1. UNIT ONE
THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE

2. The units we are going to learn
Unit 1:　Popular　reading
Unit 2: academic reading
Unit 3: Popular　reading
Unit 5: academic reading
Unit 6: Popular　reading
Unit 9: journal reading
Unit 10: academic reading
Unit 14: academic reading
Unit 15: academic reading

3. What we will do ? Preparatory work Content-based learning
Critical thinking
Presentation and discussion
Extended reading

4. Assessment of your performance
Final exam (60%)
Performance in class (40%)

5. Teaching contents
Period of lessons
Brief introduction to Book Ⅰ, lead-in, preparatory work
2 periods
Understanding the text, critical thinking, language enhancement
4 periods
Conclusion and intercultural reflection, Text B

6. Teaching objectives Reading skills Communicative competence
Critical thinking
Intercultural competence

7. Lead-in
Critical reading
Language enhancement
Extended reading

8. Lead in

9. Why Study Language? Language is only a means of communication.
The function of language is to exchange information.
English is more difficult to learn than Chinese.
Language operates by rules.
Language slowly changes.

10. What is Language?
Language “is not to be confused with human speech, of which it is only a definite part, though certainly an essential one. It is both a social product of the faculty of speech and a collection of necessary conventions that have been adopted by a social body to permit individuals to exercise that faculty”.
--Ferdinand de Saussure ( ): Course in General Linguistics (1916)

11. “Language is a purely human and non- instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.”
--Edward Sapir ( ):
Language: An Introduction to the
Study of Speech (1921)

12. “From now on I will consider language to be a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.”
--Noam Chomsky (1928- ): Syntactic Structures (1957)

14. Design Features of Language

15. Language distinguishes human beings from animals in that it is far more sophisticated than any animal communication system.
Human language is ‘unique’

16. Could you explain the four design features of language, based on your research?
Arbitrariness
Duality
Creativity
Displacement

17. Cultural diversity
Please look at the following illustrations, and describe them in English, based on your understanding.

18. In Expressing Opinions

19. Life Style

20. Time and Punctuality

21. Interpersonal Relationship

22. Display of Anger

23. Self

24. Seen on Sundays and Streets

25. Understanding the Text
Scan the whole text for the topic sentences in each paragraph if there is , and group them into four parts.

26. Part Ⅱ written language and spoken language
Part Ⅰ Introduction
Part Ⅱ written language and spoken language
Part Ⅲ
body language
Part Ⅳ conclusion

27. Hierarchy of written language(para.2)
Letters
Words
Sentences
Paragraphs
Chapters
book

28. Discussion:
Can you give some examples to show the complexities of written language at the levels of alphabet, words, sentences and discourse respectively?

29. Complexity in alphabet and word-formation:
Industry
Industrialize
Industrialization

30. enthusiastic Unenthusias-tically

31. Complexity in sentence:
Human beings have distinguished themselves   from other animals, and in doing so ensured  their survival, by the ability to observe and  understand their environment and then either   to adapt to that environment or to control and   adapt it to their own needs.  

32. Hierarchy of spoken language(para.3)
Sounds
Syllables
Sentences
Conversation/speeches

33. Discussion
Can you give some examples to show the complexities of spoken language at the levels of sounds, words, sentences and dialogues respectively?

34. Originality of Language: Making new sentences (para.5)
Twelve policemen
Along the beach
Wear yellow socks
Rode donkeys

35. Twelve policemen wearing yellow socks rode donkeys along the beach.
Twelve policemen, riding donkeys along the beach, wore yellow socks.

36. Discussion
Following Crystal’s donkey example, can you make up a few sentences that nobody has ever said before? What does this tell us about language?

37. Originality of Language: creating new words (para.6)
Merry “unbirthday”

38. “ I will unspeak what I said”.

39. Discussion
‘Un-’ is a frequently used prefix that can be attached to a large number of words to form new words. Can you think of more prefixes and words containing those prefixes? What does this tell us about language?

40. Body language(para.7)

42. Three differences between language and body language
Differences in scale
Differences in creativity
Differences in structure

43. Differences in scale
Over a million
A few dozen

44. Differences in creativity
New words ?
New facial expressions?

45. Differences in structure
“two-level” structure
One fixed meaning?

46. Rules of Grammar The boys saw the dog. The dog saw the boy.
He got up early this morning.
This morning, he got up early.

47. Sign language(para.12)

48. Touching and Helen Keller’s “language”(para.13)

49. Conclusion(para.14-15):
Language is unique and complex.

50. Assignment Paragraph writing
Please write a paragraph to compare and contrast the life in city and life in countryside. you may refer to paragraph 9.

51. Assignment
Please go to library or search information on line, to prepare for the in-class discussion about the topics on Page 11.
Group 1 and 2: topic 1
Group 3 and 4: topic 2
Group 5 and group 6: topic 3
Group 7 and group 8: topic 4
BACK

52. Extended reading
The e-version of A little Book of Language. (some chapters are recommended)
Text B

53. Intercultural reflection, based on Text A and Text B.