COURSE SPECIFICATION

Course Title Introduction to Linguistics

This course is to provide an overview of the nature of

language and a chance to do linguistic analysis. It will
help increase students’ awareness of major areas of
linguistics, its social significance, its universality, diversity
and complexity. It will also help improve students’
Course Description
analytical skills. Moreover, this course will consider
languages as structured systems of form and meaning,
with attention also to the biological, psychological,
cultural, and social aspects of language and language
use.

Units / Credit Equivalent 3 units

This course will encourage reflection on topics of

general linguistic interest, such as sociolinguistics,
psycholinguistics, language acquisition, language
policies, etc. It will equip students with knowledge and
Course Outcomes
skills in the five areas of phonetics, morphology, the
lexicon, syntax and semantics. Above all, it will support
the development of the students’ competence as
language learners.

Learning Outcomes

1. Students will examine their own linguistic beliefs and attitudes.

2. Students will be made aware of both the diversity of language systems and
their fundamental similarities.
3. Students will have a reasonable taste of most of the subfields of linguistics:
phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, synchronic and
diachronic linguistics, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics.
4. Students will be equipped with some tools, techniques, and skills for linguistic
analysis and practice in using these to arrive at organizing principles of a
language.
5. Students will be acquainted with the basic concepts necessary to pursue
linguistics studies further, if they wish.

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 EL 1: Introduction to Linguistics

Module No. & Title Module I: Brain and Language

Overview of language, animal communication and human

Module Overview language, the human brain & language development and
linguistic autobiographies.

At the end of this module the learners will be able to:

1. Trace back the origin of language using theories in

Module various human aspects;
Objectives/Outcomes 2. Identify the different components of the human brain
that contributes to the production of language;
3. Understand the autonomy of language as an inherent
human characteristic.

Lesson 1: The Origin of Language

Lessons in the
Lesson 2: Language and Brain Development
Module
Lesson 3: The Autonomy of Language

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 The Lesson Structure

Module No. and Title Module I: Brain and Language

Lesson No. and Title Lesson 1: The Origin of Language

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

a. Identify the different theories related to the origin of

language;
Learning Outcomes
b. Compare and contrast the different theories of
language;
c. Debate on the most appropriate theory that can be
attributed to the origin of language.

Time Frame Three (3) hours in one (1) week

Scholars and scientists have been arguing for centuries

about the origins of language and all the questions that tie
into this. The Linguistic Society of Paris – an organization
dedicated to the study of languages – actually banned any
debate on the issue in 1886 and did not retract it for several
years. But why is it such a topic of debate?

Perhaps it’s because language is such a unique and

complex skill. It is something that only humans are able to
Introduction
do. Over the years there have been numerous attempts to
teach apes to speak, and in particular chimpanzees – which
are human’s closest living relative. However, no other animal
has the vocal pathology necessary to speak the way we do.
Even attempting to teach chimps sign language has proven
fruitless, with no animal demonstrating skill above the level
of a two-year-old human. It seems the three things a creature
needs to speak like a human is a human’s brain, a human’s
vocal cords and a human’s intelligence.

 Presentation of the various theories on the origin of

language through Power Point Presentation
Activity  Class Discussion
 Class Debate

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 Judging Criteria and Marks

A. Substance/contents - 40 points
Clarity, structure focus, development, exposition,
knowledge of subject, balance. The speech should hold
the audience’s attention and be clearly structured. A wide
range of structure and vocabulary should be used, the
language well developed with minimal errors.

B. Style and technique - 30 points

Delivery and posture. Verbal technique: effective use
of rhetorical devices (e.g. metaphor, analogy, questions);
non-verbal technique (eye contact, gesture, volume ant
tone of voice, pitch and rate).

C. Questions - 20 points
Ability to deal with questions concisely and effectively.

D. General effectiveness - 10 points

TOTAL - 100 points

Questions to ponder:

“In the beginning was the Word,” reads the Gospel of

John 1:1. But what was this word? And where was it spoken?
Analysis
And how did humans come to speak it? Indeed, the origin of
language is one of the greatest mysteries in human science,
if not the greatest.

Prior to the Linguistic Society of Paris’ ban on discussing

it, the theories of how human language evolved were
humorous to say the least. However, modern theories sit in
one of two camps; Continuity or Discontinuity. Continuity
theories of language evolution hold that it must have
developed gradually, starting among the earliest ancestors
Abstraction
of humans, with different features developing at different
stages until people’s speech resembled what we have today.
Meanwhile, Discontinuity Theory suggests that because
there is nothing even remotely similar to compare human
language to, and it is likely to have appeared suddenly within
human history. This may have been as a result of a genetic

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 mutation within one individual, which was passed on through
their ancestors and eventually became a dominant ability.

The early theories of the origin of language all focus on

where the first words came from that developed into the rich
vocabularies spoken today. They are certainly imaginative –
and all have whimsical names to match. Max Müller, a
philologist and linguist, published a list of these theories in
the mid-19th century:

 Bow-wow
 Ding-Dong
 Pooh-pooh
 Yo-he-ho

Debate Topic:

Application The Origin of Language: Evolution’s Greatest Mystery.

Which theory do you support, Continuity or Discontinuity?

Even after finishing this lesson, it seems the answer to the

question of where and how human language evolved is that
Closure we may never have an answer. However, it remains a
problem we will never get tired of trying to resolve.

MODULE SUMMARY: Many religions provide an account of the origin of language. Since
the 1960s, the theory of grammar has come to be dominated by the ideas of Noam
Chomsky. For Chomsky, the central question of linguistics is the nature of the innate
biological endowment which enables humans to acquire a language so rapidly and
efficiently in the first years of life. Language is both a cultural phenomenon and also the
most salient distinguishing characteristic of modern Homo sapiens as a species.

REFERENCES:
Boeree, G. C. (2003). The origins of language. Webspace. Retrieved from
https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/langorigins.html on August 30, 2020.
Industry Blog. The origin of language: evolution’s greatest mystery. Language in Sight.
Retrieved from https://www.languageinsight.com/blog/2019/the-origin-of-
language-evolutions-greatest-mystery/ on August 30, 2020.

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 The Lesson Structure

Module No. and Title Module I: Brain and Language

Lesson No. and Title Lesson 2: Language and Brain Development

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

a. Identify the parts of the human brain relevant to

language development;
Learning Outcomes
b. Describe the role each brain structure involved in
language production;
c. Understand the brain development in relation to
mastery of language.

Time Frame Three (3) hours in one (1) week

Parents of young children and professionals working with

young children watch with anticipation the developmental
milestones indicating a child is picking up the skills expected
at a certain age. In the first year of life that focus is typically
on motor skills, in the second year attention shifts to
language development.

The development of communication through language is

an instinctive process. Language is our most common
means of interacting with one another, and children begin
the process naturally. Neurobiologist Dr. Lise Eliot writes:
Introduction “the reason language is instinctive is because it is, to a large
extent, hard-wired in the brain. Just as we evolve neural
circuits for eating and seeing, so has our brain, together with
a sophisticated vocal apparatus, evolved a complex neural
circuit for rapidly perceiving, analyzing, composing, and
producing language” (Eliot, 1999).

However, that the experiences provided in a child’s

environment are critical for the development of language. It
is this interplay of nature and nurture that results in our ability
to communicate, but the process of learning language begins
with how the brain is structured.

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  Presentation of the illustration of the human brain
responsible for speech development.
 Brainstorming

Judging Criteria and Marks

A. Level of Engagement in Class - 25 points

Proactively contributes to class by offering ideas
and/or asks questions.

B. Listening Skills - 25 points

Activity
Listens when others talk, both in groups and in class
and incorporates or builds off of the ideas of others.

C. Behavior - 25points
Never displays disruptive behavior during class.

D. Preparation - 25 points
Prepares for class with assignments and required
class materials.

TOTAL - 100 points

Questions to ponder:

 How does brain growth influence language

Analysis development?
 What are the factors affecting language
development?

Language acquisition is one of the most fundamental

human traits, and it is obviously the brain that undergoes the
developmental changes. During the years of language
acquisition, the brain not only stores linguistic information but
also adapts to the grammatical regularities of language.
Recent advances in functional neuroimaging have
Abstraction
substantially contributed to systems-level analyses of brain
development.

Broca’s area is primarily responsible for language

production; damage to this area results in productive
aphasia. Wernicke’s area is primarily responsible for

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 language comprehension; damage to this area results in
receptive aphasia. The primary auditory cortex identifies
pitch and loudness of sounds. The angular gyrus is
responsible for several language processes, including (but
not limited to) attention and number processing.

How can you promote language development in the

Application
classroom?

This lesson teaches us that without the brain, there

would be no language. The human brain has a few areas
that are specific to language processing and production.
When these areas are damaged or injured, capabilities for
Closure
speaking or understanding can be lost. These areas must
function together in order for a person to develop, use, and
understand language.

MODULE SUMMARY: Language acquisition is one of the most fundamental human

traits, and it is obviously the brain that undergoes the developmental changes. During the
years of language acquisition, the brain not only stores linguistic information but also
adapts to the grammatical regularities of language.

REFERENCES:
Sakai, K. (December 2005). Language acquisition and brain development. Research
Gate. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7496219_Language_Acquisition_and_
Brain_Development on August 30, 2020.

Shiver, E. (April 2001). Brain development and mastery of language in the early childhood
years. IDRA Newsletter Retrieved from https://www.idra.org/resource-
center/brain-development-and-mastery-of-language-in-the-early-childhood-years/
on August 28, 2020.

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 The Lesson Structure

Module No. and Title Module I: Brain and Language

Lesson No. and Title Lesson 3: The Autonomy of Language

At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

a. Define what is language autonomy;

Learning Outcomes b. Elaborate autonomy of language: systems and
processes;
c. Promote peace and oneness through the use of
language.

Time Frame Three (3) hours in one (1) week

For a long time language used to be considered as the

key that could open the door to the system of human thought,
it was a means to get to know something outside language
itself, the “means to a transcendent knowledge, not the goal
of an imminent knowledge”. Thus, the theory of speech
sounds became pure physics or physiology and the theory
Introduction
of signs pure psychology, logic or ontology. The danger of
overlooking language itself in these studies was the greater
as language wants to be overlooked, its natural tendency is
to be a means, not an end, and it is only by artifice that the
searchlight can be directed on the means itself of obtaining
knowledge.

 Presentation of the systems and processes of

human language.
 Brainstorming

Judging Criteria and Marks

Activity
A. Level of Engagement in Class - 25 points
Proactively contributes to class by offering ideas
and/or asks questions.

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 B. Listening Skills - 25 points
Listens when others talk, both in groups and in class
and incorporates or builds off of the ideas of others.

C. Behavior - 25points
Never displays disruptive behavior during class.

D. Preparation - 25 points
Prepares for class with assignments and required
class materials.

TOTAL - 100 points

Questions to ponder:

Analysis  What is language autonomy?

 What are the features of human language?

Many philosophers have offered arguments that aim to

establish that the diversity of human cultures is important in
one way or another. These philosophers claim that, other
things being equal, we ought to celebrate and attempt to
preserve cultural diversity, or at the very least, that it would
not be wrong for us to do so. Many linguists and
anthropologists, not to mention journalists and laypeople,
have expressed the idea that the diversity of human
languages is important in one way or another. They claim
that, other things being equal, we ought to do what we can
to prevent languages from becoming extinct, to document
those that are beyond the point of viability, or at the very
Abstraction least, to lament the diminishing linguistic diversity that is a
fact about our world.

A variety of language is said to be autonomous if it has

an independent cultural status. This may occur if the variety
is structurally different from all others, a situation Heinz Kloss
called abstand. Thus, language isolates such as Basque are
necessarily autonomous. Where several closely related
varieties are found together, a standard language is
autonomous because it has its own orthography,
dictionaries, grammar books and literature.

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 Application How can you promote unity with the use of language?

This lesson reminds us that language is basically

autonomous. It may influence or be influenced by other
languages and peoples, but the assimilation of such
Closure
influences is dictated by the natural possibilities which it
possesses.

MODULE SUMMARY: Language autonomy is an approach of generative grammar in

which the syntactic component of a grammar is viewed as existing or operating
independently of the semantic component and abstract syntactic representation is not
equivalent to semantic representation.

REFERENCES:
L. Hjelmslev, Über die Beziehungen der Phonetik zur Sprachwissenschajt. (1938). Archiv
f. Vergl. Phonetik II p. 132. Retrieved from Google Scholar on August 28, 2020.
Hjelmslev. (, 1938). The syllable as a structural unit. Proceedings of the Third
International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, 1938, p. 266–272. Retrieved from
Google Scholar on August 28, 2020.

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