The Grammar Translation Method (GTM)
The Grammar Translation Method (GTM)
CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND
A. Introduction
GTM is not a new thing in language learning, which is only slightly
different. The name that has been used by language teachers for a few
years ago. In ancient times this method is called the "classical method"
of the time used in the classical language learning, such as Latin and
Greek. At the beginning of this century, this method is used to assist
students in reading and understanding a foreign language literature. But
it is also expected that it is in studying or understanding the grammar
of the desired target language, students will become more familiar with
the language rules in accordance with the source language and a deeper
understanding of this will further help them in reading and writing
according to the source language to be better.
Finally concluded that it is studying a foreign language will help the
development of students in developing intellectual, it can be recognized
that the students will never use the target language, but learning is
very much needed mental
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Definition
The grammar-translation method of foreign language teaching is one of
the most traditional methods, dating back to the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. It was originally used to teach 'dead'
languages (and literatures) such as Latin and Greek
B. Caracteristic
The grammar translation method has eihgt caracteristic
1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.
2. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
3. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.
4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words.
5. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.
6. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.
7. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother tongue.
8. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
C. Techniques
The grammar translation method has nine Techniques :
1. Translation of a Literary Passage (Translating target language to native language)
2. Reading Comprehension Questions (Finding information in a passage, making inferences and relating to personal experience)
3. Antonyms/Synonyms (Finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words).
4. Cognates (Learning spelling/sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language)
5. Deductive Application of Rule (Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, then applying them to new examples)
6. Fill-in-the-blanks (Filling in gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular grammar type).
7. Memorization (Memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms)
8. Use Words in Sentences (Students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use of new words)
9. Composition (Students write about a topic using the target language).
D. Advantages
a. The phraseology of the target language is quickly explained.
Translation is the easiest way of explaining meanings or words and
phrases from one language into another. Any other method of explaining
vocabulary items in the second language is found time consuming. A lot
of time is wasted if the meanings of lexical items are explained through
definitions and illustrations in the second language. Further, learners
acquire some short of accuracy in understanding synonyms in the source
language and the target language.
b. Teacher’s labour is saved. Since the textbooks are taught through the
medium of the mother tongue, the teacher may ask comprehension
questions on the text taught in the mother tongue. Pupils will not have
much difficulty in responding to questions on the mother tongue. So, the
teacher can easily assess whether the students have learnt what he has
taught them. Communication between the teacher and the learners does not
cause linguistic problems. Even teachers who are not fluent in English
can teach English through this method. That is perhaps the reason why
this method has been practiced so widely and has survived so long
E. Disadvantages
a. It is an unnatural method. The natural order of learning a language
is listening, speaking, reading and writing. That is the way how the
child learns his mother tongue in natural surroundings. But in the
Grammar Translation Method the teaching of the second language starts
with the teaching of reading. Thus, the learning process is reversed.
This poses problems.
b. Speech is neglected. The Grammar Translation Method lays emphasis on
reading and writing. It neglects speech. Thus, the students who are
taught English through this method fail to express themselves adequately
in spoken English. Even at the undergraduate stage they feel shy of
communicating through English. It has been observed that in a class,
which is taught English through this method, learners listen to the
mother tongue more than that to the second/foreign language. Since
language learning involves habit formation such students fail to acquire
habit of speaking English. Thus, they have to pay a heavy price for
being taught through this method.
c. Exact translation is not possible. Translation is, indeed, a
difficult task and exact translation from one language to another is not
always possible. A language is the result of various customs,
traditions, and modes of behavior of a speech community and these
traditions differ from community to community. There are several lexical
items in one language, which have no synonyms/equivalents in another
language. For instance, the meaning of the English word ‘table’ does not
fit in such expression as the ‘table of contents’, ‘table of figures’,
‘multiplication table’, ‘time table’ and ‘table the resolution’, etc.
English prepositions are also difficult to translate. Consider sentences
such as ‘We see with our eyes’, ‘Bombay is far from Delhi’, ‘He died of
cholera’, He succeeded through hard work’. In these sentences ‘with’,
‘from’, ‘of’, ‘through’ can be translated into the Hindi preposition
‘se’ and vice versa. Each language has its own structure, idiom and
usage, which do not have their exact counterparts in another language.
Thus, translation should be considered an index of one’s proficiency in a
language.
d. It does not give pattern practice. A person can learn a language only
when he internalizes its patterns to the extent that they form his
habit. But the Grammar Translation Method does not provide any such
practice to the learner of a language. It rather attempts to teach
language through rules and not by use. Researchers in linguistics have
proved that to speak any language, whether native or foreign entirely by
rule is quite impossible. Language learning means acquiring certain
skills, which can be learnt through practice and not by just memorizing
rules. The persons who have learnt a foreign or second language through
this method find it difficult to give up the habit of first thinking in
their mother tongue and than translating their ideas into the second
language. They, therefore, fail to get proficiency in the second
language approximating that in the first language. The method,
therefore, suffers from certain weaknesses for which there is no remedy
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
The Grammar Translation Method was developed for the study of “dead”
languages and to facilitate access to those languages’ classical
literature. That’s the way it should stay. English is certainly not a
dead or dying language, so any teacher that takes “an approach for dead
language study” into an English language classroom should perhaps think
about taking up Math or Science instead. Rules, universals and memorized
principles apply to those disciplines – pedagogy and communicative
principles do not.
REFERENCES
Larsen-Freeman, Diane. (1986) Techniques and Principles of Language Teaching, OxfordUniversity Press.
Billah,MD.M. “Teaching English through English Medium”. The New Nation.Online. 20 Nov 2005.
2. Brown, D.H. Teaching by Principles:An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Longman: New York,2001.
3. Dr. Shahidullah, M., Islam. J., Majid , I. A. N. and Haque,M.S. English For Today for Classes 11-12.Dhaka.NCTB, 2001.
4. Dr. Shahidullah,M.,Islam,J., Majid, I. A.N. and Haque,M.S. Teacher’s
Guide for English For Today For Casses 11-12.Dhaka.ELTIP, 2001.
5. Larsen-Freeman,D. Techniques and Principles of Language Teaching. Oxford:OxfordUniversity Press, 1981.
6. Shahzadi,N.,Rabbani,F.,Tasmin,S. English For today for Classes 9-10.Dhaka.NCTB, 2002.
Rabu, 29 April 2015
Drama
WHAT THIS HANDOUT IS ABOUT
This handout identifies common questions about drama, describes the elements of drama that are most often discussed in theater classes, provides a few strategies for planning and writing an effective drama paper, and identifies various resources for research in theater history and dramatic criticism. We’ll give special attention to writing about productions and performances of plays.
WHAT IS DRAMA? AND HOW DO YOU WRITE ABOUT IT?
When we describe a situation or a person’s behavior as “dramatic,” we usually mean that it is intense, exciting (or excited), striking, or vivid. The works of drama that we study in a classroom share those elements. For example, if you are watching a play in a theatre, feelings of tension and anticipation often arise because you are wondering what will happen between the characters on stage. Will they shoot each other? Will they finally confess their undying love for one another? When you are reading a play, you may have similar questions. Will Oedipus figure out that he was the one who caused the plague by killing his father and sleeping with his mother? Will Hamlet successfully avenge his father’s murder?
For instructors in academic departments—whether their classes are about theatrical literature, theater history, performance studies, acting, or the technical aspects of a production—writing about drama often means explaining what makes the plays we watch or read so exciting. Of course, one particular production of a play may not be as exciting as it’s supposed to be. In fact, it may not be exciting at all. Writing about drama can also involve figuring out why and how a production went wrong.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAYS, PRODUCTIONS, AND PERFORMANCES?
Talking about plays, productions, and performances can be difficult, especially since there’s so much overlap in the uses of these terms. Although there are some exceptions, usually plays are what’s on the written page. A production of a play is a series of performances, each of which may have its own idiosyncratic features. For example, one production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night might set the play in 1940’s Manhattan, and another might set the play on an Alpaca farm in New Zealand. Furthermore, in a particular performance (say, Tuesday night) of that production, the actor playing Malvolio might get fed up with playing the role as an Alpaca herder, shout about the indignity of the whole thing, curse Shakespeare for ever writing the play, and stomp off the stage. See how that works?
Be aware that the above terms are sometimes used interchangeably—but the overlapping elements of each are often the most exciting things to talk about. For example, a series of particularly bad performances might distract from excellent production values: If the actor playing Falstaff repeatedly trips over a lance and falls off the stage, the audience may not notice the spectacular set design behind him. In the same way, a particularly dynamic and inventive script (play) may so bedazzle an audience that they never notice the inept lighting scheme.
A FEW ANALYZABLE ELEMENTS OF PLAYS
Plays have many different elements or aspects, which means that you should have lots of different options for focusing your analysis. Playwrights—writers of plays—are called “wrights” because this word means “builder.” Just as shipwrights build ships, playwrights build plays. A playwright’s raw materials are words, but to create a successful play, he or she must also think about the performance—about what will be happening on stage with sets, sounds, actors, etc. To put it another way: the words of a play have their meanings within a larger context—the context of the production. When you watch or read a play, think about how all of the parts work (or could work) together.
For the play itself, some important contexts to consider are
The time period in which the play was written
The playwright’s biography and his/her other writing
Contemporaneous works of theater (plays written or produced by other artists at roughly the same time)
The language of the play
Setting
Plot
Themes
Characters
Depending on your assignment, you may want to focus on one of these elements exclusively or compare and contrast two or more of them. Keep in mind that any one of these elements may be more than enough for a dissertation, let alone a short reaction paper. Also remember that in most cases, your assignment will ask you to provide some kind of analysis, not simply a plot summary—so don’t think that you can write a paper about A Doll’s House that simply describes the events leading up to Nora’s fateful decision.
Since a number of academic assignments ask you to pay attention to the language of the play and since it might be the most complicated thing to work with, it’s worth looking at a few of the ways you might be asked to deal with it in more detail.
LANGUAGE
There are countless ways that you can talk about how language works in a play, a production, or a particular performance. Given a choice, you should probably focus on words, phrases, lines, or scenes that really struck you, things that you still remember weeks after reading the play or seeing the performance. You’ll have a much easier time writing about a bit of language that you feel strongly about (love it or hate it).
That said, here are two common ways to talk about how language works in a play:
How characters are constructed by their language
If you have a strong impression of a character, especially if you haven’t seen that character depicted on stage, you probably remember one line or bit of dialogue that really captures who that character is. Playwrights often distinguish their characters with idiosyncratic or at least individualized manners of speaking. Take this example from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest:
ALGERNON: Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
LANE: I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.
ALGERNON: I’m sorry for that, for your sake. I don’t play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.
LANE: Yes, sir.
ALGERNON: And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?
This early moment in the play contributes enormously to what the audience thinks about the aristocratic Algernon and his servant, Lane. If you were to talk about language in this scene, you could discuss Lane’s reserved replies: Are they funny? Do they indicate familiarity or sarcasm? How do you react to a servant who replies in that way? Or you could focus on Algernon’s witty responses. Does Algernon really care what Lane thinks? Is he talking more to hear himself? What does that say about how the audience is supposed to see Algernon? Algernon’s manner of speech is part of who his character is. If you are analyzing a particular performance, you might want to comment on the actor’s delivery of these lines: Was his vocal inflection appropriate? Did it show something about the character?
How language contributes to scene and mood
Ancient, medieval, and Renaissance plays often use verbal tricks and nuances to convey the setting and time of the play because performers during these periods didn’t have elaborate special-effects technology to create theatrical illusions. For example, most scenes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth take place at night. The play was originally performed in an open-air theatre in the bright and sunny afternoon. How did Shakespeare communicate the fact that it was night-time in the play? Mainly by starting scenes like this:
BANQUO: How goes the night, boy?
FLEANCE: The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
BANQUO: And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE: I take’t, ’tis later, sir.
BANQUO: Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose!
Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch
Give me my sword.
Who’s there?
Characters entering with torches is a pretty big clue, as is having a character say, “It’s night.” Later in the play, the question, “Who’s there?” recurs a number of times, establishing the illusion that the characters can’t see each other. The sense of encroaching darkness and the general mysteriousness of night contributes to a number of other themes and motifs in the play.
PRODUCTIONS AND PERFORMANCES
Productions
For productions as a whole, some important elements to consider are:
Venue: How big is the theatre? Is this a professional or amateur acting company? What kind of resources do they have? How does this affect the show?
Costumes: What is everyone wearing? Is it appropriate to the historical period? Modern? Trendy? Old-fashioned? Does it fit the character? What does his/her costume make you think about each character? How does this affect the show?
Set design: What does the set look like? Does it try to create a sense of “realism”? Does it set the play in a particular historical period? What impressions does the set create? Does the set change, and if so, when and why? How does this affect the show?
Lighting design: Are characters ever in the dark? Are there spotlights? Does light come through windows? From above? From below? Is any tinted or colored light projected? How does this affect the show?
“Idea” or “concept”: Do the set and lighting designs seem to work together to produce a certain interpretation? Do costumes and other elements seem coordinated? How does this affect the show?
You’ve probably noticed that each of these ends with the question, “How does this affect the show?” That’s because you should be connecting every detail that you analyze back to this question. If a particularly weird costume (like King Henry in scuba gear) suggests something about the character (King Henry has gone off the deep end, literally and figuratively), then you can ask yourself, “Does this add or detract from the show?” (King Henry having an interest in aquatic mammals may not have been what Shakespeare had in mind.)
Performances
For individual performances, you can analyze all the items considered above in light of how they might have been different the night before. For example, some important elements to consider are:
Individual acting performances: What did the actor playing the part bring to the performance? Was there anything particularly moving about the performance that night that surprised you, that you didn’t imagine from reading the play beforehand (if you did so)?
Mishaps, flubs, and fire alarms: Did the actors mess up? Did the performance grind to a halt or did it continue?
Audience reactions: Was there applause? At inappropriate points? Did someone fall asleep and snore loudly in the second act? Did anyone cry? Did anyone walk out in utter outrage?
Response papers
Instructors in drama classes often want to know what you really think. Sometimes they’ll give you very open-ended assignments, allowing you to choose your own topic; this freedom can have its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you may find it easier to express yourself without the pressure of specific guidelines or restrictions. On the other hand, it can be challenging to decide what to write about. The elements and topics listed above may provide you with a jumping-off point for more open-ended assignments. Once you’ve identified a possible area of interest, you can ask yourself questions to further devleop your ideas about it and decide whether it might make for a good paper topic. For example, if you were especially interested in the lighting, how did the lighting make you feel? Nervous? Bored? Distracted? It’s usually a good idea to be as specific as possible. You’ll have a much more difficult time if you start out writing about “imagery” or “language” in a play than if you start by writing about that ridiculous face Helena made when she found out Lysander didn’t love her anymore.
If you’re really having trouble getting started, here’s a three point plan for responding to a piece of theater—say, a performance you recently observed.
Make a list of five or six specific words, images, or moments that caught your attention while you were sitting in your seat.
Answer one of the following questions: Did any of the words, images, or moments you listed contribute to your enjoyment or loathing of the play? Did any of them seem to add to or detract from any overall theme that the play may have had? Did any of them make you think of something completely different and wholly irrelevant to the play? If so, what connection might there be?
Write a few sentences about how each of the items you picked out for the second question affected you and/or the play.
This list of ideas can help you begin to develop an analysis of the performance and your own reactions to it.
Two of our other handouts might be useful if you need to do research in the specialized field of performance studies (a branch of communication studies) or want to focus especially closely on poetic or powerful language in a play: these handouts are about communication studies and poetry explications. For additional tips on writing about plays as a form of literature, see our handout on writing about fiction.
WORKS CONSULTED
We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.
Worthen, W.B. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama. New York: Heinle & Heinle, 1999.
Carter, Paul. The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information, 3rd Ed. Shelter Island, New York: Broadway Press, 1994.
UNC Libraries Comprehensive Guide to Resources for the Study of Drama and Theater.
WHAT THIS HANDOUT IS ABOUT
This handout identifies common questions about drama, describes the elements of drama that are most often discussed in theater classes, provides a few strategies for planning and writing an effective drama paper, and identifies various resources for research in theater history and dramatic criticism. We’ll give special attention to writing about productions and performances of plays.
WHAT IS DRAMA? AND HOW DO YOU WRITE ABOUT IT?
When we describe a situation or a person’s behavior as “dramatic,” we usually mean that it is intense, exciting (or excited), striking, or vivid. The works of drama that we study in a classroom share those elements. For example, if you are watching a play in a theatre, feelings of tension and anticipation often arise because you are wondering what will happen between the characters on stage. Will they shoot each other? Will they finally confess their undying love for one another? When you are reading a play, you may have similar questions. Will Oedipus figure out that he was the one who caused the plague by killing his father and sleeping with his mother? Will Hamlet successfully avenge his father’s murder?
For instructors in academic departments—whether their classes are about theatrical literature, theater history, performance studies, acting, or the technical aspects of a production—writing about drama often means explaining what makes the plays we watch or read so exciting. Of course, one particular production of a play may not be as exciting as it’s supposed to be. In fact, it may not be exciting at all. Writing about drama can also involve figuring out why and how a production went wrong.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PLAYS, PRODUCTIONS, AND PERFORMANCES?
Talking about plays, productions, and performances can be difficult, especially since there’s so much overlap in the uses of these terms. Although there are some exceptions, usually plays are what’s on the written page. A production of a play is a series of performances, each of which may have its own idiosyncratic features. For example, one production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night might set the play in 1940’s Manhattan, and another might set the play on an Alpaca farm in New Zealand. Furthermore, in a particular performance (say, Tuesday night) of that production, the actor playing Malvolio might get fed up with playing the role as an Alpaca herder, shout about the indignity of the whole thing, curse Shakespeare for ever writing the play, and stomp off the stage. See how that works?
Be aware that the above terms are sometimes used interchangeably—but the overlapping elements of each are often the most exciting things to talk about. For example, a series of particularly bad performances might distract from excellent production values: If the actor playing Falstaff repeatedly trips over a lance and falls off the stage, the audience may not notice the spectacular set design behind him. In the same way, a particularly dynamic and inventive script (play) may so bedazzle an audience that they never notice the inept lighting scheme.
A FEW ANALYZABLE ELEMENTS OF PLAYS
Plays have many different elements or aspects, which means that you should have lots of different options for focusing your analysis. Playwrights—writers of plays—are called “wrights” because this word means “builder.” Just as shipwrights build ships, playwrights build plays. A playwright’s raw materials are words, but to create a successful play, he or she must also think about the performance—about what will be happening on stage with sets, sounds, actors, etc. To put it another way: the words of a play have their meanings within a larger context—the context of the production. When you watch or read a play, think about how all of the parts work (or could work) together.
For the play itself, some important contexts to consider are
The time period in which the play was written
The playwright’s biography and his/her other writing
Contemporaneous works of theater (plays written or produced by other artists at roughly the same time)
The language of the play
Setting
Plot
Themes
Characters
Depending on your assignment, you may want to focus on one of these elements exclusively or compare and contrast two or more of them. Keep in mind that any one of these elements may be more than enough for a dissertation, let alone a short reaction paper. Also remember that in most cases, your assignment will ask you to provide some kind of analysis, not simply a plot summary—so don’t think that you can write a paper about A Doll’s House that simply describes the events leading up to Nora’s fateful decision.
Since a number of academic assignments ask you to pay attention to the language of the play and since it might be the most complicated thing to work with, it’s worth looking at a few of the ways you might be asked to deal with it in more detail.
LANGUAGE
There are countless ways that you can talk about how language works in a play, a production, or a particular performance. Given a choice, you should probably focus on words, phrases, lines, or scenes that really struck you, things that you still remember weeks after reading the play or seeing the performance. You’ll have a much easier time writing about a bit of language that you feel strongly about (love it or hate it).
That said, here are two common ways to talk about how language works in a play:
How characters are constructed by their language
If you have a strong impression of a character, especially if you haven’t seen that character depicted on stage, you probably remember one line or bit of dialogue that really captures who that character is. Playwrights often distinguish their characters with idiosyncratic or at least individualized manners of speaking. Take this example from Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest:
ALGERNON: Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
LANE: I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.
ALGERNON: I’m sorry for that, for your sake. I don’t play accurately—anyone can play accurately—but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.
LANE: Yes, sir.
ALGERNON: And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?
This early moment in the play contributes enormously to what the audience thinks about the aristocratic Algernon and his servant, Lane. If you were to talk about language in this scene, you could discuss Lane’s reserved replies: Are they funny? Do they indicate familiarity or sarcasm? How do you react to a servant who replies in that way? Or you could focus on Algernon’s witty responses. Does Algernon really care what Lane thinks? Is he talking more to hear himself? What does that say about how the audience is supposed to see Algernon? Algernon’s manner of speech is part of who his character is. If you are analyzing a particular performance, you might want to comment on the actor’s delivery of these lines: Was his vocal inflection appropriate? Did it show something about the character?
How language contributes to scene and mood
Ancient, medieval, and Renaissance plays often use verbal tricks and nuances to convey the setting and time of the play because performers during these periods didn’t have elaborate special-effects technology to create theatrical illusions. For example, most scenes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth take place at night. The play was originally performed in an open-air theatre in the bright and sunny afternoon. How did Shakespeare communicate the fact that it was night-time in the play? Mainly by starting scenes like this:
BANQUO: How goes the night, boy?
FLEANCE: The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
BANQUO: And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE: I take’t, ’tis later, sir.
BANQUO: Hold, take my sword. There’s husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose!
Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch
Give me my sword.
Who’s there?
Characters entering with torches is a pretty big clue, as is having a character say, “It’s night.” Later in the play, the question, “Who’s there?” recurs a number of times, establishing the illusion that the characters can’t see each other. The sense of encroaching darkness and the general mysteriousness of night contributes to a number of other themes and motifs in the play.
PRODUCTIONS AND PERFORMANCES
Productions
For productions as a whole, some important elements to consider are:
Venue: How big is the theatre? Is this a professional or amateur acting company? What kind of resources do they have? How does this affect the show?
Costumes: What is everyone wearing? Is it appropriate to the historical period? Modern? Trendy? Old-fashioned? Does it fit the character? What does his/her costume make you think about each character? How does this affect the show?
Set design: What does the set look like? Does it try to create a sense of “realism”? Does it set the play in a particular historical period? What impressions does the set create? Does the set change, and if so, when and why? How does this affect the show?
Lighting design: Are characters ever in the dark? Are there spotlights? Does light come through windows? From above? From below? Is any tinted or colored light projected? How does this affect the show?
“Idea” or “concept”: Do the set and lighting designs seem to work together to produce a certain interpretation? Do costumes and other elements seem coordinated? How does this affect the show?
You’ve probably noticed that each of these ends with the question, “How does this affect the show?” That’s because you should be connecting every detail that you analyze back to this question. If a particularly weird costume (like King Henry in scuba gear) suggests something about the character (King Henry has gone off the deep end, literally and figuratively), then you can ask yourself, “Does this add or detract from the show?” (King Henry having an interest in aquatic mammals may not have been what Shakespeare had in mind.)
Performances
For individual performances, you can analyze all the items considered above in light of how they might have been different the night before. For example, some important elements to consider are:
Individual acting performances: What did the actor playing the part bring to the performance? Was there anything particularly moving about the performance that night that surprised you, that you didn’t imagine from reading the play beforehand (if you did so)?
Mishaps, flubs, and fire alarms: Did the actors mess up? Did the performance grind to a halt or did it continue?
Audience reactions: Was there applause? At inappropriate points? Did someone fall asleep and snore loudly in the second act? Did anyone cry? Did anyone walk out in utter outrage?
Response papers
Instructors in drama classes often want to know what you really think. Sometimes they’ll give you very open-ended assignments, allowing you to choose your own topic; this freedom can have its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you may find it easier to express yourself without the pressure of specific guidelines or restrictions. On the other hand, it can be challenging to decide what to write about. The elements and topics listed above may provide you with a jumping-off point for more open-ended assignments. Once you’ve identified a possible area of interest, you can ask yourself questions to further devleop your ideas about it and decide whether it might make for a good paper topic. For example, if you were especially interested in the lighting, how did the lighting make you feel? Nervous? Bored? Distracted? It’s usually a good idea to be as specific as possible. You’ll have a much more difficult time if you start out writing about “imagery” or “language” in a play than if you start by writing about that ridiculous face Helena made when she found out Lysander didn’t love her anymore.
If you’re really having trouble getting started, here’s a three point plan for responding to a piece of theater—say, a performance you recently observed.
Make a list of five or six specific words, images, or moments that caught your attention while you were sitting in your seat.
Answer one of the following questions: Did any of the words, images, or moments you listed contribute to your enjoyment or loathing of the play? Did any of them seem to add to or detract from any overall theme that the play may have had? Did any of them make you think of something completely different and wholly irrelevant to the play? If so, what connection might there be?
Write a few sentences about how each of the items you picked out for the second question affected you and/or the play.
This list of ideas can help you begin to develop an analysis of the performance and your own reactions to it.
Two of our other handouts might be useful if you need to do research in the specialized field of performance studies (a branch of communication studies) or want to focus especially closely on poetic or powerful language in a play: these handouts are about communication studies and poetry explications. For additional tips on writing about plays as a form of literature, see our handout on writing about fiction.
WORKS CONSULTED
We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.
Worthen, W.B. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama. New York: Heinle & Heinle, 1999.
Carter, Paul. The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information, 3rd Ed. Shelter Island, New York: Broadway Press, 1994.
UNC Libraries Comprehensive Guide to Resources for the Study of Drama and Theater.
Young Learners And The Phonemic Chart
CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND
A. Intoduction
The main aim of this paper is for teachers to help their students become more knowledgeable and interested in learning the sounds of English and to help them see how it can facilitate autonomous learning with self-study English language learning material and dictionaries. Hopefully if we start educating learners from a young age they will be more comfortable with phonemic script and see the benefits of it when they are older and more self-aware learners.
· Why use the chart?
· Background to the activities
· The phoneme race
· Make your own wall charts
· Chinese whispers
· Using dictionaries
· Going shopping
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Why use the chart?
First of all let's take a look at why we should use the phonemic chart at all in class. I've spoken to many teachers who say they shy away from using the chart. Perhaps they are unfamiliar with the sounds and symbols, or they see it as too difficult for their students to learn. Or they might have come up against student resistance to using the symbols in class doing pronunciation work. Hopefully this article will help us to see how it can be incredibly beneficial for teachers and students to become more familiar with the sounds and give them some ideas of how they can become more confident (teachers and students) about using the phonemic chart.
Here are some of the reasons I can see for using the phonemic chart in pronunciation work:
· It provides a standard from which to teach and learn pronunciation.
· It enables the students to better use their dictionaries.
· It gives the teacher a fast and effective tool for teaching pronunciation and for correcting errors.
· Once accustomed to it the students can use it in their notes to help learn the correct pronunciation of new vocabulary. Often without proper drilling etc, it can be difficult for students to remember the correct pronunciation as the spelling of English can be confusing.
· If, as a teacher, you feel you are still learning about pronunciation or want to learn about the phonemic chart then doing activities is one of the best ways of doing this.
· As Jennifer Jenkins suggests in her article, teachers can be selective about the sounds they help their learners to focus on. Learners should be made aware of the importance of pronunciation and of which sounds help them to become more comprehensible in the English speaking world.
B. Background to the activities
Although the following activities are aimed mainly at young learners many would be ideal for adult groups. Adults also enjoy kinaesthetic activities, and many of the ones described in this article are just that!
The ideas are for the most part discrete item approach activities, isolating sounds. I have also included an activity which shows how we can incorporate pronunciation work into more communicative activities.
Now for the fun part. Here are 5 ideas for teaching pronunciation using the phonetic alphabet.
The phoneme race
This is useful for introducing students to new phonemes and revising recently learnt sounds.
· Put six or so symbols on the board.
· Write words on cards big enough to be seen when stuck on the board. Five for each sound is enough.
· Drill the sounds. Be imaginative with your voice if doing it with young learners. They will remember it better if they are having fun.
· Put the students in teams. One person from each team races to the teacher and is given a card. They return to the group and decide which phoneme is used in the word from the board. They write the phoneme on the back of the card and run back to the teacher. If the symbol is correct the student is given another card. They must keep the cards and try to accumulate as many as possible. The winning team is the one with the most cards at the end.
· Give the students blu tack and ask them to stick the symbols to the board. Then do another drilling session.
· Then, in the teams, the students choose two symbols and race to make a sentence for each that includes three of the words from that symbol. The sentence must make some sense!
· Then you can reward the most imaginative sentences.
C. Make your own wall charts
· Put the symbols you want to learn on the board and drill them.
· Then ask students to match flash cards with each symbol. For example, /i:/ can be matched with a picture of cheese.
· Then ask the children to draw the symbol and the picture on the top of a large piece of coloured card. These cards are then stuck to the wall for the next class.
· In the next class, the children are put into coloured teams. Each team is given ten words on cards which they have to stick to the posters. Play some fun music to do this! Give them a time limit.
· Then, check how many they got correct. (Try to use words they are familiar with, or words you want to revise.) The winners are those with most correct.
· Every few classes you can revise this, repeat it and add to it. So you end up with a comprehensive and colorful wall display all created by them. Much more interesting than a published phonemic chart for young learners.
Chinese whispers.
Again, this is for revising individual sounds.
· The teacher sits the learners in a circle and shows a student a symbol, also whispering it in their ear.
· The sound is passed around the class. If the sound is correct at the end for the symbol the students get a point, if not the teacher gets a point.
D. Using dictionaries
This should be done with students who are familiar with the script and is suitable more for teenagers and adults.
· Choose five words from the dictionary and write them in phonetic script.
· Ask the students in pairs to write down what they think the word is.
· Then get the students to swap papers with a different group and ask them to look up the word to see if they were correct.
· The winners are the group with most correct.
· Then they can make a new list of five words for the other group to repeat the activity with.
· This can be combined with a revision of vocabulary from the course book they are using. The students look up words in the dictionary from the book and transcribe them for the other group to guess.
E. Going shopping
This is a communicative activity which incorporates some sounds you have been doing in class into a shopping list activity where the students have to practice dialogues buying certain items like cheese, meat, /i:/, and crisps, milk /I/.
· Students can be put into two groups of shop owners and customers with a budget to make it more 'authentic'.
· Then they have a certain time to buy all the items they can on the list.
· For the shop owners, give them flash cards of food items or pieces of card with the food and prices on them.
· Afterwards they can decide the cheapest and most expensive shops as a class.
CHAPTER II
A. Conclusion
Through these flash cards, learn be quickly about the names of objects, colors, letters, and so on. Besides being used as material for the introduction of objects, flash cards can also be used for materials tell. The story could have come from us (parents) or children are told about the pictures he saw.
Although we did not set targets on the ability, flash cards proved to be extremely useful. Besides enjoy, within a very short procedure knowledge is growing fast.
REFERENCES
Reibel, Daniel B. 1978. Registration Methods for the Small Museum. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History.
Samuel, Evelyn K. 1988. Documenting our heritage. Library Trends 37: 142-53.
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND
A. Intoduction
The main aim of this paper is for teachers to help their students become more knowledgeable and interested in learning the sounds of English and to help them see how it can facilitate autonomous learning with self-study English language learning material and dictionaries. Hopefully if we start educating learners from a young age they will be more comfortable with phonemic script and see the benefits of it when they are older and more self-aware learners.
· Why use the chart?
· Background to the activities
· The phoneme race
· Make your own wall charts
· Chinese whispers
· Using dictionaries
· Going shopping
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Why use the chart?
First of all let's take a look at why we should use the phonemic chart at all in class. I've spoken to many teachers who say they shy away from using the chart. Perhaps they are unfamiliar with the sounds and symbols, or they see it as too difficult for their students to learn. Or they might have come up against student resistance to using the symbols in class doing pronunciation work. Hopefully this article will help us to see how it can be incredibly beneficial for teachers and students to become more familiar with the sounds and give them some ideas of how they can become more confident (teachers and students) about using the phonemic chart.
Here are some of the reasons I can see for using the phonemic chart in pronunciation work:
· It provides a standard from which to teach and learn pronunciation.
· It enables the students to better use their dictionaries.
· It gives the teacher a fast and effective tool for teaching pronunciation and for correcting errors.
· Once accustomed to it the students can use it in their notes to help learn the correct pronunciation of new vocabulary. Often without proper drilling etc, it can be difficult for students to remember the correct pronunciation as the spelling of English can be confusing.
· If, as a teacher, you feel you are still learning about pronunciation or want to learn about the phonemic chart then doing activities is one of the best ways of doing this.
· As Jennifer Jenkins suggests in her article, teachers can be selective about the sounds they help their learners to focus on. Learners should be made aware of the importance of pronunciation and of which sounds help them to become more comprehensible in the English speaking world.
B. Background to the activities
Although the following activities are aimed mainly at young learners many would be ideal for adult groups. Adults also enjoy kinaesthetic activities, and many of the ones described in this article are just that!
The ideas are for the most part discrete item approach activities, isolating sounds. I have also included an activity which shows how we can incorporate pronunciation work into more communicative activities.
Now for the fun part. Here are 5 ideas for teaching pronunciation using the phonetic alphabet.
The phoneme race
This is useful for introducing students to new phonemes and revising recently learnt sounds.
· Put six or so symbols on the board.
· Write words on cards big enough to be seen when stuck on the board. Five for each sound is enough.
· Drill the sounds. Be imaginative with your voice if doing it with young learners. They will remember it better if they are having fun.
· Put the students in teams. One person from each team races to the teacher and is given a card. They return to the group and decide which phoneme is used in the word from the board. They write the phoneme on the back of the card and run back to the teacher. If the symbol is correct the student is given another card. They must keep the cards and try to accumulate as many as possible. The winning team is the one with the most cards at the end.
· Give the students blu tack and ask them to stick the symbols to the board. Then do another drilling session.
· Then, in the teams, the students choose two symbols and race to make a sentence for each that includes three of the words from that symbol. The sentence must make some sense!
· Then you can reward the most imaginative sentences.
C. Make your own wall charts
· Put the symbols you want to learn on the board and drill them.
· Then ask students to match flash cards with each symbol. For example, /i:/ can be matched with a picture of cheese.
· Then ask the children to draw the symbol and the picture on the top of a large piece of coloured card. These cards are then stuck to the wall for the next class.
· In the next class, the children are put into coloured teams. Each team is given ten words on cards which they have to stick to the posters. Play some fun music to do this! Give them a time limit.
· Then, check how many they got correct. (Try to use words they are familiar with, or words you want to revise.) The winners are those with most correct.
· Every few classes you can revise this, repeat it and add to it. So you end up with a comprehensive and colorful wall display all created by them. Much more interesting than a published phonemic chart for young learners.
Chinese whispers.
Again, this is for revising individual sounds.
· The teacher sits the learners in a circle and shows a student a symbol, also whispering it in their ear.
· The sound is passed around the class. If the sound is correct at the end for the symbol the students get a point, if not the teacher gets a point.
D. Using dictionaries
This should be done with students who are familiar with the script and is suitable more for teenagers and adults.
· Choose five words from the dictionary and write them in phonetic script.
· Ask the students in pairs to write down what they think the word is.
· Then get the students to swap papers with a different group and ask them to look up the word to see if they were correct.
· The winners are the group with most correct.
· Then they can make a new list of five words for the other group to repeat the activity with.
· This can be combined with a revision of vocabulary from the course book they are using. The students look up words in the dictionary from the book and transcribe them for the other group to guess.
E. Going shopping
This is a communicative activity which incorporates some sounds you have been doing in class into a shopping list activity where the students have to practice dialogues buying certain items like cheese, meat, /i:/, and crisps, milk /I/.
· Students can be put into two groups of shop owners and customers with a budget to make it more 'authentic'.
· Then they have a certain time to buy all the items they can on the list.
· For the shop owners, give them flash cards of food items or pieces of card with the food and prices on them.
· Afterwards they can decide the cheapest and most expensive shops as a class.
CHAPTER II
A. Conclusion
Through these flash cards, learn be quickly about the names of objects, colors, letters, and so on. Besides being used as material for the introduction of objects, flash cards can also be used for materials tell. The story could have come from us (parents) or children are told about the pictures he saw.
Although we did not set targets on the ability, flash cards proved to be extremely useful. Besides enjoy, within a very short procedure knowledge is growing fast.
REFERENCES
Reibel, Daniel B. 1978. Registration Methods for the Small Museum. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History.
Samuel, Evelyn K. 1988. Documenting our heritage. Library Trends 37: 142-53.
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND
A. Intoduction
The main aim of this paper is for teachers to help their students become more knowledgeable and interested in learning the sounds of English and to help them see how it can facilitate autonomous learning with self-study English language learning material and dictionaries. Hopefully if we start educating learners from a young age they will be more comfortable with phonemic script and see the benefits of it when they are older and more self-aware learners.
· Why use the chart?
· Background to the activities
· The phoneme race
· Make your own wall charts
· Chinese whispers
· Using dictionaries
· Going shopping
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Why use the chart?
First of all let's take a look at why we should use the phonemic chart at all in class. I've spoken to many teachers who say they shy away from using the chart. Perhaps they are unfamiliar with the sounds and symbols, or they see it as too difficult for their students to learn. Or they might have come up against student resistance to using the symbols in class doing pronunciation work. Hopefully this article will help us to see how it can be incredibly beneficial for teachers and students to become more familiar with the sounds and give them some ideas of how they can become more confident (teachers and students) about using the phonemic chart.
Here are some of the reasons I can see for using the phonemic chart in pronunciation work:
· It provides a standard from which to teach and learn pronunciation.
· It enables the students to better use their dictionaries.
· It gives the teacher a fast and effective tool for teaching pronunciation and for correcting errors.
· Once accustomed to it the students can use it in their notes to help learn the correct pronunciation of new vocabulary. Often without proper drilling etc, it can be difficult for students to remember the correct pronunciation as the spelling of English can be confusing.
· If, as a teacher, you feel you are still learning about pronunciation or want to learn about the phonemic chart then doing activities is one of the best ways of doing this.
· As Jennifer Jenkins suggests in her article, teachers can be selective about the sounds they help their learners to focus on. Learners should be made aware of the importance of pronunciation and of which sounds help them to become more comprehensible in the English speaking world.
B. Background to the activities
Although the following activities are aimed mainly at young learners many would be ideal for adult groups. Adults also enjoy kinaesthetic activities, and many of the ones described in this article are just that!
The ideas are for the most part discrete item approach activities, isolating sounds. I have also included an activity which shows how we can incorporate pronunciation work into more communicative activities.
Now for the fun part. Here are 5 ideas for teaching pronunciation using the phonetic alphabet.
The phoneme race
This is useful for introducing students to new phonemes and revising recently learnt sounds.
· Put six or so symbols on the board.
· Write words on cards big enough to be seen when stuck on the board. Five for each sound is enough.
· Drill the sounds. Be imaginative with your voice if doing it with young learners. They will remember it better if they are having fun.
· Put the students in teams. One person from each team races to the teacher and is given a card. They return to the group and decide which phoneme is used in the word from the board. They write the phoneme on the back of the card and run back to the teacher. If the symbol is correct the student is given another card. They must keep the cards and try to accumulate as many as possible. The winning team is the one with the most cards at the end.
· Give the students blu tack and ask them to stick the symbols to the board. Then do another drilling session.
· Then, in the teams, the students choose two symbols and race to make a sentence for each that includes three of the words from that symbol. The sentence must make some sense!
· Then you can reward the most imaginative sentences.
C. Make your own wall charts
· Put the symbols you want to learn on the board and drill them.
· Then ask students to match flash cards with each symbol. For example, /i:/ can be matched with a picture of cheese.
· Then ask the children to draw the symbol and the picture on the top of a large piece of coloured card. These cards are then stuck to the wall for the next class.
· In the next class, the children are put into coloured teams. Each team is given ten words on cards which they have to stick to the posters. Play some fun music to do this! Give them a time limit.
· Then, check how many they got correct. (Try to use words they are familiar with, or words you want to revise.) The winners are those with most correct.
· Every few classes you can revise this, repeat it and add to it. So you end up with a comprehensive and colorful wall display all created by them. Much more interesting than a published phonemic chart for young learners.
Chinese whispers.
Again, this is for revising individual sounds.
· The teacher sits the learners in a circle and shows a student a symbol, also whispering it in their ear.
· The sound is passed around the class. If the sound is correct at the end for the symbol the students get a point, if not the teacher gets a point.
D. Using dictionaries
This should be done with students who are familiar with the script and is suitable more for teenagers and adults.
· Choose five words from the dictionary and write them in phonetic script.
· Ask the students in pairs to write down what they think the word is.
· Then get the students to swap papers with a different group and ask them to look up the word to see if they were correct.
· The winners are the group with most correct.
· Then they can make a new list of five words for the other group to repeat the activity with.
· This can be combined with a revision of vocabulary from the course book they are using. The students look up words in the dictionary from the book and transcribe them for the other group to guess.
E. Going shopping
This is a communicative activity which incorporates some sounds you have been doing in class into a shopping list activity where the students have to practice dialogues buying certain items like cheese, meat, /i:/, and crisps, milk /I/.
· Students can be put into two groups of shop owners and customers with a budget to make it more 'authentic'.
· Then they have a certain time to buy all the items they can on the list.
· For the shop owners, give them flash cards of food items or pieces of card with the food and prices on them.
· Afterwards they can decide the cheapest and most expensive shops as a class.
CHAPTER II
A. Conclusion
Through these flash cards, learn be quickly about the names of objects, colors, letters, and so on. Besides being used as material for the introduction of objects, flash cards can also be used for materials tell. The story could have come from us (parents) or children are told about the pictures he saw.
Although we did not set targets on the ability, flash cards proved to be extremely useful. Besides enjoy, within a very short procedure knowledge is growing fast.
REFERENCES
Reibel, Daniel B. 1978. Registration Methods for the Small Museum. Nashville: American Association for State and Local History.
Samuel, Evelyn K. 1988. Documenting our heritage. Library Trends 37: 142-53.
Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Semantics and Pragmatics
Meaning (Semantics and Pragmatics)
Meaning seems at once the most obvious feature of language and the most obscure aspect to study. It is obvious because it is what we use language for—to communicate with each other, to convey 'what we mean' effectively. But the steps in understanding something said to us in a language in which we are fluent are so rapid, so transparent, that we have little conscious feel for the principles and knowledge which underlie this communicative ability.
Questions of 'semantics' are an important part of the study of linguistic structure. They encompass several different investigations: how each language provides words and idioms for fundamental concepts and ideas (lexical semantics), how the parts of a sentence are integrated into the basis for understanding its meaning (compositional semantics), and how our assessment of what someone means on a particular occasion depends not only on what is actually said but also on aspects of the context of its saying and an assessment of the information and beliefs we share with the speaker.
Applications
Research in these areas reveals principles and systems which have many applications. The study of lexical (word) semantics and the conceptual distinctions implicit in the vocabulary of a language improves dictionaries which enable speakers of a language to extend their knowledge of its stock of words. It also improves materials which help those acquiring a second language through instruction. Studying the rules governing the composition of word meanings into sentence meanings and larger discourses allows us to build computer systems which can interact with their users in more naturalistic language. Investigating how our understanding of what is said is influenced by our individual and cultural assumptions and experience, which are much less visible than what is explicitly said, can help make us more aware and effective communicators. The result of all of these (sometimes very abstract) investigations is a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complexity and expressive elegance of particular languages and the uniquely human system of linguistic communication.
The Importance of Context
We can appreciate how someone can mean more than they `strictly speaking' say by considering the same thing said in two different contexts. Consider two people, Pat and Chris, who are getting to know each other on a first date. If Chris says to Pat at the end of the evening, "I like you a lot.", Pat will likely feel good about the situation. But imagine that Pat and Chris have been dating for some weeks, and Pat asks, "Do you love me?" Now if Chris says, "I like you a lot," the reaction will likely be quite different, as Chris' statement is taken as a negative answer! The difference does not come from the content of what is said but from the operation of a general pragmatic principle: When evaluating something on a scale of values, putting it at a certain point on the scale implies that all the higher values on the scale are inappropriate. It is our background assessment that positive feeling is ranked on a scale with 'love' higher than "like" which makes Chris' reply in the second context convey "No, don't love you." We apply this scalar principle so automatically that it is easy to overlook the fundamental pragmatic difference between what is actually said and what is implied by the saying of it.
A close examination of most words reveals that they have many different senses and the rules which combine them into sentence meanings will frequently yield several possibilities for interpretation. Usually we resolve potential ambiguity unconsciously—unless someone carefully constructs a joke which turns on an ambiguity. Consider for example this joke, taken from Douglas Adams' The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Ford and Arthur, are stowaways on a space ship.
Ford: You should prepare yourself for the jump into hyperspace; it's unpleasantly like being drunk.
Arthur: What's so unpleasant about being drunk?
Ford: Just ask a glass of water.
The passage turns on the ambiguity of the word 'drunk', which can be an adjective, meaning 'affected by alcohol', or the passive form of the verb 'drink'. Arthur takes Ford as intending the first sense of 'drunk'—with good reason: he's unlikely to mean that someone would drink him. But Ford reveals that the bizarre interpretation is what he intends. The art of the image is the metaphorical treatment of a person as a liquid; the joke turns on the sleight of hand which makes our semantic interpreter lean in one direction before pulling us back in an unexpected way with a disambiguation.
These examples illustrate our semantic and pragmatic abilities in action. The goal of linguistic research into meaning is to illuminate the processes and knowledge involved.
by William Ladusaw
Suggested Readings
Chierchia, Gennaro, and Sally McConnell-Ginet. 1990. Meaning and grammar.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Clark, Herbert H. 1996. Using language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Jackendoff, Ray. 1983. Semantics and cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Allen, James. 1995. Natural language understanding. Redwood City, CA: Benjamin Cummings, Pub. 2nd edn.
Meaning (Semantics and Pragmatics)
Meaning seems at once the most obvious feature of language and the most obscure aspect to study. It is obvious because it is what we use language for—to communicate with each other, to convey 'what we mean' effectively. But the steps in understanding something said to us in a language in which we are fluent are so rapid, so transparent, that we have little conscious feel for the principles and knowledge which underlie this communicative ability.
Questions of 'semantics' are an important part of the study of linguistic structure. They encompass several different investigations: how each language provides words and idioms for fundamental concepts and ideas (lexical semantics), how the parts of a sentence are integrated into the basis for understanding its meaning (compositional semantics), and how our assessment of what someone means on a particular occasion depends not only on what is actually said but also on aspects of the context of its saying and an assessment of the information and beliefs we share with the speaker.
Applications
Research in these areas reveals principles and systems which have many applications. The study of lexical (word) semantics and the conceptual distinctions implicit in the vocabulary of a language improves dictionaries which enable speakers of a language to extend their knowledge of its stock of words. It also improves materials which help those acquiring a second language through instruction. Studying the rules governing the composition of word meanings into sentence meanings and larger discourses allows us to build computer systems which can interact with their users in more naturalistic language. Investigating how our understanding of what is said is influenced by our individual and cultural assumptions and experience, which are much less visible than what is explicitly said, can help make us more aware and effective communicators. The result of all of these (sometimes very abstract) investigations is a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complexity and expressive elegance of particular languages and the uniquely human system of linguistic communication.
The Importance of Context
We can appreciate how someone can mean more than they `strictly speaking' say by considering the same thing said in two different contexts. Consider two people, Pat and Chris, who are getting to know each other on a first date. If Chris says to Pat at the end of the evening, "I like you a lot.", Pat will likely feel good about the situation. But imagine that Pat and Chris have been dating for some weeks, and Pat asks, "Do you love me?" Now if Chris says, "I like you a lot," the reaction will likely be quite different, as Chris' statement is taken as a negative answer! The difference does not come from the content of what is said but from the operation of a general pragmatic principle: When evaluating something on a scale of values, putting it at a certain point on the scale implies that all the higher values on the scale are inappropriate. It is our background assessment that positive feeling is ranked on a scale with 'love' higher than "like" which makes Chris' reply in the second context convey "No, don't love you." We apply this scalar principle so automatically that it is easy to overlook the fundamental pragmatic difference between what is actually said and what is implied by the saying of it.
A close examination of most words reveals that they have many different senses and the rules which combine them into sentence meanings will frequently yield several possibilities for interpretation. Usually we resolve potential ambiguity unconsciously—unless someone carefully constructs a joke which turns on an ambiguity. Consider for example this joke, taken from Douglas Adams' The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. Ford and Arthur, are stowaways on a space ship.
Ford: You should prepare yourself for the jump into hyperspace; it's unpleasantly like being drunk.
Arthur: What's so unpleasant about being drunk?
Ford: Just ask a glass of water.
The passage turns on the ambiguity of the word 'drunk', which can be an adjective, meaning 'affected by alcohol', or the passive form of the verb 'drink'. Arthur takes Ford as intending the first sense of 'drunk'—with good reason: he's unlikely to mean that someone would drink him. But Ford reveals that the bizarre interpretation is what he intends. The art of the image is the metaphorical treatment of a person as a liquid; the joke turns on the sleight of hand which makes our semantic interpreter lean in one direction before pulling us back in an unexpected way with a disambiguation.
These examples illustrate our semantic and pragmatic abilities in action. The goal of linguistic research into meaning is to illuminate the processes and knowledge involved.
by William Ladusaw
Suggested Readings
Chierchia, Gennaro, and Sally McConnell-Ginet. 1990. Meaning and grammar.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Clark, Herbert H. 1996. Using language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Jackendoff, Ray. 1983. Semantics and cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Allen, James. 1995. Natural language understanding. Redwood City, CA: Benjamin Cummings, Pub. 2nd edn.
Pengantar Psikolinguistik
A. Pendahuluan
1. Latar Belakang Masalah
Bahasa merupakan satu wujud yang tidak dapat dipisahkan dari kehidupan manusia, sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa bahasa itu adalah milik manusia yang telah menyatu dengan pemiliknya. Sebagai salah satu milik manusia, bahasa selalu muncul dalam segala aspek dan kegiatan manusia. Tidak ada satu kegiatan manusia pun yang tidak disertai dengan kehadiran bahasa. Oleh karena itu, bahasa dapat bermacam-macam sejalan dengan bidang kegiatan tempat bahasa itu digunakan. Yang tertera diatas bisa disebut dengan psikolinguistik karena psikolinguistik adalah suatu studi yang mengenai penggunaan bahasa dan perolehan bahasa manusia. Kajian ini menjadikan bahasa dan manusia sebagai obyek kajiannya.
2. Rumusan Masalah
1. Bagaimanakah psikolinguistik lahir? Apa itu psikolinguistik?
2. Ada berapakah subdisiplin ilmu psikolinguistik?
3. Apa sajakah ruang lingkup psikolinguistik? Apa pula objek kajian ilmu ini?
Pembahasan
1. Sejarah Lahir dan Perkembangan Psikolinguistik
Psikolinguistik yakni ilmu yang merupakan gabungan antara dua ilmu psikologi dan linguistic. Benih ilmu ini sebenarnya sudah tampak pada abad permulaan kedua puluh tatkala psikolog Jerman, Wilhelm Wundt menyatakan bahwa bahasa dapat dijelaskan dengan prinsip-prinsip psikologis.[1]
Pada awal perkembangannya, psikolinguistik bermula dari adanya pakar linguistic yang berminat pada psikologi dan adanya pakar psikologi yang berkecimpung dalam linguistic. Dilanjutkan dengan adanya kerja sama antar kedua pakar tersebut. Kemudian muncullah pakar psikolinguistik sebagai disiplin ilmu.[2]
Kebanyakan orang menyebutkan bahwa psikolinguistik lahir sesudah tahun 1954, meskipun sebenarnya psikolinguistik telah dipelajari dan didiskusikan di Jerman sejak abad ke-19, hanya saja dengan istilah yang berbeda. Wundt adalah bapak psikologi eksperimen yang membangun pertamakali laboratorium psikologi di Leipzig, Jerman pada abad ke-19. Wundt juga yang memperkenalkan Psikologi Bahasa (Psychology Der Sprache) yang materinya tidak jauh berbeda dengan apa yang dibahas dalam psikolinguistik. Psikolinguistik merupakan istilah lain dari Psikologi Bahasa yang muncul setelah Perang Dunia kedua.
Dalam bukunya, dengan keras menggabungkan dua aliran yang sangat kuat pada abad 19, yaitu aliran idealisme atau rasionalisme dengan aliran empirisme.[3]
1. Aliran Idealisme
Menurut aliran idealism ialah melalui berfikir (thinking) dan penalaran (reasoning). Bagaimana seorang anak dapat memperoleh pengetahuan serta bagaimana seorang anak yang mula-mula tidak mempunyai pegetahuan apa-apa, makin hari makin bertambah pengetahuannya.
Menurut Humbold, anak-anak dilahirkan dengan bekal pengetahuan tertentu dengan innate sifatnya (dibawa sejak lahir/bawaan). Dengan bekal dan bantuan pnalaran, anak itu membangun pengetahuannya melalui appersepsi.
Appersepsi ialah tahap ahir dari persepsi yang sang sangat mendalam, dimana objek-objek yang dipersepsikan itu sangat jelas dan terpegang (dipahami dan menonjol dalam kesadaran). Apa yang ada dalam pikiran kita selalu berhubungan dengan apa yang ada sebelumnya, atau dapat dikatakan selalu berkaitan dengan keseluruhan isi pikiran kita. [4]
2. Aliran Empirisme
Kaum empirisme beranggapan bahwa pengetahuan diperoleh dari penginderaan. Jadi, dari pengalaman bukan dari penalaran sepert yang dikatakan oleh kaum sebelumnya. Disamping itu, dikatakan juga bahwa anak-anak lahir tanpa pengetahuan apa-apa, merekan adalah Tabula Rasa, sesuatu yang kosong. Hanya melalui pengalaman mereka baru mendapatkan pengetahuan. Mekanisme pembentukan pengetahuan ini menurut kaum empiris adalah melalui asosiasi dan analogi.
Dalam sejarah kita mengenal dua tradisi yang berbeda, yaitu mentalisme dan obyektipisme. Mentalisme adalah semua teori yang menganggap jiwa (mine) sebagai realitas. Konsep-konsep dari mine, pikiran, image, dan judgement merupakan bagian-bagian yang penting dari teorinya. Obyektivisme adalah semua teori yang gagasan-gagasannya berhubungan langsung dengan hal-hal yang teramati. [5]
2. Psikologi
Secara etimologi kata psikologi berasal dari bahasa Yunani Kunopsyche dan logos. Kata psyche berarti “jiwa, roh atau sukma”, sedangkanlogos berarti “ilmu”. Jadi, psikologi, secara harfiah berarti “ilmu jiwa”, atau ilmu yang objek kajiannya adalah jiwa. [6]
Dalam perkembangannya, psikologi telah terbagi menjadi beberapa aliran sesuai dengan paham filsafat yang dianut. Oleh karena itu, dikenal adanya psikologi mentalistik, behavioristik, dan kognitifistik.
Psikologi mentalistik melahirkan aliran yang disebut psikologi kesadaran. Tujuan utamanya adalah mencoba mengkaji proses-proses akal manusia dengan cara mengintrospeksi atau mengkaji diri. oleh karena itu, psikologi kesadaran lazim juga disebut psikologi introspeksionisme. Psikologi ini merupakan suatu proses akal dengan cara melihat ke dalam diri sendiri setelah suatu rangsangan terjadi.
Psikologi behavioristik melahirkan aliran psikologi perilaku. Tujuannya adalah mencoba mengkaji perilaku manusia yang berupa reaksi apabila suatu rangsangan terjadi, dan selanjutnya bagaimana mengawasi dan mengontrol perilaku itu.
Psikologi kognitifistik dan lazim disebut psikologi kognitif mencoba mengkaji proses-proses kognitif manusia secara ilmiah. Proses kognitif adalah proses akal (pikiran dan berpikir) manusia yang bertanggung jawab mengatur pengalaman dan perilaku manusia. hal utama yang dikaji ialah bagaimana cara manusia memperoleh, menafsirkan, mengatur, menyimpan, mengeluarkan, dan menggunakan pengetahuannya, termasuk perkembangan dan pengetahuan bahasa. [7]
3. Linguistik
Linguistik adalah ilmu tentang bahasa atau ilmu yang mengambil bahasa sebagai objek kajiannya.[8] Oleh karena itu, kita bisa lihat adanya berbagai cabang linguistic yang dibuat berdasarkan berbagai kriteria atau pandangan. Secara umum pembidangan linguistic dalah sebagai berikut.[9]
Pertama, menurut objek kajiannya, linguistic dibagi atas dua cabang besar, yaitu linguistik mikro dan linguistik makro. Objek kajian linguistic mikro adalah struktur internal bahasa itu sendiri, mencakup fonologi, morfologi, sintaksis, dan leksikon. Sedangkan objek kajian linguistic makro adalah bahasa dalam hubungannya dengan faktorfaktor di luar bahasa seperti faktor sosiologis, psikologis, antropologi, dan neurologi.
Kedua, menurut tujuan kajiannya, linguistic dapat dibedakan menjadi dua bidang besar yaitu linguistik teoretis dan linguistik terapan. Kajian teoretis hanya ditujukan untuk mencari atau menemukan teori-teori linguistik belaka. Sedangkan kajian terapan ditunjukan untuk menerapkan kaidah-kaidah linguistik dalam kegiatan praktis, seperti dalam pengajaran bahasa, penerjemahan, penyusunan kamus, dan sebagainya.
Ketiga, linguistik sejarah dan sejarah linguistik. Linguistik sejarah mengkaji perkembangan dan perubahan suatu bahasa atau sejumlah bahasa baik dengan perbandingan maupun tidak. Sedangkan sejarah linguistik mengkaji perkembangan ilmu linguistik baik mengenai tokoh-tokohnya, aliran-aliran teorinya, maupun hasil-hasil kerjanya.
4. Psikolinguistik
Aitchison (1998: 1) mendefinisikannya sebagai “studi tentang bahasa dan minda”. Harley (2001: 1) menyebutnya sebagai suatu “studi tentang proses-proses mental dalam pemakaian bahasa”. Sementara itu Clark dan Clark (1977: 4) menyatakan bahwa psikologi bahasa berkaitan dengan tiga hal utama: komprehensi, produksi, dan pemerolehan bahasa. Dari definisi-definisi ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa psikolingistik adalah ilmu yang mempelajari proses-proses mental yang dilalui oleh manusia dalam mereka berbahasa.[10]
Secara rinci psikolinguistik mempelajari empat topik utama:
a) Komprehensi, yakni, proses-proses mental yang dilalui oleh manusia sehingga mereka dapat menangkap apa yang dikatakan orang dan memahami apa yang dimaksud.
b) Produksi, yakni, proses-proses mental pada diri kita yang membuat kita dapat berujar seperti yang kita ujarkan.
c) Landasan biologis serta neurologis yang membuat manusia bisa berbahasa.
d) Pemerolehan bahasa, yakni, bagaimana anak memperoleh bahasa.
Secara etimologi kata psikolinguistik terbentuk dari kata psikologi danlinguistik, yakni dua bidang ilmu yang berbeda, yang masing-masing berdiri sendiri, dengan prosedur dan metode yang berlainan. Namun, keduanya sama-sama meneliti bahasa sebagai objek formalnya. Hanya objek materianya yang berbeda, linguistic mengkaji struktur bahasa, sedangkan psikologi mengkaji perilaku berbahasa atau proses berbahasa. Dengan demikian cara dan tujuannya pun berbeda.
Meskipun cara dan tujuannya berbeda, tetapi banyak juga bagian-bagian objeknya yang dikaji dengan cara yang sama dan dengan tujuan yang sama, tetapi dengan teori yang berlainan. Hasil kajian kedua disiplin ini pun banyak yang sama, meskipun tidak sedikit yang berlainan. Oleh karena itu, perlu adanya kerja sama diantara kedua disiplin ini untuk mengkaji bahsa dan hakikat bahasa. Dengan kerja sama kedua disiplin itu diharapkan akan diperoleh hasil kajian yang lebih baik dan lebih bermanfaat.[11]
Psikolinguistik mencoba menguraikan proses-proses psikologi yang berlangsung jika seseorang mengucapkan kalimat-kalimat yang didengarnya pada waktu berkomunikasi, dan bagaimana kemampuan berbahasa itu diperoleh oleh manusia (Slobin, 1974; Meller, 1964; Slama Cazahu, 1973). Maka secara teoretis tujuan utama psikolinguistik adalah mencari satu teori bahasa yang secara linguistik bisa diterima dan secara psikologi dapat menerangkan hakikat bahasa dan pemerolehannya. Dengan kata lain, psikolinguistik mencoba menerangkan hakikat struktur bahasa, dan bagaimana struktur ini diperoleh, digunakan pada waktu bertutur, dan pada waktu memahami kalimat-kalimat dalam pertuturan itu. Dalam prakteknya psikolinguistik mencoba menerapkan pengetahuan linguistik dan psikologi pada masalah-masalah seperti pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa, pengajaran membaca permulaan dan membaca lanjut, kedwibahasaan dan kemultibahasaan, penyakit bertutur seperti afasia, gagap dan sebagainya; serta masalah-masalah social lain yang menyangkut bahasa, seperti bahasa dan pendidikan, bahasa dan pembangunan nusa dan bangsa.
Kerja sama antara psikologi dan linguistik setelah beberapa lama berlangsung tampaknya belum cukup untuk dapat menerangkan hakikat bahasa seperti tercermin dalam definisi di atas. Bantuan dari ilmu-ilmu lain sangat diperlukan, seperti neurofisiologi, neurofisiologis, neurolinguistik, dan sebagainya. Maka meskipun digunakan istilah psikolinguistik, bukan berarti hanya kedua bidang ilmu itu saja yang diterapkan, tetapi juga hasil penelitian dari ilmu-ilmu lain pun dimanfaatkan.
Menurut G. kempen (Kempen 1976), bahwa dalam psikolinguistik ada dua komponen yang menjadi objek studinya, yaitu manusia dan bahasa. Psikolinguistik lahir dari perkawinan dua disiplin, yaitu psikologi yang membahas tingkah laku manusia dan linguistic yang membahas bahasa sebagai suatu sistem pola tingkah laku. Perkawinan itu terjadi sejak timbulnya pemikiran-pemikiran tentang bagaimana kemampuan bahasa itu berkembang atau bagaimana seorang anak belajar bahasa. Hal itu dimulai oleh C. E. Osgood pada tahun 1954. [12]
5. Subdisiplin psikolinguistik
a) Psikolinguistik teoritis
Membahas teori-teori bahasa yang berkaitan dengan proses-proses mental manusia dalam berbahasa, misalnya dalam rancangan fonetik, rancangan pilihan kata, rancangan sintaksis, rancangan wacana, dan rancangan intonasi.
b) Psikolinguistik perkembanagan
Berkaitan dengan proses pemerolehan bahasa, baik pemerolehan bahasa pertama, (B1), maupun pemerolehan bahasa kedua (B2). Subdisiplin ini mengkaji proses pemerolehan fonologi, semantic, dan sintaksis.
c) Psikolinguistik social
Berkenaan dengan aspek-aspek social bahasa. Bagi suatu masyarakat-bahasa, bahasa itu bukan hanya merupakan suatu gejala dan identitas social saja, tetapi juga merupakan suatu ikatan batin dan nurani yang sukar ditinggalkan.
d) Psikolinguistik pendidikan
Mengkaji aspek-aspek pendidikan secara umum dalam pendidikan formal disekolah, seperti peranan bahasa dalam pengajaran membaca, pengajaran kemahiran berbahasa, dan pengetahuan mengenai peningkatan kemampuan bahasa dalam proses memperbaiki kemampuan menyampaikan pikiran dan perasaan.
e) Psikolinguistik-neurologi (neuropsikolinguistik)
Mengkaji hubungan antara bahasa, berbahasa, dan otak manusia.
f) Psikolinguistik eksperimen
Meliput dan melakukan eksperimen dalam semua kegiatan bahasa dan berbahasa pada suatu pihak dan perilaku berbahasa dan akibat berbahasapada pihak lain.
g) Psikoinguistik terapan
Berkaitan dengan penerapan dari temuan-temuan enam subdisiplin psikolinguistik diatas kedalam bidang-bidang tertentu yang memerlukannya. Yang termasuk subdisiplin ini ialah psikologi, linguistik, pertuturan dan pemahaman, pembelajaran bahasa, pengajaran membaca neurologi, psikiatri, komunikasi, dan susastra.[13]
6. Ruang lingkup psikolinguistik
Bagian
Sub bagian
Contoh
Psikolinguistik umum
Persepsi
Auditif
Visual
Mendengarkan, menulis, membaca
Kognitif
Ingatan
Berpikir
Intuisi
Verbal memory
Verbal thinking
Produksi
Auditif
Visual
Berbicara
menulis
Psikolinguistik perkembangan
Bahasa Pertama (bahasa ibu)
Bahasa kedua
Struktur kalimat dua kata.
Belajar membaca
Psikolinguistik terapan
Umum
Normal
Studi tentang ejaan
Menyimpang
Aphasia
Perkembangan
Normal
Kurikulum untuk belajar membaca
Menyimpang
Gagap, buta warna, dyslexia.
7. Induk disiplin Psikolinguistik
Karena psikolingustik merupakan gabuan dari psikologidan linguistik, maka beberapa pakar berpendapat psikolinguistik berinduk pada psikologi karena istilah itu merupakan nama baru dari psikologi bahasa (psychology of language) yang telah dikenal waktu sebelumnya. Namun, di amerika serikat pada umumnya psikolinguistik dianggap sebagai cabang dari linguistik, meskipun noam Chomsky, tokoh linguistic generative transformasi cenderung menempatkan psikolinguistik sebagai cabang psikologi.[14]
A. Kesimpulan
Ø Psikolinguistik yakni ilmu yang merupakan gabungan antara dua ilmu psikologi dan linguistic. Benih ilmu ini sebenarnya sudah tampak pada abad permulaan kedua puluh di Jerman,
Ø Psikolinguistik terbagi kedalam tujuh subdisiplin ilmu :
a. Psikolinguistik teoretis
b. Psikolinguistikperkembangan
c. Psikolinguistik social
d. Psikolinguistik pendidikan
e. Psikolinguistik neurologi
f. Psikolinguistik eksperimen
g. Psikolinguistik terapan
Ø Ruang lingkup psikolinguistik ada 3:
1. Psikolinguistik umum
2. Psikolinguistik perkembangan
3. Psikolinguistik terapan
Ø Objek kajian psikolinguistik adalah manusia dan bahasa
DAFTAR PUSTAKA
Abdul Chaer, Psikolinguistik Kajian Teoretik, (Jakarta : PT RIneka Cipta, 2009, cetakan kedua)
Djoko Kentjono, Dasar-dasar Linguistik Umum, (Depok: Fakultas Sastra UI, 1990, cetakan ketiga)
Soenjono Darjowidjojo, Psikolinguistik: Pengantar Pemahaman Bahasa Manusia, (Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2005, cet. II edisi II)
Prof. Dr. Samsunuwiyati Mar’at, Psi (Bandung, PT Refika Aditama, 2009, cetakan kedua)
A. Pendahuluan
1. Latar Belakang Masalah
Bahasa merupakan satu wujud yang tidak dapat dipisahkan dari kehidupan manusia, sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa bahasa itu adalah milik manusia yang telah menyatu dengan pemiliknya. Sebagai salah satu milik manusia, bahasa selalu muncul dalam segala aspek dan kegiatan manusia. Tidak ada satu kegiatan manusia pun yang tidak disertai dengan kehadiran bahasa. Oleh karena itu, bahasa dapat bermacam-macam sejalan dengan bidang kegiatan tempat bahasa itu digunakan. Yang tertera diatas bisa disebut dengan psikolinguistik karena psikolinguistik adalah suatu studi yang mengenai penggunaan bahasa dan perolehan bahasa manusia. Kajian ini menjadikan bahasa dan manusia sebagai obyek kajiannya.
2. Rumusan Masalah
1. Bagaimanakah psikolinguistik lahir? Apa itu psikolinguistik?
2. Ada berapakah subdisiplin ilmu psikolinguistik?
3. Apa sajakah ruang lingkup psikolinguistik? Apa pula objek kajian ilmu ini?
Pembahasan
1. Sejarah Lahir dan Perkembangan Psikolinguistik
Psikolinguistik yakni ilmu yang merupakan gabungan antara dua ilmu psikologi dan linguistic. Benih ilmu ini sebenarnya sudah tampak pada abad permulaan kedua puluh tatkala psikolog Jerman, Wilhelm Wundt menyatakan bahwa bahasa dapat dijelaskan dengan prinsip-prinsip psikologis.[1]
Pada awal perkembangannya, psikolinguistik bermula dari adanya pakar linguistic yang berminat pada psikologi dan adanya pakar psikologi yang berkecimpung dalam linguistic. Dilanjutkan dengan adanya kerja sama antar kedua pakar tersebut. Kemudian muncullah pakar psikolinguistik sebagai disiplin ilmu.[2]
Kebanyakan orang menyebutkan bahwa psikolinguistik lahir sesudah tahun 1954, meskipun sebenarnya psikolinguistik telah dipelajari dan didiskusikan di Jerman sejak abad ke-19, hanya saja dengan istilah yang berbeda. Wundt adalah bapak psikologi eksperimen yang membangun pertamakali laboratorium psikologi di Leipzig, Jerman pada abad ke-19. Wundt juga yang memperkenalkan Psikologi Bahasa (Psychology Der Sprache) yang materinya tidak jauh berbeda dengan apa yang dibahas dalam psikolinguistik. Psikolinguistik merupakan istilah lain dari Psikologi Bahasa yang muncul setelah Perang Dunia kedua.
Dalam bukunya, dengan keras menggabungkan dua aliran yang sangat kuat pada abad 19, yaitu aliran idealisme atau rasionalisme dengan aliran empirisme.[3]
1. Aliran Idealisme
Menurut aliran idealism ialah melalui berfikir (thinking) dan penalaran (reasoning). Bagaimana seorang anak dapat memperoleh pengetahuan serta bagaimana seorang anak yang mula-mula tidak mempunyai pegetahuan apa-apa, makin hari makin bertambah pengetahuannya.
Menurut Humbold, anak-anak dilahirkan dengan bekal pengetahuan tertentu dengan innate sifatnya (dibawa sejak lahir/bawaan). Dengan bekal dan bantuan pnalaran, anak itu membangun pengetahuannya melalui appersepsi.
Appersepsi ialah tahap ahir dari persepsi yang sang sangat mendalam, dimana objek-objek yang dipersepsikan itu sangat jelas dan terpegang (dipahami dan menonjol dalam kesadaran). Apa yang ada dalam pikiran kita selalu berhubungan dengan apa yang ada sebelumnya, atau dapat dikatakan selalu berkaitan dengan keseluruhan isi pikiran kita. [4]
2. Aliran Empirisme
Kaum empirisme beranggapan bahwa pengetahuan diperoleh dari penginderaan. Jadi, dari pengalaman bukan dari penalaran sepert yang dikatakan oleh kaum sebelumnya. Disamping itu, dikatakan juga bahwa anak-anak lahir tanpa pengetahuan apa-apa, merekan adalah Tabula Rasa, sesuatu yang kosong. Hanya melalui pengalaman mereka baru mendapatkan pengetahuan. Mekanisme pembentukan pengetahuan ini menurut kaum empiris adalah melalui asosiasi dan analogi.
Dalam sejarah kita mengenal dua tradisi yang berbeda, yaitu mentalisme dan obyektipisme. Mentalisme adalah semua teori yang menganggap jiwa (mine) sebagai realitas. Konsep-konsep dari mine, pikiran, image, dan judgement merupakan bagian-bagian yang penting dari teorinya. Obyektivisme adalah semua teori yang gagasan-gagasannya berhubungan langsung dengan hal-hal yang teramati. [5]
2. Psikologi
Secara etimologi kata psikologi berasal dari bahasa Yunani Kunopsyche dan logos. Kata psyche berarti “jiwa, roh atau sukma”, sedangkanlogos berarti “ilmu”. Jadi, psikologi, secara harfiah berarti “ilmu jiwa”, atau ilmu yang objek kajiannya adalah jiwa. [6]
Dalam perkembangannya, psikologi telah terbagi menjadi beberapa aliran sesuai dengan paham filsafat yang dianut. Oleh karena itu, dikenal adanya psikologi mentalistik, behavioristik, dan kognitifistik.
Psikologi mentalistik melahirkan aliran yang disebut psikologi kesadaran. Tujuan utamanya adalah mencoba mengkaji proses-proses akal manusia dengan cara mengintrospeksi atau mengkaji diri. oleh karena itu, psikologi kesadaran lazim juga disebut psikologi introspeksionisme. Psikologi ini merupakan suatu proses akal dengan cara melihat ke dalam diri sendiri setelah suatu rangsangan terjadi.
Psikologi behavioristik melahirkan aliran psikologi perilaku. Tujuannya adalah mencoba mengkaji perilaku manusia yang berupa reaksi apabila suatu rangsangan terjadi, dan selanjutnya bagaimana mengawasi dan mengontrol perilaku itu.
Psikologi kognitifistik dan lazim disebut psikologi kognitif mencoba mengkaji proses-proses kognitif manusia secara ilmiah. Proses kognitif adalah proses akal (pikiran dan berpikir) manusia yang bertanggung jawab mengatur pengalaman dan perilaku manusia. hal utama yang dikaji ialah bagaimana cara manusia memperoleh, menafsirkan, mengatur, menyimpan, mengeluarkan, dan menggunakan pengetahuannya, termasuk perkembangan dan pengetahuan bahasa. [7]
3. Linguistik
Linguistik adalah ilmu tentang bahasa atau ilmu yang mengambil bahasa sebagai objek kajiannya.[8] Oleh karena itu, kita bisa lihat adanya berbagai cabang linguistic yang dibuat berdasarkan berbagai kriteria atau pandangan. Secara umum pembidangan linguistic dalah sebagai berikut.[9]
Pertama, menurut objek kajiannya, linguistic dibagi atas dua cabang besar, yaitu linguistik mikro dan linguistik makro. Objek kajian linguistic mikro adalah struktur internal bahasa itu sendiri, mencakup fonologi, morfologi, sintaksis, dan leksikon. Sedangkan objek kajian linguistic makro adalah bahasa dalam hubungannya dengan faktorfaktor di luar bahasa seperti faktor sosiologis, psikologis, antropologi, dan neurologi.
Kedua, menurut tujuan kajiannya, linguistic dapat dibedakan menjadi dua bidang besar yaitu linguistik teoretis dan linguistik terapan. Kajian teoretis hanya ditujukan untuk mencari atau menemukan teori-teori linguistik belaka. Sedangkan kajian terapan ditunjukan untuk menerapkan kaidah-kaidah linguistik dalam kegiatan praktis, seperti dalam pengajaran bahasa, penerjemahan, penyusunan kamus, dan sebagainya.
Ketiga, linguistik sejarah dan sejarah linguistik. Linguistik sejarah mengkaji perkembangan dan perubahan suatu bahasa atau sejumlah bahasa baik dengan perbandingan maupun tidak. Sedangkan sejarah linguistik mengkaji perkembangan ilmu linguistik baik mengenai tokoh-tokohnya, aliran-aliran teorinya, maupun hasil-hasil kerjanya.
4. Psikolinguistik
Aitchison (1998: 1) mendefinisikannya sebagai “studi tentang bahasa dan minda”. Harley (2001: 1) menyebutnya sebagai suatu “studi tentang proses-proses mental dalam pemakaian bahasa”. Sementara itu Clark dan Clark (1977: 4) menyatakan bahwa psikologi bahasa berkaitan dengan tiga hal utama: komprehensi, produksi, dan pemerolehan bahasa. Dari definisi-definisi ini dapat disimpulkan bahwa psikolingistik adalah ilmu yang mempelajari proses-proses mental yang dilalui oleh manusia dalam mereka berbahasa.[10]
Secara rinci psikolinguistik mempelajari empat topik utama:
a) Komprehensi, yakni, proses-proses mental yang dilalui oleh manusia sehingga mereka dapat menangkap apa yang dikatakan orang dan memahami apa yang dimaksud.
b) Produksi, yakni, proses-proses mental pada diri kita yang membuat kita dapat berujar seperti yang kita ujarkan.
c) Landasan biologis serta neurologis yang membuat manusia bisa berbahasa.
d) Pemerolehan bahasa, yakni, bagaimana anak memperoleh bahasa.
Secara etimologi kata psikolinguistik terbentuk dari kata psikologi danlinguistik, yakni dua bidang ilmu yang berbeda, yang masing-masing berdiri sendiri, dengan prosedur dan metode yang berlainan. Namun, keduanya sama-sama meneliti bahasa sebagai objek formalnya. Hanya objek materianya yang berbeda, linguistic mengkaji struktur bahasa, sedangkan psikologi mengkaji perilaku berbahasa atau proses berbahasa. Dengan demikian cara dan tujuannya pun berbeda.
Meskipun cara dan tujuannya berbeda, tetapi banyak juga bagian-bagian objeknya yang dikaji dengan cara yang sama dan dengan tujuan yang sama, tetapi dengan teori yang berlainan. Hasil kajian kedua disiplin ini pun banyak yang sama, meskipun tidak sedikit yang berlainan. Oleh karena itu, perlu adanya kerja sama diantara kedua disiplin ini untuk mengkaji bahsa dan hakikat bahasa. Dengan kerja sama kedua disiplin itu diharapkan akan diperoleh hasil kajian yang lebih baik dan lebih bermanfaat.[11]
Psikolinguistik mencoba menguraikan proses-proses psikologi yang berlangsung jika seseorang mengucapkan kalimat-kalimat yang didengarnya pada waktu berkomunikasi, dan bagaimana kemampuan berbahasa itu diperoleh oleh manusia (Slobin, 1974; Meller, 1964; Slama Cazahu, 1973). Maka secara teoretis tujuan utama psikolinguistik adalah mencari satu teori bahasa yang secara linguistik bisa diterima dan secara psikologi dapat menerangkan hakikat bahasa dan pemerolehannya. Dengan kata lain, psikolinguistik mencoba menerangkan hakikat struktur bahasa, dan bagaimana struktur ini diperoleh, digunakan pada waktu bertutur, dan pada waktu memahami kalimat-kalimat dalam pertuturan itu. Dalam prakteknya psikolinguistik mencoba menerapkan pengetahuan linguistik dan psikologi pada masalah-masalah seperti pengajaran dan pembelajaran bahasa, pengajaran membaca permulaan dan membaca lanjut, kedwibahasaan dan kemultibahasaan, penyakit bertutur seperti afasia, gagap dan sebagainya; serta masalah-masalah social lain yang menyangkut bahasa, seperti bahasa dan pendidikan, bahasa dan pembangunan nusa dan bangsa.
Kerja sama antara psikologi dan linguistik setelah beberapa lama berlangsung tampaknya belum cukup untuk dapat menerangkan hakikat bahasa seperti tercermin dalam definisi di atas. Bantuan dari ilmu-ilmu lain sangat diperlukan, seperti neurofisiologi, neurofisiologis, neurolinguistik, dan sebagainya. Maka meskipun digunakan istilah psikolinguistik, bukan berarti hanya kedua bidang ilmu itu saja yang diterapkan, tetapi juga hasil penelitian dari ilmu-ilmu lain pun dimanfaatkan.
Menurut G. kempen (Kempen 1976), bahwa dalam psikolinguistik ada dua komponen yang menjadi objek studinya, yaitu manusia dan bahasa. Psikolinguistik lahir dari perkawinan dua disiplin, yaitu psikologi yang membahas tingkah laku manusia dan linguistic yang membahas bahasa sebagai suatu sistem pola tingkah laku. Perkawinan itu terjadi sejak timbulnya pemikiran-pemikiran tentang bagaimana kemampuan bahasa itu berkembang atau bagaimana seorang anak belajar bahasa. Hal itu dimulai oleh C. E. Osgood pada tahun 1954. [12]
5. Subdisiplin psikolinguistik
a) Psikolinguistik teoritis
Membahas teori-teori bahasa yang berkaitan dengan proses-proses mental manusia dalam berbahasa, misalnya dalam rancangan fonetik, rancangan pilihan kata, rancangan sintaksis, rancangan wacana, dan rancangan intonasi.
b) Psikolinguistik perkembanagan
Berkaitan dengan proses pemerolehan bahasa, baik pemerolehan bahasa pertama, (B1), maupun pemerolehan bahasa kedua (B2). Subdisiplin ini mengkaji proses pemerolehan fonologi, semantic, dan sintaksis.
c) Psikolinguistik social
Berkenaan dengan aspek-aspek social bahasa. Bagi suatu masyarakat-bahasa, bahasa itu bukan hanya merupakan suatu gejala dan identitas social saja, tetapi juga merupakan suatu ikatan batin dan nurani yang sukar ditinggalkan.
d) Psikolinguistik pendidikan
Mengkaji aspek-aspek pendidikan secara umum dalam pendidikan formal disekolah, seperti peranan bahasa dalam pengajaran membaca, pengajaran kemahiran berbahasa, dan pengetahuan mengenai peningkatan kemampuan bahasa dalam proses memperbaiki kemampuan menyampaikan pikiran dan perasaan.
e) Psikolinguistik-neurologi (neuropsikolinguistik)
Mengkaji hubungan antara bahasa, berbahasa, dan otak manusia.
f) Psikolinguistik eksperimen
Meliput dan melakukan eksperimen dalam semua kegiatan bahasa dan berbahasa pada suatu pihak dan perilaku berbahasa dan akibat berbahasapada pihak lain.
g) Psikoinguistik terapan
Berkaitan dengan penerapan dari temuan-temuan enam subdisiplin psikolinguistik diatas kedalam bidang-bidang tertentu yang memerlukannya. Yang termasuk subdisiplin ini ialah psikologi, linguistik, pertuturan dan pemahaman, pembelajaran bahasa, pengajaran membaca neurologi, psikiatri, komunikasi, dan susastra.[13]
6. Ruang lingkup psikolinguistik
Bagian
Sub bagian
Contoh
Psikolinguistik umum
Persepsi
Auditif
Visual
Mendengarkan, menulis, membaca
Kognitif
Ingatan
Berpikir
Intuisi
Verbal memory
Verbal thinking
Produksi
Auditif
Visual
Berbicara
menulis
Psikolinguistik perkembangan
Bahasa Pertama (bahasa ibu)
Bahasa kedua
Struktur kalimat dua kata.
Belajar membaca
Psikolinguistik terapan
Umum
Normal
Studi tentang ejaan
Menyimpang
Aphasia
Perkembangan
Normal
Kurikulum untuk belajar membaca
Menyimpang
Gagap, buta warna, dyslexia.
7. Induk disiplin Psikolinguistik
Karena psikolingustik merupakan gabuan dari psikologidan linguistik, maka beberapa pakar berpendapat psikolinguistik berinduk pada psikologi karena istilah itu merupakan nama baru dari psikologi bahasa (psychology of language) yang telah dikenal waktu sebelumnya. Namun, di amerika serikat pada umumnya psikolinguistik dianggap sebagai cabang dari linguistik, meskipun noam Chomsky, tokoh linguistic generative transformasi cenderung menempatkan psikolinguistik sebagai cabang psikologi.[14]
A. Kesimpulan
Ø Psikolinguistik yakni ilmu yang merupakan gabungan antara dua ilmu psikologi dan linguistic. Benih ilmu ini sebenarnya sudah tampak pada abad permulaan kedua puluh di Jerman,
Ø Psikolinguistik terbagi kedalam tujuh subdisiplin ilmu :
a. Psikolinguistik teoretis
b. Psikolinguistikperkembangan
c. Psikolinguistik social
d. Psikolinguistik pendidikan
e. Psikolinguistik neurologi
f. Psikolinguistik eksperimen
g. Psikolinguistik terapan
Ø Ruang lingkup psikolinguistik ada 3:
1. Psikolinguistik umum
2. Psikolinguistik perkembangan
3. Psikolinguistik terapan
Ø Objek kajian psikolinguistik adalah manusia dan bahasa
DAFTAR PUSTAKA
Abdul Chaer, Psikolinguistik Kajian Teoretik, (Jakarta : PT RIneka Cipta, 2009, cetakan kedua)
Djoko Kentjono, Dasar-dasar Linguistik Umum, (Depok: Fakultas Sastra UI, 1990, cetakan ketiga)
Soenjono Darjowidjojo, Psikolinguistik: Pengantar Pemahaman Bahasa Manusia, (Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2005, cet. II edisi II)
Prof. Dr. Samsunuwiyati Mar’at, Psi (Bandung, PT Refika Aditama, 2009, cetakan kedua)
LINGUISTICS: Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics
Language is one
of the most powerful emblems of social behavior. In the normal transfer
of information through language, we use language to send vital social
messages about who we are, where we come from, and who we associate
with. It is often shocking to realize how extensively we may judge a
person's background, character, and intentions based simply upon the
person's language, dialect, or, in some instances, even the choice of a
single word.
Given the social
role of language, it stands to reason that one strand of language study
should concentrate on the role of language in society.
Sociolinguistics
has become an increasingly important and popular field of study, as
certain cultures around the world expand their communication base and
intergroup and interpersonal relations take on escalating significance.
The basic notion
underlying sociolinguistics is quite simple: Language use symbolically
represents fundamental dimensions of social behavior and human
interaction. The notion is simple, but the ways in which language
reflects behavior can often be complex and subtle. Furthermore, the
relationship between language and society affects a wide range of
encounters--from broadly based international relations to narrowly
defined interpersonal relationships.
For example,
sociolinguists might investigate language attitudes among large
populations on a national level, such as those exhibited in the US with
respect to the English-only amendment--the legislative proposal to make
English the 'official' language of the US. Similarly, we might study the
status of French and English in Canada or the status of national and
vernacular languages in the developing nations of the world as symbols
of fundamental social relations among cultures and nationalities. In
considering language as a social institution, sociolinguists often use
sociological techniques involving data from questionnaires and summary
statistical data, along with information from direct observation.
A slightly
different concern with language and society focuses more closely on the
effect of particular kinds of social situations on language structure.
For example, language contact studies focus on the origin and the
linguistic composition of pidgin and creole languages. These special
language varieties arise when speakers from mutually unintelligible
language groups need a common language for communication. Throughout the
world, there are many sociohistorical situations that have resulted in
these specialized language situations--in the Caribbean, Africa, South
America, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. In examining language contact
situations, it is also possible to examine not only the details of a
particular language but also the social and linguistic details that show
how bilingual speakers use each language and switch between them.
Another approach
to language and society focuses on the situations and uses of language
as an activity in its own right. The study of language in its social
context tells us quite a bit about how we organize our social
relationships within a particular community. Addressing a person as
'Mrs.', 'Ms.', or by a first name is not really about simple vocabulary
choice but about the relationship and social position of the speaker and
addressee. Similarly, the use of sentence alternatives such as Pass the
salt, Would you mind passing the salt, or I think this food could use a
little salt is not a matter of simple sentence structure; the choice
involves cultural values and norms of politeness, deference, and status
In approaching
language as a social activity, it is possible to focus on discovering
the specific patterns or social rules for conducting conversation and
discourse. We may, for example, describe the rules for opening and
closing a conversation, how to take conversational turns, or how to tell
a story or joke.
It is also
possible to examine how people manage their language in relation to
their cultural backgrounds and their goals of interaction.
Sociolinguists might investigate questions such as how mixed-gender
conversations differ from single-gender conversations, how differential
power relations manifest themselves in language forms, how caregivers
let children know the ways in which language should be used, or how
language change occurs and spreads to communities. To answer these
questions related to language as social activity, sociolinguists often
use ethnographic methods. That is, they attempt to gain an understanding
of the values and viewpoints of a community in order to explain the
behaviors and attitudes of its members.
Two trends have
characterized the development of sociolinguistics over the past several
decades. First, the rise of particular specializations within this field
has coincided with the emergence of more broadly based social and
political issues. Thus, the focus on themes such as language and
nationalism, language and ethnicity, and language and gender has
corresponded with the rise of related issues in society at large.
Second, specialists who examine the role of language and society have
become more and more interested in applying the results of their studies
to the broadly based social, educational, and political problems that
probably gave rise to their emergence as sociolinguistic themes to begin
with. Sociolinguistics thus offers a unique opportunity to bring
together theory, description, and application in the study of language.
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