The linguistic communication scholars referred to in this essay are package applied scientists, in the age group of 23-26, tasked with developing package merchandises for the travel industry. They were selected on the footing of their public presentation in a linguistic communication appraisal and identified as intermediate users of the linguistic communication.
All of them had studied English for 10 old ages in school and subsequently at the university English was the medium of direction.
A few of them were hazard takers, ready to take on undertakings irrespective of any errors they may do. There were those who were spurred on by the possibility of their lacking linguistic communication accomplishments impacting their calling graph ; they were besides ready for self-learning and willing to take duty for their acquisition. Some were hesitating, unsure of their cognition and afraid to do errors.
All of them were, nevertheless, comfy with proficient linguistic communication, but were really diffident to confront state of affairss that called for regular communicating. They needed aid with mundane vocabulary to pass on efficaciously with co-workers and clients.
Word parts
If we consider words as independent/freestanding units with significance, a impression proposed by McCarthy ( 1990 ) , so we can see that these units of significance can farther be broken down and re-combined to organize other words. Though the word ‘cancelled ‘ is an independently meaningful point, under closer observation it becomes clear that this word consists of two units ‘cancel ‘ and the past tense marker ‘-ed ‘ . The lingual point ‘cancel ‘ is a separate word in English, but there is no such word as ‘-ed ‘ in English, even though ‘-ed ‘ is a meaning-bearing unit. Such lingual points that are non freestanding are said to be bound and these signifiers can happen merely in combination with other signifiers. The two meaningful parts, ‘cancel ‘ and ‘-ed ‘ are called morphemes.
Morphemes
Katamba ( 2003 ) defines morphemes as the atoms with which words are built. Morphemes are the smallest unit of lexical and grammatical significance and they are realized by morphs, as morphemes do non hold a physical representation. A individual morpheme can be manifested as multiple complementary morphs in distinguishable phonological or morphological contexts. Let us look at the past tense marker -ed to understand the distribution of these complementary morphs known as allomorphs.
Free morphemes can stand entirely as words ; whereas bound morphemes such as ‘-ed ‘ are merely used in combination with other morphemes. There are word signifiers which have but a individual unbound morpheme and others which consists of more than one morpheme. Wordss like talk, eat and patch are illustrations of freestanding morphemes and words such as predictable and contemplation are formed by uniting many morphemes.
Affixation
Affixs are bound morphemes attached to a root either to make a new word or a word signifier. Affixation of morphemes can be either inflectional or derivational.
Inflectional affixes
Katamba ( 2003 ) posits that the English linguistic communication has minimum inflexions because of its inclination to be an isolating linguistic communication. The few inflexions it has are all postfixs. These postfixs are bound morphemes and are attached to the root to inflect or alter words to show grammatical characteristics, such as the alterations in tense, figure, ownership, and grades of adjectives.
There are 8 inflectional postfixs in English and they are:
Derivational Affixes
In English derivational affixes include both prefixes and postfixs. Katamba ( 2003 ) says that the intent of derivation is to make lexical points and non to bring forth grammatical units that will suit in a given syntactic place. The three of import derivational procedures in English are: affixation, transition and combination.
Affixation is one of the commonest methods of organizing words in English. Derivational affixes can be either prefixes, those that are added before the base, or postfixs, that are attached after the base. Word organizing procedures like making nouns from verbs, adjectives from verbs and verbs from adjectives are illustrations of a few derivational patterns in English.
Derivational affixes are different from inflexional affixes in many ways:
They change the word category every bit good as the significance of a word to which it is linked – energy ( n ) +- ise -i? energise ( V )
Even though they combine to make a new word they are non affected by syntactic dealingss outside of the word, they can be separated and recombined with other morphemes to organize other combinations.
Root
Suffix
Derived word
Govern ( V )
-able
Governable ( adj )
Enjoy ( V )
-ment
Enjoyment
Derivational morphemes can be attached merely to certain roots.
Root
Suffix
Derived word
Violin
-ist
Violinist
Drum
-ist
*drumist
Drum
-er
Drummer
*drumist is non an acceptable word.
Other word formation procedures
Conversion or zero derivation is the prevailing method of bring forthing lexical points in English. In this procedure a lexical point is assigned to a new syntactic class. The word ‘permit ‘ can be used either as a noun or as a verb ; the phonological representation and the grammatical context in which it is placed are the two facets that can alarm the alteration in the word-class. ( Permit ( V ) and license ( n ) . Crystal ( 2012 ) quotes from Shakespeare, ‘Petruchio is Kated ‘ as an illustration of transition – the name of a individual going a verb – to foster his statement that transition was a customary word-formation procedure even during Shakespeare ‘s clip.
Combination is the procedure of fall ining two bases to make a new word ; of the two words, one which is syntactically dominant is considered the caput and the other as the qualifier. By and large the qualifier is placed in forepart of the caput and any postfix that might subsequently be added to the compound word is attached to the caput. Compound words are different from phrases ; the significance of a compound word, unlike a phrase, is non the amount of the significance of the base units that form the word. Iin a compound word the primary emphasis is on the first word and in a phrase the primary emphasis is on the last word.
Phrase
Compound word
Meaning of the compound
. Blue print
Blueprint
an early program or design for a undertaking
green house
Greenhouse
a edifice used for turning workss that need heats
Should word parts be learned?
A cost/benefit analysis of the acquisition of word parts should be ground adequate for a scholar of English linguistic communication to analyze word parts. State quotes from Roberts ( 1964 ) , Grinstead ( 1925 ) and Bird ( 1987,1990 ) to indicate out that about 60 % of the English vocabulary is derived from German, Gallic, Latin and Greek and that a big proportion of these words make usage of affixes. The analysis of the LOB Corpus carried out by Bird revealed that 97 % of the words in the LOB principal were derived from around 2,000 roots. State maintains that the beginnings of the English vocabulary and the frequence of word parts validate the survey of word parts.
The two statements levelled against the teaching/learning of word parts are based on the contention that, the attempt involved in larning word parts is non commensurate with linguistic communication end product.
A word is non a amount of its parts
The first statement against the instruction of word parts is that the significance of a word is non the amount of its parts ( Deighton, 1970 ) ; This statement has been countered by White, Power and White ( 1989 ) pulling on their ain every bit good as Nagy and Anderson ‘s ( 1984 ) empirical grounds that most of the affixed words – ‘probably at least 80 % – convey the intending their parts suggest. Katamba ( 2003 ) argues that compositionality is the key to understanding a word. He says that if we know the significance of the smaller units which make up the larger units we can decode the significance of the whole. For illustration, if we know the significance of the postfix -ful ( filled with ten ) , and the significance of the base to which these postfixs are attached, so the significance of words like utile, careful, fearful and cheerful become self-explanatory. Most of the morphemes that form a word have regular/stable significance ; for illustration, the prefix re- agencies ‘again ‘ in about all the words in which it occurs.
In the visible radiation of the empirical grounds and the illustration we saw we can reason that the significance of most of the English words is what its parts suggest and hence cognition of the significance of the parts can assist a scholar understand a word across contexts and use. If we were to widen this statement further we could state that this cognition along with the contextual hints would be utile in decrypting even the metaphorical significance of a word ; a caput huntsman would therefore lose the sinister overtones of the yesteryear and get the current significance of person who recruits people into cardinal concern places.
Word households in the vocabulary
The following statement against teaching/learning of word parts is that the cognizing the parts of a word may non familiarize a scholar with all the members of that word household ( Schmitt 1998, 1999, Schmitt & A ; Meara 1997 ) . State argues that the impression of word household is psychologically existent and a word is to be seen as a member of a word household. Knowledge of the word parts can assist the scholars understand a word in its relation to the other members of the household. For case, cognition of the assorted inflexions of English and the significance of the base of the word predict can familiarize a scholar with all the possible combinations ( household members ) of predict ; predict- predicted- predicting- predictable and anticipation are merely some of the members of that household.
Nagy, Anderson, Schommer, Scott, and Stallman ( 1989 ) points out that the velocity of acknowledgment of a word is based on the frequence of happening of the members of that word household. They quote the findings of Stanners, Neiser, Hernon, & A ; Hall ( 1979 ) to progress their statement that related words are linked in the mental vocabulary. So there are linked entries for create, creates created and creative activity and accessing any word from this household can partially trip other household members. Word parts are non merely linked in the mental vocabulary, but morphologically ordered to stand for the relation.
Interpreting the significance
Another statement against larning word parts is that L2 scholars utilizing this for thinking the significance of a word might do the scholar to misinterpret the word. Schmitt quotes Haynes ( 1993 ) to formalize this statement ; Haynes found that scholars continued with the incorrect significance even though it did n’t lend to the context. For illustration Inflammable is frequently misinterpreted to intend non-flammable. Clarke and Nation ( 1980 ) cautiousness that word parts scheme should be used to verify the conjectures drawn from the context.
Furthermore, cognition of the word parts empowers the scholar by learning him to use his apprehension at the receptive and productive degree. At the receptive degree it teaches him a ) to place the different constituents of a complex word, B ) to be cognizant that these word parts can be used to do other words, degree Celsius ) how the significance of the different parts combine to do a new significance, and vitamin D ) how the amount of the parts relates to the dictionary significance. At the productive degree it makes him cognizant of how the formal alterations can impact the spelling, pronunciation and the word category of the base when a complex word is formed. ( State )
The challenges
Learning word parts presents a set of challenges to linguistic communication scholars. The greatest challenge is that of clip and exposure. Surveies conducted by Nagy, Diakody, & A ; Anderson ( 1993 ) point out that L1 scholars do non get proficiency in morphology until their high school ; if this takes so long to develop in L1 scholars despite their advantage of maximal exposure, so L2 scholars are likely to take more clip to larn this facet ( Schmitt ) . Even though the scholars in my group had studied English for ten old ages, they have learned inflectional postfixs merely as portion of grammar exercisings and have ne’er been explicitly taught derivational affixes. Their exposure to morphological signifiers was non commensurate with the continuance of their survey. They have used these signifiers fruitfully without much cognition about the regulations that guide most of these formations ; ‘Though I have putted balances for this undertakings, accidently the balance was unreciprocated ‘ ; ‘the meeting is preponed to three in the afternoon ‘ , ‘he is really confidential during presentations ‘ are illustrations of the common mistakes.
Schmitt points out that deficiency of consistence in affixation can do jobs even if the significance of the parts is clear. He gives the illustration of the suffix -ist.
Root
Suffix
derived word
Cycle
-ist
Cyclist
Act
-ist
*actist
Act
-or
Actor
Another challenge for the L2 scholar is the deficiency of consciousness that non all words can be broken into parts. Learners sometimes try to break up words like garbage, repel, repetition, revamp and effort to utilize the sensed root, ensuing in a meaningless word.
Learners frequently have trouble with the formal alterations that occur with affixation in spelling and pronunciation. Some derivational affixes lack consistent spelling and has to be learned separately.
base
postfix
word
suggest
-able
suggestible
afford
-able
low-cost
Gairns & A ; Redman notes that affixation sometimes produces alterations in emphasis and sounds in a word.
Democrat
/’demE™kraet/
democratic
/demE™’kraetA±k/
democracy
/dA±’mE’krE™sA±/
Derivational postfixs need to be – make non follow regulations
strategies- guidelines how
A good starting point for any instructor want to rectify this state of affairs would be to develop the scholars to interrupt, the complex words that are already known to the scholar, into its constituents and to assist them understand the functional significance of these constituents. promote the scholars to go more cognizant of these morphological instill in the mond of the scholar that all facets of linguistic communication acquisition is incremental an beA instructors undertaking has likely ne’er been good defines as in this state of affairs Language acquisition is incremental A good game program to rectify T
State suggests that scholars should be taught complex words as unanalyzed wholes before they begin to analyse word parts. instructor I would explicit instruction of choice morphological units appropriate to the learner degree, developing the scholars the.A instructor needs to present the scholars to complex words before they are trained to analyze the different parts of that word.
Because morphological acquisition is incremental in nature expressed instruction of degree suited affixes, promoting them to detect the correct signifiers encountered in newspapers regular exposure through exercisings and receptive stuff.
This regulations out the possibility of a wholly ranked attack ; alternatively I would roll up words for analysis from their
Collocation
Time devouring
Not all words can be broken into parts
Affixs are non crystalline – Some affixes are used mor often than others – so necessitate to be selective
Thinking a incorrect significance and lodging on with that account even though it made no sense. ( Haynes 1993 ) -Clarke and Nation ( 1980 ) – word parts best used to confirm/verify the significance.
Trouble in thinking the word category & A ; make up one’s minding on an appropriate emphasis, formal alterations in spelling, phonetics and word signifiers
Derivational postfixs need to be learned separately – do non follow regulations
strategies- guidelines how
Furthermore, it empowers the scholar by learning him to use his apprehension at the receptive and productive degree. At the receptive degree it teaches him a ) to place the different constituents of a complex word, B ) to be cognizant that these word parts can be used to do other words, degree Celsius ) how the significance of the different parts combine to do a new significance, and vitamin D ) how the amount of the parts relates to the dictionary significance. At the productive degree it makes him cognizant of how the formal alterations can impact the spelling, pronunciation and the word category of the base when a complex word is formed. ( State )
