Module 2

Lesson 1

Structures of a Language

Learning Outcomes

1.Define what is language and its concepts.

2. Familiarized with the varied Philippines Languages

Introduction Definition and concept of Language

Nanik, Fatchul & Yusuf ( 2019)

A language is all the words used by a group of people, and grammar (the rules for
making them into sentences). People who speak the same language can understand each
other; people speaking different languages cannot understand each other (Wiktionary,
2019).

A language is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols that permit all people in a given
culture or other people who have learned the system of that culture, to communicate or to
interact (Finocchiaro, 1989).

A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication

(Wardhaugh, 1986).

A language is an arbitrary system of articulated sounds made use of by a group of

humans as a means of carrying on the affairs of their society (Francis, in Ramelan, 1984).

A language is a set of rules enabling speakers to translate information from the

outside world into sound (Gumperz, 1972).
 Characteristics of the language

Systematic Spoken

Arbitrary Communication

Social Complete For Its Speakers

Language is systematic.
Since a language is said to be a system, it must be systematic in nature. The
systematism of a language can be seen from the fact that, take an example, if we regard
a language as being made up of sounds, we find out that only certain sounds occur in
any one language that these occur in specific regular and predictable patterns. In
English, for instance, when a name for a new shampoo was coined, Prell was possible
but not Srell, because the cluster sr does not occur in the language. As has been known,
a sentence is a combination of some words. The sentence is not ordered at random. In
this relation, we cannot say, “Goes Ali school to every day.” The English language has
its own patterns of ordering some words to be a sentence. The patterns of ordering
show that a language must be systematic.

A language is said to be arbitrary

A language is said to be arbitrary. This means that it is initially created based on
social agreement. In this relation, there is no reasonable explanation, for instance, why a
specific fourfooted domestic animal is called a dog in English, asu in Javanese, or anjing
in Indonesian. Giving a name of the animal is based on the agreement among the members
of the social groups. On other words, Javanese, English and Indonesian people agreed to
call the animal as asu, dog, and anjing respectively. In this relation, George Yule (1987:
118-19) states that the linguistic form has no natural relationship with that four-legged
barking object. Recognizing this general fact about language leads us to conclude that a
property of linguistic signs is their arbitrary relationship with the objects they are used to
indicate.

A language is social
Language is social. We all know that a language is socially acquired, learned, and
then used. If this statement is related to language acquisition and/or language learning,
we may have an illustration that a new-born child acquires a communicative competence
with a given language in a speech community; in the next step, he learns and uses the
language in a speech community. Thus, a language is not genetically transmitted; but, it
is socio-culturally acquired and/or learned. In the social context, a language is not only
means for communication, but also it is a vital medium for establishing and maintaining
a social relationship. For instance, there are two persons sitting in a waiting room of a bus
station; they begin to introduce and talk to each other. In short, they know each other. At
the time of introducing, communicating, and understanding each other, they establish a
social relationship, and they will probably maintain their social relations in future time.
Setting and maintaining social relationship must involve the use of language.

A language is spoken
A language is always spoken. This statement implies that all people the world
over, regardless of their race or ethnic group, still speak a language. This means that they
still have a way of communicating ideas by using sounds that are produced by their speech
organs. Human language can be said to be an oral-auditory communication system. Why?
Oral-auditory communication has many advantages over other possible means of
communication. A speaker and a listener do not need an instrument, as writers and readers
do. This is to say that the writers and readers need writing implements and written texts,
respectively. A speaker and a listener do not look at one another, like the deaf using hand-
gestures language do. One can speak and listen while carrying out other activities, as long
as they do not involve the mouth and the ear (Taylor, p. 6). The kind of oral-auditory
communication has some weaknesses. One weakness is that people cannot converse
directly at distances greater than fifty feet. Another weakness is that speech signals are
gone without a trace as soon as they are uttered. Nowadays, the spoken language can be
recorded using a tape recorder. Another means of communicating ideas is printed or
written symbols, which is more prevailing and more often used in daily life. This means
that they are exposed to the written language as found in newspapers, magazines, or letters
so that they often confuse written language and the actual language, which is spoken. In
this relation, it can be said that the spoken form of a language is primary, whereas the
written form is secondary. This is to say that the written form of a language is only a
representation of what is actually spoken.

A language is productive or creative

Another characteristic of human language is that it is productive or creative. This
refers to the ability of native speakers to understand and produce any number of sentences
(which they never heard before) in their native language. The first aspect of the creative
use of language is that a human being can say things that have never been said before. If
we think back about our talk we have just had with our friend, we may be sure that our
conversation consisted of sentences that neither we nor our conversant have heard or
produced before.

A language is complete for its native speakers

A language is a part of human culture. Besides, it is used for establishing and
maintaining a social relationship, and it is used for expressing human culture. A language
is complete for its native speakers to express their own culture. If a language is regarded
as a system of symbol, it can be used as constitutive, cognitive, expressive, and evaluative
symbols. A constitutive symbol refers to a symbol of human belief to God or supernatural
power; for instance, human beings pray to God by using a language. A cognitive symbol
refers to a symbol created by human beings to recognize and introduce human knowledge
about their environment; for instance, they create some terms that represent something
existing in their surroundings. People in South Kalimantan understand some terms of
water transportation means such as jukung, klotok, ketinting, etc. Javenese people
understand some words such as pari, gabah, beras, and nasi; meanwhile, English people
know them as rice. An expressive symbol refers to a symbol used by the human being to
express their

Components of Language

Phonetics
The science or study of speech sounds and their production, transmission, and
reception, and their analysis, classification, and transcription.
An example of phonetics is how the letter "b" in the word "bed" is spoken - you
start out with your lips together. Then, air from your lungs is forced over your vocal
chords, which begin to vibrate and make noise. The air then escapes through your lips as
they part suddenly, which results in a "b" sound.

Phonology
Involves the rules about the structure and sequence of speech sounds.
An example of phonology is the study of different sounds and the way they come
together to form speech and words - such as the comparison of the sounds of the two "p"
sounds in "pop-up.

Morphology
The study of words. Morphemes are the minimal units of words that have a
meaning and cannot be subdivided further.
An example of a free morpheme is "bad", and an example of a bound morpheme
is "ly." It is bound because although it has meaning, it cannot stand alone.

Syntax
Fundamental part of written language, it states the rules for using words, phrases,
clauses and punctuation, specifically to form sentences.

Semantics.
The study and analysis of how language is used figuratively and literally to
produce meaning. consists of vocabulary and how concepts are expressed through words.
Semantics seeks to describe how words are used-not to prescribe how they should be
used. Examples of Semantics: A toy block could be called a block, a cube, a toy.

Pragmatics
The study of how words are used, or the study of signs and symbols, involves the
rules for appropriate and effective communication..
An example of pragmatics is how the same word can have different meanings in
different settings. An example of pragmatics is the study of how people react to different
symbols.

How Many Languages Are Spoken in Philippines?

There are 183 living languages currently spoken in

the Philippines, the vast majority of which are
indigenous tongues. This sounds like a lot until you
consider the fact that the Philippines consist of
7,641 individual islands. Even though most of them
are uninhabited, that still leaves plenty of
opportunity for linguistic diversity to flourish. Still,
there are official and national languages to speak
of, as well as several other tongues that are more
widely spoken throughout the nation.

What Language Is Spoken In The Philippines?

Official Languages
The two official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and English. Filipino is
the national language, and the official status of English is a holdover from its time as a
U.S. territory between the years of 1898 and 1946.

Filipino is the primary language used in school and media, and it’s also the lingua
franca that unites the nation’s disparate linguistic communities. You’ll mostly encounter
English in government, newspapers and magazines.

Filipino Vs. Tagalog

Are Filipino and Tagalog more or less the same language? Almost, but not quite.
Filipino is an updated version of Tagalog that includes elements of other native Philippine
languages, as well as English, Spanish, Malay and Chinese.

Due to its status at the time as the main language spoken in Manila, Tagalog
became the national language of the Philippines in 1937 when Congress voted to include
a native language among the officially recognized languages. Eventually, Tagalog was
renamed Pilipino, and when the Constitution was amended in 1973 under dictator
President Ferdinand Marcos, Congress took steps to create a new iteration of the language,
which was to be known as Filipino. Filipino then gained official status in 1987.

The evolution of Pilipino into Filipino was part of Marcos’ efforts to create a “new
society.” Part of this meant incorporating elements of other languages, often by replacing
Tagalog words deemed “aesthetically unpleasing” with alternative words that sounded
nicer. The letters f, j, c, x and z were added to the alphabet, and the spellings of some
words changed to better reflect how they’re pronounced.

Other Major Languages

The Philippines were under Spanish colonial rule for 300 years beginning in 1565,
and during this time, Spanish was the official language (and remained the lingua franca
even after it lost its official status). Spanish actually became an official language again,
together with English, according to the Constitution of 1935, but it was demoted to an
“optional and voluntary language” in 1987.

There are also major regional languages spoken in the Philippines that include Aklanon,
Basian, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano (a Spanish-based creole), Hiligaynon, Ibanag,
Ilocano,
Ilonggo, Ivatan, Maranao, Tagalog, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Waray, Maguindanao,
Pangasinan, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tausug and Yakan. These are all mostly indigenous
languages belonging to the Austronesian language family.

Out of these, 10 languages account for the language over 90 percent of Filipino
people speak at home. These languages are Tagalog, Bisaya, Cebuano, Ilocano,
Hiligaynon Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Maguindanao, Kapampangan and Pangasinan.

Immigrant populations have also affected the linguistic landscape of the

Philippines. Major immigrant languages include Sindhi (20,000 speakers, according to
Ethnologue), Japanese (2,900), Indonesian (2,580), Hindi (2,420) and German (960), as
well as Korean, Arabic, Vietnamese, Malay, Tamil and various types of Chinese.
 Module 2
Lesson 2

Mother Tongue: The

Language I Learned First

Learning Outcomes
1. Define what is language and its concepts.
2. Familiarized with the varied Philippines Languages
3. Differentiated a language from a Dialect

Introduction

Languages

Estimates of the total number of

native languages and dialects spoken in the
Philippines differ, but scholarly studies
suggest that there are some 150. Most of the
country’s languages are closely related,
belonging to one of several subfamilies of
Austronesian—more specifically, Western
Malayo-Polynesian—languages. The major
languages of the country generally
correspond to the largest ethnic groups.
Tagalog is the most
widespread language of the Central Philippine subfamily, with the bulk of its native
speakers concentrated in Manila, central and south-central Luzon, and the islands of
Mindoro and Marinduque. The national language of the Philippines, Pilipino (also called
Filipino), is based on Tagalog and shares a place with English (the lingua franca) as an
official language and medium of instruction. Tagalog (including Pilipino) has the most
extensive written literature of all Philippine languages. Cebuano, also a Central Philippine
language, is used widely in Cebu, Bohol, eastern Negros, western Leyte, and parts of
Mindanao. Ilocano is the most commonly spoken language of the Northern Luzon
subfamily, and its speakers constitute the third largest language community of the
Philippines.

Other prominent languages of the Central Philippine group include Hiligaynon

and Waray-Waray, both spoken in the Visayas, as well as several varieties of Bicol,
spoken in southern Luzon. The language of the Tausug is widespread in both Palawan
and the Sulu Archipelago, where it is used in Tausug as well as many non-Tausug
communities. Similarly, the languages of the Kapampangans and Pangasinan, both of the
Northern Philippine subfamily, have many speakers in central Luzon. Notable languages
of the Southern Philippine subfamily are those spoken by the Maguindanao and Maranao
of western Mindanao (Guico, Retrieved September 2, 2020).

There are more than 50 million speakers of Tagalog in the Philippines, mostly in
the southern parts of Luzon, the archipelago’s largest island. Other dialects spoken in the
Philippines include Cebuano, Ilokano, Waray-Waray, Hiligaynon, Pangasinan, Bikol,
Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug, and Kapampangan, but the official language, Filipino,
is based on Tagalog. There are also significant numbers of Tagalog-speaking
communities in other countries, with the largest in the United States where it ranks as the
sixth most-spoken language.

Derived from “Taga-ilog,” which literally means “from the river,” Tagalog is an
Austronesian language belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian subfamily, with outside
influences from Malay and Chinese, and later from both Spanish and American English
through four centuries of colonial rule. This influence is seen in Tagalog words and their
spelling.

Tagalog had its own writing system based on an ancient script called the Baybayin
that uses a syllabic alphabet, which the Spanish colonialists romanized. Even the modern
alphabet has been changed several times to incorporate foreign sounds from both Spanish
and English. There are thousands of loan words in Tagalog, particularly from Spanish,
and the use of “Taglish,” the mixing of Tagalog and English, is common, especially in
urban areas. In both spoken and written Tagalog, English words (sometimes spelled
according to their Tagalog pronunciation, oftentimes not) are used alongside words of
Spanish origin. Some of these borrowed words do have equivalent forms in Tagalog but
their use is reserved for formal or literary language. But many of these loan words do not
have Tagalog counterparts, especially those that refer to objects or concepts that did not
exist in the country prior to the arrival of Westerners.

However, in spite of all the foreign borrowings in Tagalog, the richness of the
language remains intact. Foreign words are not absorbed into the language without being
subjected to the complexity of Tagalog’s system of affixes—or syllables or letters fixed
within a word—which permits any noun to be turned into a verb and vice versa. If
language is the collective product of the genius of a people, as linguist Wilhelm Humboldt
put it, affixation is the genius of Tagalog and its challenge as well (Living Language,
2014).

How Many Languages Are Spoken in Philippines?

The Philippines has 8 major dialects. Listed

in the figure from top to bottom:
Bikol
Cebuano
Hiligaynon (Ilonggo)
Ilocano
Kapampangan
Pangasinan
Tagalog and
Waray
The language being taught all over the
Philippines is Tagalog and
English.
The Cebuano dialect originated in Cebu,
which is in the Visayas. However, it spread
to neighboring islands and in the northern
and eastern parts of Mindanao. This was
probably facilitated by the American and
Spanish policies to christianize Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the Tagalog and Bikol dialect
(Bikolandia) boundaries seem to remain
predominantly they were centuries ago.
This map only shows the dialect majority in
each region. Actually, southeastern
Mindanao is populated with Ilocano,
Tagalog, and other dialects, but Cebuano
has become the dominant dialect in that
area.. The Ilocano dialect has spread out from its origin in the western coast (Ilocandia),
which was also probably facilitated by Spanish and American policies
Difference between Languages from a Dialect
A dialect is generally a particular form of a language which is specific to a region or
social group and usually has differences in pronunciation, grammar, syntax and
vocabulary while dialects can be spoken by people living in one particular town.
 Language vs Dialect
Philippines Language Dialect
Zambal Tina
Zambal Zambal Botolan
Zambal Sta. Cruz
Tagalog Tagalog Bulacan
Tagalog Bataan
Tagalog Manila
Tagalog Tayabas

The Difference Between Language and Dialect: The Philippines’ Illustration

In linguistic perspective, there really is no clear-cut distinction between language

and dialect. Most experts say the terms “dialect” and “language” are very much influenced
politically and socially. Institutions decide on which language is declared national, while
society based on regional affiliations also claims dialect variation as languages in their
own right. In the Philippine’s case, Filipino is the national language. However, a lot of
people in different regions within the country also think that their “dialects” are different
languages as well. To simplify our understanding, a golden rule is established. One is a
language when another person who speaks a different language does not understand the
person who speaks it. Language is then understood as a medium of communication used
at macro level across a country with dialects under it that may come in different variations.
In the Philippines, for example, languages and dialects diversely spread out across the
7,100 plus islands. To illustrate our definition above, everyone in the country can speak
and understand Filipino but somebody who speaks Filipino does not understand
somebody who speaks Cebuano or Hiligaynon, which are other major languages in the
country from a different region. On the other hand, people who speak various dialects,
coming from these major languages, can understand each other (The Language Journal,
2011)

The table below clearly shows the different languages in the Philippines translated into
simple English words to their corresponding local major language:
 With this understanding, it proves that language identifies a country while dialect
recognizes locality.
Language vs Dialect
(https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/Training/Manila/day)

How can we differentiate which is a language and which is a dialect?

There are four criterion:

1. Mutual Intelligibility

In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects

in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other
without prior familiarity or special effort.

2. Lexical Similarity

In linguistics, lexical similarity is a measure of the degree to which the word sets
of two given languages are similar. A lexical similarity of 1 (or 100%) would mean a
total overlap between vocabularies, whereas 0 means there are no common words.

3. Grammar

In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of

clauses, phrases and words in a natural language. The term refers also to the study of such
rules and this field includes phonology, morphology and syntax, often complemented by
phonetics, semantics and pragmatics.

4. Socio-Political Identity

Identity politics is a term that describes a political approach wherein people of a

particular religion, race, social background, class or other identifying factor form
exclusive socio-political alliances, moving away from broad-based, coalitional politics to
support and follow political movements that share a particular identifying quality with
them. Its aim is to support and center the concerns, agendas, and projects of particular
groups, in accord with specific social and political changes (From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia, 2020)

Related Topic

1987 Constitution
 SECTION 6. The national language of the Philippines is Filipino. As it evolves, it
shall be further developed and enriched on the basis of existing Philippine and other
languages. Subject to provisions of law and as the Congress may deem appropriate, the
Government shall take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of
official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system.

Filipino and Tagalog

Ang Filipino ay ang katutubong wika na ginagamit sa buong Filipinas bilang wika
ng komunikasyon, sa pagbigkas at sa pasulat na paraan, ng mga pangkating katutubo sa
buong kapuluan. Sapagkat isang wikang buháy, mabilis itong pinauunlad ng araw-araw
at iba’t ibang uri ng paggamit sa iba’t ibang pook at sitwasyon at nililinang sa iba’t ibang
antas ng saliksik at talakayang akademiko ngunit sa paraang maugnayin at mapagtampok
sa mga lahok na nagtataglay ng mga malikhaing katangian at kailangang karunungan mula
sa mga katutubong wika sa bansa

According to Resolution No. 13-39 of the Kalupunan ng Komisyon sa Wikang

Filipino

(5 August 2013)

1987 Constitution

SECTION 7. For purposes of communication and instruction, the official languages of

the Philippines are Filipino and, until otherwise provided by law, English. The regional
languages are the auxiliary official languages in the regions and shall serve as auxiliary
media of instruction therein. Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and
optional basis. SECTION 9. The Congress shall establish a national language commission
composed of representatives of various regions and disciplines which shall undertake,
coordinate, and promote researches for the development, propagation, and preservation
of Filipino and other languages.

Language in Education

Department Order 52, s. 1987 – The 1987 Policy on Bilingual Education

• English is used in Math and Sciences (“in order to meet the needs of the country in the
community of nations”)

• Filipino is used for Civics and Social Studies (“to enable them to perform their
functions and duties as Filipino citizens”)

• Local languages may be used as auxiliary medium of instructions during the early years
of education
Republic Act No. 10157 – “The Kindergarten Education Act”

Section 5: “The DepEd, in coordination with the Commission on Filipino Language and
in close collaboration with academic and research institutions concerned with education,
shall formulate a mother tongue-based multilingual framework for teaching and
learning…”
 Module 2
Lesson 3

The Teaching of (Language) Literature and How

To Teach It

Learning Outcomes
1. Demonstrate the skills in teaching (specify the language)

Introduction

The Teaching of (Language) Literature and How To Teach It

Literature may be important, but when it comes to teaching it to students who study it in
their foreign or second language, the literature teacher is faced with many questions. The
main ones we have received and experienced ourselves include:

• What texts should be used in the literature class, i.e. what is defined as “literature”?
• Should literary texts be used as a vehicle for language learning or be the object of
more academic study?
• What is the best teaching approach for literature in the Language classroom?
• How can I encourage learners to read outside of the classroom?
• How can I deal with the difficulty of literary texts?
• How can I make my literature lessons engaging, awakening and keeping learners’
• interest?
• How do I work with specific genres, such as poems, plays and novels?
• How can I reconcile the teaching of literature with the aims defined in the CEFR?
• What should I assess (e.g. literary or language competence)? How should I assess
my
• learners (e.g. through tests, essay, portfolios, etc.)?
other information:

How to use literature meaningfully in the language classroom

1. Choose a book that suits your students’ levels and interests.

Finding the right book is everything! Take into account your students’ age, hobbies
and socioeconomic background. For example, chances are that your older teens won’t find
much to relate to in a picture book for young children. And if you have a class of students
who are into sports, they may not be interested in a Victorian romance. But a book about
a famous athlete might just do the trick.

2. Pre-teach vocabulary for discussing literature.

Give students a repertoire of words for discussing things like genre, symbolism,
theme and setting. Once they feel confident about the use of these terms, they can discuss
stories in a more meaningful way.

3. Activate their prior knowledge.

Ask students to write down all the things they know or have heard about the book,
the author and/or the historical period. This exercise will provide a relevant context for
the book.

4. Model your process of thinking about literature.

 While reading the first chapter, do some thinking out loud about the story. (“I
wonder why the story began that way. I wonder what this character is going to do next.”)
By modeling this process in simple language with vocabulary from the book, you can
instill confidence in the students to have a deeper discussion.

5. Have students listen to an audio recording of the text while they read.

You can often find famous books or poetry recorded in the voice of the author, or
that of a famous actor. Hearing the text read aloud makes the task less arduous and helps
with pronunciation.

You could also couple the text with video clips of the book or poem being
performed by actual native speakers of the language.

6. Provide discussion questions to be completed or discussed at the end of each

chapter/section.

Formulate questions that help students get to a deeper understanding about the
plot, the characters, the theme and the language. The questions should require them to dig
deep with examples from the text.

7. Allow them to express their ideas about the story or poem by drawing a picture or
acting out a scene.

Don’t just stick to routine question-and-answer activities to get your students to

show understanding of the text. Mix it up with activities that spark their creativity.

Conduct Study in Mother Tongue of Zambales

See attached for the study of Mother Tongue-Based in Loob-Bunga Elementary

School in Botolan, Zambales studied by Dr. Baby S. Abagon