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3. Semantics

Syllabus

also curriculum

a description of the contents of a course of instruction and the order in which theyare to be taught. Language-teaching syllabuses may be based on (a) grammatical

items and vocabulary (see STRUCTURAL SYLLABUS) (b) the language needed

for different types of situations (see SITUATIONAL METHOD) (c) the meanings

and communicative functions which the learner needs to express in the TARGET

LANGUAGE (see NOTIONAL SYLLABUS)

Notional syllabus

also notional-functional syllabus

(in language teaching) a SYLLABUS in which the language content is arranged

according to the meanings a learner needs to express through language and the

functions the learner will use the language for.

The term NOTIONAL is taken from NOTIONAL GRAMMAR. A notional syllabus is

contrasted with a grammatical syllabus or STRUCTURAL SYLLABUS (one which

consists of a sequence of graded language items) or a situational syllabus (one

which consists of situations and the relevant language items (see SITUATIONAL

METHOD)).

A notional syllabus contains:

a. the meanings and concepts the learner needs in order to communicate

(e.g. time, quantity, duration, location) and the language needed to

express them. These concepts and meanings are called notions.

b. the language needed to express different functions or SPEECH ACTS

(e.g. requesting, suggesting, promising, describing).

These notions and functions are then used to develop learning/teaching units in a

language course.

Functional syllabus

(in language teaching) a SYLLABUS in which the language content is arranged in

terms of functions or SPEECH ACTS together with the language items needed for

them. For example, the functions might be identifying, describing, inviting, offering,


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etc. in different types of DISCOURSE (i.e. speech or writing). The language skills

involved might be listening, speaking, reading, or writing. The language items

needed for these functions are called exponents or realizations.

For example:

ExponentsType of

discourse Skill Function Vocabulary Structures

spoken speaking

listening

asking for

directions

bank

harbour

museum

Can you tell me where X is?

Where is X?

Often this term is used to refer to a certain type of NOTIONAL SYLLABUS.

Componential analysis

1. (in semantics) an approach to the study of meaning which analyses a word into

a set of meaning components or semantic features. For example, the

meaning of the English word boymay be shown as:

[+human] [+male] [-adult]

Usually, componential analysis is applied to a group of related words which

may differ from one another only by one or two components.

This approach was developed in ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS for the

study of kinship and other terms in various languages.

2. any approach to linguistics which analyses linguistic units, usually words or

sounds, into smaller parts or components. This approach has been used in

phonology and semantics.

Lexical field

also semantic field

the organization of related words and expressions (see LEXEME) into a system

which shows their relationship to one another.

For example, kinship terms such as father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt

belong to a lexical field whole relevant features include generation, sex,

membership of the fathers or mothers side of the family, etc.

The absence of a word in a particular place in a lexical field of a language is called

a lexical gap.


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For example, in English there is no singular noun that covers both cowand bullas

horse covers stallion and mare.

Semantic feature

also semantic component, semantic properties

the basic unit of meaning in a word. The meanings of words may be described as

a combination of semantic features.

For example, the semantic feature [+male] is part of the meaning offather, and so

is the feature [+adult] but other features are needed to give the whole concept or

sense offather.

The same feature may be part of the meaning of a number of words. For example,

[+movement] is part of the meaning of a whole group of verbs and nouns, e.g. run,

jump, walk, gallop.

Sometimes, semantic features are establishes by contrasts and can be stated in

terms of [+] or [-], e.g.

child [+human] [-adult]

man [+human] [+adult] [+male]

boy [+human] [-adult] [+male]

Base component

also phrase structure component

(in TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE GRAMMAR) the part dealing with syntax is

divided into two components: the base component and the

TRANSFORMATIONAL COMPONENT. The base component generates the basic

sentence patterns of a language; the transformational component transforms

these into sentences.

The base component consists of a set of rules and a vocabulary list (lexicon)

which contains morphemes and idioms (see under LEXICAL ENTRY). The main

rules are called phrase structure rules orrewrite rules.

For example, the rule S NP + VP

means that a sentence (S) can be analyzed (rewritten) as consisting of a noun

phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP).

The rule VP V (+NP)


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means that a verb phrase can be further rewritten as simply a verb or as a verb

and noun phrase.

The lexicon gives information about the class that a word belongs to, e.g. N for

nouns, V for verbs, and information about the grammatical structures with which

the word may occur. For example, the English verb sleep cannot have an object

after it. The simplified table below shows the rules and lexicon which are

necessary to form the basic sentence structure forthe baby slept.

Phrase Structure Rules Lexicon

1. S NP + VP

2. NP DET(erminer) + N (non)

3. VP T(ense) + V(erb)

4. T(ense) PAST

baby: N

sleep: V Object

the: DET

A diagram, called a tree diagram, may show the way the rules are applied and

how the words from the lexicon are fitted in for a particular sentence.

This simplified diagram shows the basic DEEP STRUCTURE for the sentence The

baby slept.

S

NP VP

DET N T V

the baby PAST slept

The rules of the transformational component change the above structure into the

sentence The baby slept(surface structure).

Generative semantics

an approach to linguistic theory which grew as a reaction to Chomskys syntactic-

based TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE GRAMMAR. It considers that all

sentences are generated from a semantic structure. This semantic structure is


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often expressed in the form of a proposition which is similar to logical propositions

in philosophy. Linguists working within this theory have, for instance, suggested

that there is a semantic relationship between such sentences as

This dog strikes me as being like her master.

and

This dog reminds me of her master.

because they both have the semantic structure of

X perceives that Y is similar to Z.

Interpretive semantics

a theory about the place of meaning in a model of TRANSFORMATIONAL

GENERATIVE GRAMMAR. It considers a meaning component, called the

semantic component, as part of the grammar. This component contains rules

which interpret the meaning of sentences.

This theory differs from GENERATIVE SEMANTICS, which insists that the

semantic component is the most basic part of a grammar from which all sentences

of a language can be generated (see GENERATIVE GRAMMAR, RULE2).

In generative semantics, syntactic rules operate on the meaning of a sentence to

produce its form. In interpretive semantics, semantic rules operate on the words

and syntactic structure to reveal its meaning.

Transformational-generative grammar

also transformational grammar, TG grammar, generative-transformational

grammar, generative transformational theory

a theory of grammar which was proposed by the American linguist Chomsky in

1957. It has since been developed by him and many other linguists. Chomsky

attempted to provide a model for the description of all languages. A

transformational generative grammar tries to show, with a system of rules, the

knowledge which a native speaker of a language uses in forming grammatical

sentences (see COMPETENCE).

Chomsky has changed his theory over the years. The most well-known version

was published in his book Aspects of the Theory of Syntax in 1965. It is often

referred to as the Aspects Model orStandard Theory.

This model consists of four main parts:


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a. the BASE COMPONENT, which produces or generates basic syntactic

structures called DEEP STRUCTURES.

b. the TRANSFORMATIONAL COMPONENT, which changes or transforms

these basic structures into sentences called surface structures.

c. the phonological component, which gives sentences a phonetic

representation so that they can be pronounced (see GENERATIVE

PHONOLOGY).

d. the semantic component, which deals with the meaning of sentences

(see INTERPRETATIVE SEMANTICS).

The relationship of the four components to one another can be seen in the

simplified diagram below:

semantic base Examplecomponent component Ann1 + PAST = injure

Ann1

transformationalcomponent Ann+injured+herself

phonological [n indd hself]

component

Chomsky and others later modified the Aspects Model. They felt that not only the

base component but also the transformational and phonological components had

some effect on the semantic interpretation of a sentence (Extended Standard

Theory).

Competence

(in TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE GRAMMAR) a persons internalized

grammar of a language. This means a persons ability to create and understand

sentences, including sentences they have never heard before. It also includes a

persons knowledge of what are and what are not sentences of a particular

language.

For example, a speaker of English would recognize I want to go home as an

English sentence but would not accept a sentence such as I want going home

even though all the words in it are English words.

semanticinterpretation


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Competence often refers to the ideal speaker/hearer, that is an idealized but not a

real person who would have a complete knowledge of the whole language. A

distinction is made between competence and PERFORMANCE, which is the

actual use of the language by individuals in speech and writing.

Performance

(in TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE GRAMMAR) a persons actual use of

language. A difference is made between a persons knowledge of the language

(COMPETENCE) and how a person uses this knowledge in producing and

understanding sentences (performance). The difference between linguistic

competence and linguistic performance can be seen, for example, in the

production of long and complex sentences (see RECURSIVE RULE). People may

have the competence to produce an infinitely long sentence but when they actually

attempt to use this knowledge (to perform) there are many reasons why they

restrict the number of adjectives, adverbs, and clauses in any one sentence. They

may run out of breath, or their listeners may get bored or forget what has been

said if the sentence is too long. Psycholinguists attempt to describe how

competence is used in the actual production and understanding of sentences

(performance). In second and foreign language learning, a learners performance

in a language may indicate his or her competence (see PERFORMANCE

ANALYSIS).

There is also a somewhat different way of using the term performance. In using

language, people make errors (see SPEECH ERRORS) or false stars. These may

be due to performance factors such as fatigue, lack of attention, excitement,

nervousness. Their actual use of language on a particular occasion may not reflect

their competence. The errors they make are described as examples of

performance.

Highlights

A Syllabus is a description of the contents of a course of instruction and the order

in which they are to be taught.


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A Notional syllabus (in language teaching) is a SYLLABUS in which the

language content is arranged according to the meanings a learner needs to

express through language and the functions the learner will use the language for.

A Functional syllabus (in language teaching) is a SYLLABUS in which language

content is arranged in terms of functions or SPEECH ACTS together with the

language items needed for them.

Componential analysis (in semantics) is an approach to the study of meaning

which analyses a word into a set of meaning components or semantic features.

The Lexical field (also semantic field) is the organisation of related words and

expressions (see LEXEME) into a system which shows their relationship to one

another.

The Semantic feature (also semanticcomponent, semantic properties) is the

basic unit of meaning in a word.

Generative semantics considers that all sentences are generated from a

semantic structure.

Interpretive semantics considers a meaning component, called the semantic

component, as part of the grammar.

Competence is a persons internalized grammar of a language.

Performance is a persons actual use of language.

Questions

1. What can be language-teaching syllabuses based on?

2. What is a notional syllabus contrasted with?

3. What does a notional syllabus contain?

4. What is a lexical gap?

5. What does a base component consist of?

6. What does a tree diagram show?

7. What is the difference between generative semantics and interpretive

semantics?

8. Describe Chomskys Aspects Model or Standard Theory.

What is the difference between competence and performance?

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