ELT111 1ST EXAM

is a system of symbols that functions as means of human

communication

• Language

• Nature of Language

what makes up a language. In this section, it is defined based

on three major perspectives.

• Linguistics

• Nature of Language

Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas,

emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols.

• Sapir, 1992

• Block and Trager, 1942

• Hall, 1968

• Chomsky, 1957

A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social

group cooperates

• Sapir, 1921

• Bloch and Trager, 1942

• Hall, 1968

• Chomsky, 1957

The institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by

means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols

• Hall, 1968

• Sapir, 1921

• Chomsky, 1957

• Block and Trager, 1942

Language is a finite or infinite set of sentences, each finite in length, and

constructed out of a finite set of elements

• Chomsky, 1957

• Hall, 1968

• Sapir, 1921

• Bloch and Trager, 1942

explains language structures as a coherent system of signs.

• Structuralist Perspective

• Cognitivist Perspective

• Functionalist Perspective

Language is a system of structurally related elements for the coding of

meaning

• Structuralist Perspective

• Cognitivist Perspective

• Functionalist Perspective

Language can be described in terms of observable and verifiable data.

• Cognitivist Perspective

• Structuralist Perspective

• Functionalist Perspective

explains language structures by appealing to general

psychological processes of cognition.

• Cognitivist Perspective

• Structuralist Perspective

• Functionalist Perspective