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Showing posts with the label linguistics

What is morphology?

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Source

What letters are used most frequently in English?

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What is the 'language instinct'?

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In the early 1960s the linguist and cognitive scientist Noam Chomsky developed a theory which became known as universal grammar. The posited that we are born with the innate capacity to master a language.

Why did English become the 'global language'?

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English is the world's leading lingua franca or second language (see L2 speakers in the table below). According to David Crystal, this has nothing to do with its inherent qualities. Other linguists disagree: Read More  Download English Language FAQ Teaching Pack only £1.99

What is a descriptivist? And a prescriptivist?

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Listen to this short description of two key words in linguistics: descriptivist and prescriptivist .

Do the languages we speak shape the way we think?

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The Tower of Babel' by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563 Do they merely express thoughts, or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express? Stanford psychology professor  Lera Boroditsky makes has some surprising observations about the relationship between language and thought. How do we come to be the way we are? Why do we think the way we do? An important part of the answer, it turns out, is in the languages we speak.  Full text here Language & Thought: Chicken & Egg English Language 100 FAQ Teaching Pack     -  only £1.99 using discount code  CQDWKF0

What is Miller's Magical Number Seven? How has it influenced the way we teach languages?

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The psychologist George A Miller  had an incalculable influence on the new academic discipline of cognitive science and the still disputed notion of psycho-linguistics. His research focussed on working memory - the way the mind processes information.  He observed that the brain encountering the unfamiliar, could absorb roughly seven new things at a time.When asked to repeat a random list of letters, words or numbers, he wrote, people got stuck “somewhere in the neighborhood of seven.” Some people could recall nine items on the list, some fewer than seven. But regardless of the things being recalled — colors and tastes, numbers with decimals, numbers without decimals, consonants, vowels — seven was the statistical average for short-term storage. (Long-term memory, which followed another cognitive formula, was virtually unlimited.) From NYT obituary 02/08/2012 Why is Miller's work important for language teachers? In practical terms this means that the mind best processes new

What is a descriptivist? A prescriptivist?

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In linguistics very long words sometimes describe straightforward ideas. Listen to this short description of two key words: descriptivist and prescriptivist. listen to ‘What do linguists mean by descriptivist and prescriptivist?’ on Audioboo Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know to Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics & Grammar The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics (Oxford Paperback Reference) Teaching English as a Foreign Language For Dummies E.S.L - English As A Second Language

Is the importance of English overstated?

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A recent article challenges the idea that English is the unstoppable homogenizing world language  ...  it would also be a big mistake to overestimate the reach of English. Though it is widely assumed that the planet is becoming more linguistically homogeneous, hard evidence suggests otherwise. Most of the approximately six thousand languages in use today are indeed spoken by relatively small communities, nearly half by populations of less than ten thousand. Although a great many of these idioms are in danger of dying, many new languages and dialects are coming into existence as well. More broadly, there are a number of major world languages other than English, used by large portions of the planet’s inhabitants, in the context of dynamic social, cultural, and economic activities. Fifteen idioms are spoken by at least one hundred million people—including Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese, and French. At around one billion, there are more than twice as many speakers

How do we learn language?

How many letters does the Hawaiian language use?

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Only 12 letters when using the English alphabet. On 20 August, 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA. To mark the occasion here are some fun facts about the world's biggest producer of pineapples. listen to ‘Fun Facts about Hawaii’ on Audioboo

Why are bilinguals 'smarter'?

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Because they exercise their brains more - at least according to a recent New York Times article: It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles. Full article Incidentally, in British English 'smarter' usually refers to personal appearance rather than intelligence. .

Why is English a 'weird' language?

According to linguist John McWhorter it's because the Vikings learned it badly!

Why are there so many languages?

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Leading linguist Noam Chomsky poses one of the central question in this short video here . The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics (Oxford Paperback Reference)

How do children learn language?

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Child Language: Acquisition and Development