Speech

and
Theater
Arts
FY [Year]
GUIDE MODULE 2: VIEWS ON LANGUGAE

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space for a brief summary of the document content.]
 HOW THIS MODULE WORKS
Table of Contents

LEARNING PROGRAM Paradigm

This model depicts the entirety of the program. It makes use of various online platforms which
also serve different purposes depending on the needs of the learners, availability of the
technology that they have, and taking into account data plans as well as their literacy on the
media which are stated above.

This module is also aligned with the OBE Syllabus, ensuring that the instructions are mirrored
on practical evidences of learning embodying their introspection.

On each module, the teacher has to check students’ progress personally by asking questions
that go beyond literal and inferential understanding thru Audio/Video calls to guarantee
assessment.
 OBJECTIVES
Table of Contents

COURSE OBJECTIVES

a. Demonstrate communication management and leadership

skills
b. Practice Communication theories, principles, and practices for
effective communication
c. Develop an in-depth understanding of Theorical and Applied
principles of Speech Communication and Theater Arts

GENERAL

MODULE 2: Learning Outcomes

a. Research on additional information on Views on

language.
b. Share notes of ideas learned through a simple form.
c. Write a short essay about a particular view on
language.
VIEWS ON LANGUAGE
STRUCTURALISTS
The structuralists believe that language
can be described in terms of observable
and verifiable data as it is being used. They
also describe language in terms of its
structure and according to the regularities
and patterns or rules in language structure.
To them, language is a system of speech
sounds, arbitrarily assigned to the objects,
states, and concepts to which they refer,
used for human communication.

• Language is primarily
vocal.

Language is speech,
primarily made up of
vocal sounds
produced by the
speech apparatus in
the human body. The
primary medium of
language is speech;
the written record is
but a secondary
representation of the
language. Writing is
only the graphic
representation of the
sounds of the
language. While
most languages have writing systems, a number of languages continue to exist,
even today, in the spoken form only, without any written form. Linguists claim
that speech is primary, writing secondary. Therefore, it is assumed that speech
has a priority in language teaching.
 Table of Contents

• Language is a system of systems. Language is not a disorganized or a chaotic

combination of sounds. Sounds are arranged in certain fixed or established, systematic
order to form meaningful units or words. For example, no word in English starts with bz-,
lr- or zl- combination, but there are those that begin with spr- and str- (as in spring and
string). In like manner, words are also arranged in a particular system to generate
acceptable meaningful sentences. The sentence “Shen bought a new novel” is
acceptable but the group of words “Shen bought new novel a” is unacceptable, since the
word order of the latter violates the established convention in English grammar, the
Subject-Verb-Object or S-V-O word order.

Language is a system of structurally related elements or ‘building blocks’ for the encoding of
meaning, the elements being phonemes (sounds), morphemes (words), tagmemes (phrases and
sentences/clauses). Language learning, it is assumed, entails mastering the elements or building
blocks of the language and learning the rules by which these elements are combined, from
phoneme to morpheme to word to phrase to sentence.
Pg. 01 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

* Language is arbitrary. There is no inherent relation between the words of a

language and their meanings or the ideas conveyed by them. Put another way, there is no one
to one correspondence between the structure of a word and the thing it stands for. There is no
‘sacred’ reason why an animal that flies is called ibon in Filipino, pajaro in Spanish, bird in
English. Selection of these words in the languages mentioned here is purely an accident of
history that native speakers of the languages have agreed on. Through the years reference to
such animal has become an established convention that cannot be easily changed.

That language is arbitrary means that the relationship between the words and the ‘things’ they
denote is merely conventional, i.e. native speakers of English, in some sense, agreed to use the
sounds / kæt / ‘cat’ in English because native speakers of English ‘want’ it to be.
Pg. 02 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

COGNITIVISTS

The transformationalists/cognitivists believe that language is a system of knowledge made

manifest in linguistic forms but innate and, in its most abstract form, universal.

Language is innate.

The presence of the language acquisition device (LAD) in the human brain predisposes all
normal children to acquire their first language in an amazingly short time, around five
years since birth.

Language is creative. It enables native speakers to produce and understand sentences they
have not heard nor used before.
Pg. 03 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

• Language is a mental phenomenon. It is not mechanical.

• Language is universal. It is universal in the sense that all normal children the world over
acquire a mother tongue but it is also universal in the sense that, at a highly abstract
level, all languages must share key features of human languages, such as all languages
have sounds; all languages have rules that form sounds into words, words into phrases
and clauses; and all languages have transformation rules that enable speakers to ask
questions, negate sentences, issue orders, defocus the doer of the action, etc.
Pg. 04 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

FUNCTIONALISTS

The functionalists believe that language is a dynamic system through which members of speech
community exchange information. It is a vehicle for the expression of functional meaning such
as expressing one’s emotions, persuading people, asking and giving information, making people
do things for others.

This view of language emphasizes the meaning and functions rather than the grammatical
characteristics of language, and leads to a language teaching content consisting of categories
of meaning/notions and functions rather than of elements of structure and grammar.
Pg. 05 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

INTERACTIONALIST
The interactionists believe that language is a vehicle for establishing interpersonal relations and
for performing social transactions between individuals. It is a tool for creating and maintaining
social relations through conversations. Language teaching content, according to this view, may
be specified and organized by patterns of exchange and interaction.
Pg. 06 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

RECALL
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pg. 07 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

REFLECT
Write a short essay on a particular view on language which you agree the most.

CRITERIA

Content 10pts

Reasoning 10 pts

Grammar 10 pts
Pg. 08 VIEWS ON LANGUAGE

Making connections
• Research on articles concerning the topic in this module. Provide
additional information worthy of sharing to your classmates.
• Input data on the given table below.

Things I SHARED Things I have RECEIVED

Pg. 09 READINGS

READINGS
NOTE

Control + Click to follow the link

MODULE 1 COMMUNICATION

COMMUNICATION PROCESS

1. Communication/Process/Elements
2. Communication Models
3. Noam Chomsky LAD
4. Chomsky’s LAD
5. MAXIMS OF CONVERSATION