Lecture Plan: Language theory and practice

“Language theory and practice. The problem of the English language theory (lexicology, theoretical grammar, theoretical phonetics). Philological theoretical subjects. The history of English literature, country studies, the linguistics of text.”

Lecture 6.

Plan:

• Language theory and practice.
• The problem of the English language theory (lexicology, theoretical grammar, theoretical phonetics).
• The history of English literature, country studies, the linguistics of text.

Theory and Practice in Language Studies (TPLS, ISSN 1799-2591) is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among teachers and researchers in the field of language studies. The journal is published monthly.

• Theory and Practice in Language Studies (TPLS, ISSN 1799-2591) is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to promoting scholarly exchange among teachers and researchers in the field of language studies. The journal is published monthly.
• TPLS carries original, full-length articles and short research notes that reflect the latest developments and advances in both theoretical and practical aspects of language teaching and learning. We particularly encourage articles that share an interdisciplinary orientation, articles that bridge the gap between theory and practice, and articles in new and emerging areas of research that reflect the challenges faced today.
• Areas of interest include: language education, language teaching methodologies, language acquisition, bilingualism, literacy, language representation, language assessment, language education policies, applied linguistics, as well as language studies and other related disciplines: psychology, linguistics, pragmatics, cognitive science, neuroscience, ethnography, sociolinguistics, sociology, and anthropology, literature, phonetics, phonology, and morphology.

• The story of English literature begins with the Germanic tradition of the Anglo-Saxon settlers. Beowulf stands at its head. 
• This epic poem of the 8th century is in Anglo-Saxon, now more usually described as Old English. It is incomprehensible to a reader familiar only with modern English. Even so, there is a continuous linguistic development between the two. The most significant turning point, from about 1100, is the development of Middle English - differing from Old English in the addition of a French vocabulary after the Norman conquest. French and Germanic influences subsequently compete for the mainstream role in English literature
• . 

• The French poetic tradition inclines to lines of a regular metrical length, usually linked by rhyme into couplets or stanzas. German poetry depends more on rhythm and stress, with repeated consonants (alliteration) to bind the phrases. Elegant or subtle rhymes have a courtly flavour. The hammer blows of alliteration are a type of verbal athleticism more likely to draw applause in a hall full of warriors. Both traditions achieve a magnificent flowering in England in the late 14th century, towards the end of the Middle English period. Piers Plowman and Sir Gawain are masterpieces which look back to Old English. By contrast Chaucer, a poet of the court, ushers in a new era of English literature. 

Over 20 years ago, the research of Moll, Estrada, Diaz, and Lopes (1980) poignantly delineated the pain and frustration that English language learners struggling to learn English sometimes feel when taught in all-English settings. Students may fail to understand what the teacher is talking about, and may become frustrated when they have an idea but cannot adequately express their thoughts in English. Moll et al. found that teachers tended to correct pronunciation errors (e.g., seyd for “said”) or interrupt passage reading with attempts to define simple English words (e.g., “surprise”, “guess”), thereby breaking the flow of the story. Moll et al. decried “the deliberate, slow pace of lessons with students in the low reading groups”, and the lack of intellectual challenge and conceptual development provided to them his focus on the details of accurate English language production makes the students appear less competent than they really are. When Moll et al. (1980) followed the same students into a Spanish reading lesson, they observed that the students, although considered “low ability” by their teacher, were able to answer comprehension questions correctly on grade-level material, to develop and expand on ideas in the stories, and to process more complex text. Further, the students could read texts usually reserved for “high-ability” students.

• Yates and Ortiz (1991) found that many teachers view language minority children as simply low-performing native English-speaking children. This tendency has led many to merely adopt a watered-down curriculum, including reading material well below the students’ ability to comprehend. This recurrent problem denies language minority children access to the type of instructional material they need in order to make adequate academic progress. This curriculum mismatch, in all likelihood, is one reason for the extremely low academic performance levels of many English language learners.
• According to Fradd (1987), teachers who work with English language learners often tend to use “brief utterances such as ‘What is this?’ or ‘What color is that?’” (p. 146). Students learn to reply in like form, in one- or two-word utterances. Not surprisingly, little curriculum content or social expectation is communicated in this type of verbal exchange. In classroom observations of English language learners, Ramírez (1992) noted the same phenomenon regardless of teachers’ or districts’ philosophy of bilingual education.

Questions:

• Describe the history of methodology of teaching foreign language in Uzbekistan.
• What are the lexicological problems of teaching English?
• When did country studies first developed?