definitions of Language.
Definitions of Language
ReplyDeleteLanguage
Craig Calhoun et al (1994) in Sociology said: “A Language is a system of verbal and, in many cases, written symbols with rules about how those symbols can be strung together to convey more complex meanings. It is impossible to overstate the importance of language in the development, elaboration, and transmission of culture. Language enables people to store meanings and experiences and to pass this heritage on to new generations. Through language, we are able to learn about and from the experiences of others. In addition, language enables us to transcend the here and now, preserving the past and imagining the future. It also makes possible the formulation of complex plans and ideas. People could reason only on the most primitive level if they did not possess language. These capacities that language enables are augmented by the use of writing.” (page 59)
Hazel Simmons-McDonald et al (1997) in Writing in English: A Course Book for Caribbean Students, “Language is one feature in man that has allowed man not only to survive but to develop and dominate other animals and, to some small extent, nature itself. Language has facilitated the strengthening of human societies by providing a medium for instant and immediate transmission of information (for self-preservation) as well as medium for reflection and projection (for growth and development). Language, then, by allowing man to communicate about the present, to reflect about the past, and to plan for the future, has ensured his survival and has allowed man to prosper far out of proportion to man’s purely physical attributes.” (page 4)
Language and Culture
Walter T. Petty et al (1994) in Experiences in Language: Tools and Techniques for Language Arts Methods:
“Language may be defined in a number of ways, but human speech is usually thought of first.” They added that language can be “defined in the narrower sense, that is, as the symbols, either vocal or graphic, that are produced in systematic patterns by one person in order to convey meaning to one or more others….Language grows out of people’s need to communicate. The shared collection of understandings that accumulate from interactions in daily life is called culture. That is, culture is the set of beliefs and ways of doing things that characterize a group of people and differentiate it from other such groups, or societies. Language is a means of storing knowledge, but it is also the means by which people see the world and process information. Language, culture, and thinking are interrelated in complex ways.” (pages 2-3)