Functions of the English Language

Functions of the English language

The Purpose of Language

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The Purpose of Language

A means of conveying information An instrument of action To maintain social relationships--allows us to make and keep friends. This function is usually more informal than others. Acting as a marker of groups-establishing that the people involved in the conversation are involved, marking them as a group.

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The Purpose of Language5. As an instrument of cognitive and conceptual development--the power of language to influence thinking. This is why we have many words that mean basically the same thing, because they all have slight differences or are used in different circumstances .

6. As an art form, language can be purposed towards beauty for beauty's sake.*

Functions of LanguageInformative language function => the communication of information. The informative function affirms or denies propositions, as in science.This function is used to describe the world or reason about it (e.g.., whether a state of affairs is true or false).These sentences have a truth value; hence, they are important for logic.*

Functions of LanguageExpressive language function: reports feelings or attitudes of the writer (or speaker), or of the subject, or evokes feelings in the reader (or listener ).Poetry is one of the best examples . Two main aspects are generally noted: (1) to evoke certain feelings and (2) to express feelings. Expressive discourse,quaexpressive discourse, is best regarded as neither true or false. *

Functions of LanguageDirective language function language used for the purpose of causing (or preventing) overt actions. The directive function is most commonly found in commands and requests.Directive language is not normally considered true or false (although a logic of commands have been developed).Example: "Close the windows." *

RememberIt is rare for discourse just to serve only one function.

(logical) clarity is required, but, at the same time, ease of expression often demands some expression of attitudes.

Most ordinary kinds of discourse is mixed . *

Other uses of language Ceremonial--probably something quite different from simply mixing the expressive and directive language functions. Performative utterances: language which performs the action it reports. For example, "I do" in the marriage ceremony and the use of performative verbs such as "accept," "apologize," "congratulate," and "promise." These words denote an action which is performed by using the verb in the first person. *

Other uses of languagePhaticlanguage: "Elevator talk" and street-corner conversations. Note the transition to behavior, as in body language.*

Forms of Language(types of sentences) Much discourse serves all three functions-one cannot always identify the form with the function. Consider this chart for the following possibilities. *

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Usual Function /

Sentence Type

Informative

Expressive

Directive

assertion /

declarative

The room is cool.

I had a nice time.

I would like some coffee.

question /

interrogative

But isn't this room 222A?

Isn't that great?

Don't you want to help me?

command /

imperative /

Read pages 1-10 for the test.

Have a nice day.

Shut the windows.

exclamation /

exclamatory

The universe is bounded1

I'm really glad!

It's late!

importance of the differentiationThe difference of functions is the correct evaluation of a passage requires a knowledge of the functions relevant to the situation. 1. A person who says to the waiter, "I would like a cup of coffee," is not just reporting a psychological state of affairs. I.e., it would be inappropriate for the waiter to respond with, "Speaking of things I would like, how about a BMW?2. Other things being equal, a biology text is predominately informative, a novel is predominately expressive, but a logic or mathematics text is directive.*

Literal and Emotive Meaning

single words or short phrases can exhibit the distinction between purely informative and partially expressive uses of language. Many of the most common words and phrases of any language have both a literal or descriptive meaning that refers to the way things are and anemotive meaningthat expresses some (positive or negative) feeling about them. *

Literal and Emotive MeaningThis is a natural function of ordinary language, of course. We often do wish to convey some portion of our feelings along with information .There is a good deal of poetry in everyday communication, and poetry without emotive meaning is pretty dull. primarily interested in establishing the truth the use of words laden with emotive meaning can easily distract us from our purpose.*

In conclusion..most directly helpful to eliminate emotive meaning entirely whenever we can. Although it isn't always easy to achieve emotively neutral language in every instance, and the result often lacks the colourful character of our usual public discourse, it is worth the trouble, as it makes it much easier to arrive at a settled understanding of what is true. *

COMMUNICATION PROCESSCommunicationis the process of transmitting and receiving of information throughverbalor nonverbal behavior.

communicationmust be the intention of conveying a message. A two-way process between two parties.

Oral-Aural Communication

Written-Visual Communication.

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CommunicationOral-aural communicationThe communiative skills involved are speaking and listening,the productive and receptive skills.

Written-Visual CommunicationWriting and reading, the productive and receptive skills. *

WHY WE COMMUNICATE

To initiate some actionTo impart information, ideas, attitudes, beliefs or feelingsTo establish, acknowledge or maintain links or relations with other people.

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HOW WE COMMUNICATE

CommunicationcycleEffectivecommunicationis a two-way process, perhaps best expressed as a cycle. Signals or messages are sent by the communicator and received by the other party. He sends back some form of confirmation that the message has been received and understood: this is called feedback.*

Stages ofCommunicationProcessSENDERS ACTIVITYImpulse to communicateEncoding the MessageRelay of MessageRECEIVERS ACTIVITYDecoding the MessageFeedback

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Communicative processThe information source (brain) emits a message which is encoded for transmission.

This message passes through the transmitter ( the mouth) to a receiver (the ear) which then sends it to the destination (the brain) for decoding . *

VARIABLES OF COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNIATION

NON-VOCALVOCAL

VISUAL TACTILE NON-SPEECH SPEECHOLFACTORYPHYSICAL(KINETIC)

PHYSIOLOGICAL EMOTION VOICE QUALITY PARALINGUISTICREFLEXES MARKERS DIFFERENCES EFFECTS*

NON-VOCALSimple & basic.eg:someone stares at you with wide open eyes just as you enter a room, you will wonder whether you have done something wrong or wearing something odd,etc.No exchange of words at all to communicate this kind of message.Communication via the eyes*

NON-VOCALTactile touch of handOlfactory twitching of the noseKinetic actual body movement = body language.All are modes of communication which send messages across to the recipient with no voice involved.Eg: sadness place hands on shoulder, a hug*

Vocal communicationnon-speechNon -speech=> any kind of communication which uses the vocal cords but with no speech as such.

Types of non-speech modes => psychological reflexes, emotion markers, voice-quality & paralinguistic effects. *

non-speech modesPsychological markerseg: yawn / purposeful cough. Indicate bored with conversationSaying something wrongEmotion markersUniversal modes of communication indicate some kind of feeling.Eg: a sigh/ a sob. *

non-speech modesVoice quality differences=>a raised voice by school discipline master without saying anything but just Mmm?Raised intonation.Voiced produced at the larynx. a whisper, to indicate not to let anyone else hear or know.Paralinguistic effects --hiccups,belching,laughter ,humming..Different cultures, have different intrepretations.

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Types ofnon-verbalcommunication ProxemicsOrientationEye contact or gazeFacial expressionGesture, especially use of hands and armsDressPostureParalanguage

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ProxemicsThe study of how we handle the space around us, especially in relation to other peopleHuman beings are territorial!We create for ourselves spaces that belong to us and to which we try carefully to control access

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Orientation

Closely linked to the concept of proxemicsThe way in which people place themselves relative to one anotherWhen someone comes sits next to you, it is generally seen as a much friendlier (closeness) orientation than someone who sits directly opposite (potentially confrontational) to you.Why do we feel uncomfortable when people stand behind us?Describe how a detective ask a suspect of murder case.

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Eye Contact

Important way in which we communicate our feelings towards other peopleInitial eye contact to assess a strangerStaring identified as threatening form or behaviourIf we staring at someone, their behaviour will change, often becoming either defensive or at the other extreme aggressive towards youDeeply suspicious of people who cannot look us in the eye; they are seen as shifty or people with something to hideGazing look steadily; men gaze at women, sometimes in intimidating wayEye contact can be an index of the closeness of a relationship that people share

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Facial Expression

We face other people when we talkFacial expression is bound to be an important indicator to other people of our attitudes, state of mind and relationships to themHuman face has a complex arrangement of muscles that allows us to produce a whole range of different expressions, most of which are an index of our feelings (happy, sad, pain, etc.)Smiling important facial gesture that indicate that we pleased to see other people

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Gesture (Hands and arms)

Gestures, e.g: handshakeChanging their meanings over a period of timeHow to tell someone to be quiet in a library?We use gesture when our voice engaged, e.g: talking on the telephone, we used gesture to tell another person to come and sit downMany of the gestures are automatic. When we speaking on the telephone, we often make hand gesturesGestures that we make for pushing people away vs. drawing them towards us.

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Dress

Dress we combine items of clothing and the appropriateness of certain types of styles of dress to specific situation.Funeral people wear black or dark coloured clothes as a symbol or mourning ~ avoid colour clashes.The clothes we wear make a statement about ourselves ~ interpretation by other people *

Dress

Time dependent dress codeOffice - formalRelaxing or socialising casualInitial judgments about people because of their clothesDress one aspect of the physical appearanceHairstyle, jewellery, make-up, body adornment and body modificationOpen for interpretation by other people

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Posture

The way in which we position our bodiesEarly age:sit up straight, shoulder back instruction heard at home or schoolUpright posture people who have confident (police, army)Posture is another sign of the status and role within society (army, police)

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PostureUse posture as one means of indicating to another person our feelings of friendship or hostilityhands on hips confrontational and hostileGroup imitating the postures of the people they are with (mirroring, postural congruence)Cross legs, fold their armsReinforce group identities

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Paralanguage

Those utterances that we make when we are speakingWhen we speak, we make noise that arent words (um or ah), we raise and lower voices, we pause, we stress some wordsImportant aspect of the message when we are communicatingE.g: The house is on fire ~statement The house is on fire! ~ stressedVoice intonation (pitch)- indicator of intentionFlow of voiceConsider following regional accents:Johor/Kelantan/N.Sembilan/PenangDo you have accent?How this make you react to these accents?

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ISLPrepare a 3-minute mime (non-verbal communication) of a situation of your choice for tutorial Week 3

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TUTORIAL WEEK 2Group work:Role play dialogue based on ISL Week 1.Identify the functions used.*

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