Cebu Normal University

Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City

Graduate School

Midterm Examination in Introduction to Linguistics

Name: Laarni B. Sasing Date: January 22, 2010 Score: __________

Discuss thoroughly and concisely the following:

1. The progressive teacher says ‘’ emphasize the production of effective sentences rather
than their analysis.”

Writing ISN'T taught by saying, "Write ...," and then scoring what people already know how
to do.  It IS taught by offering challenging directions, presenting patterns, and providing endless
examples that open doors to original expression.

Writers (of any age) must be able to connect their writing to their real lives, real concerns,
and real feelings.  Writing is about COMMUNICATING.  The writing process becomes relevant
when people are allowed the choice to write about things in their own lives and experiential
backgrounds.  They need the freedom to let their voices be heard.

People do not learn the basic structures of their native language through direct instruction,
but through their own discovery and by formulating increasingly sophisticated hypotheses

2. Children acquire the grammar of their language without direct instruction.

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.

The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form. Young students who
are in the process of acquiring a second language get plenty of "on the job" practice. They
readily acquire the language to communicate with classmates.

In short, we see this tendency in which second language teachers are quite aware of the
importance of communication in young learners and their inability to memorize rules
consciously (although they will definitely acquire them through a hands-on approach just as they
did with their mother tongue)

3. Language is not an issue ; you use what you know ; you use what’s available; you use it
well.

Effectiveness, adherence, and efficiency refer to the “what”, “why”, and “how” of learning a
target language, respectively. In simple terms, you first decide what to learn, based on usage
frequency (priority); you then filter materials based on your likelihood of continued study and
review, or adherence (interest); lastly, you determine how to learn the material most efficiently
(process).

Let’s cover each in turn. This post will focus on vocabulary and subject matter. For learning
grammar.

Speaking about effectiveness, if you select the wrong material, it does not matter how you
study or if you study – practical fluency is impossible without the proper tools (material).
teachers are subordinate to materials, just as cooks are subordinate to recipes.

Review, and multiple exposures to the same material, will always present an element of
monotony, which must be countered by an interest in the material. Even if you select the most
effective material and efficient method, if you don’t adhere with repeated study, effectiveness
and efficiency mean nothing. In other words: can you persist with the material and method
you’ve chosen? If not, less effective materials or methods will still be better. The best approach
means nothing if you don’t use it.

By analogy, if sprinting uphill with bowling balls in each hand were the most effective way
to lose body fat, how long would the average person adhere to such a program?

If you have no interest in politics, will you adhere to a language course that focuses on this
material? Ask yourself: Can I study this material every day and adhere until I reach my fluency
goals? If you have any doubt, change your selection. Oftentimes, it is best to select content that
matches your interests in your native language. Do not read about something that you would not
read about in English, if English is your native language (e.g. don’t read Asahi Shimbun if you
don’t read newspapers in English). Use the target language as a vehicle for learning more about a
subject, skill, or cultural area of interest.

Do not use material incongruent with your interests as a vehicle for learning a language – it
will not work.

In the meantime, don’t let languages scare you off. It’s a checklist and a process of finding
material you enjoy with a good frequency.

4. Dr. Pesirla says: English now has become an Asian language. In fact, English is a
Filipino language.

The concept of English as an Asian language is based on the fact that English is here to stay
as an indispensable language for international communication and/or international
communication in many countries of the region. In Southeast Asia, for example, English is used
as an indisputable lingua franca for regional cooperation in the ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) organization comprising ten states.

All other countries recognize the extraordinary importance of English as a language of

The use of English as an Asian language encourages the teaching and learning of English in
Asian contexts. As such, the SEAMEO RELC (Southeast Asian Education Ministers'
Organization’s Regional Language Centre) stationed in Singapore hosts a large number of
teachers and students from other Asian countries for teacher training and language instruction.
Likewise, Philippine universities attract Asian students for ELT programs. The U.S.A. and the
U.K. used to be the places for ambitious students to go to in order to learn English. But now this
urge has comparatively weakened. Some Asian countries are added to a list of their destinations.

5. Learning a 2nd language without prior 1st language literacy:

Research* has shown that many skills acquired in the first language can be transferred to the
second language. So, for example, if your child has developed good reading skills in Filipino,
she is likely to be able to apply these skills when reading English. (One useful reading skill is the
ability to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words from context. Another one is the ability to
decide which new words in a text are important to look up in the dictionary and which words can
safely be ignored.) For this reason it helps if you can encourage your child to read good fiction
and non-fiction in her own language. Similarly, the skills of being able to plan out a piece of
writing or develop an argument in a persuasive essay can be applied in the second language once
they have been learned in the first.

Firstly, many children in international schools plan to return to their home country at some
point to continue their education there. This is a strong reason to make sure they do not have
gaps in mother tongue language or cognitive development. And secondly, ESL students who turn
against or otherwise neglect their mother tongue can often suffer from problems of identity loss
or alienation from their parents, and from their grandparents or other family members in their
home country.

For some students, developing mother tongue proficiency is easier because they have lessons
each week in their native language. For students who are not in this fortunate position, there is
still much that can be done to maintain the mother tongue. For example, parents can make sure
that they have good reference books or textbooks at home - in the native language. Students
should be encouraged to read good literature and to discuss school work. Some of the long
summer vacation could be devoted to mother-tongue learning and reading.Your children will
learn English much more effectively if they continue to develop their first language at the same
time. Reading skills transfer from language one to language two.Reading provides knowledge of
the world that makes second-language texts more comprehensible. The pleasure of the reading
habit itself transfers to the second language.