Take Home Exam Applied Linguistics
1. Applied linguistics offers solutions to
real-world problems in which language is a central issue. For example, a
dictionary writer ponders over possible alternatives to an alphabetically
organized dictionary. Through research in applied linguistics, the dictionary
writer may find scientific answers to the problem.
Identify ONE
real-world problem of your own observation, in which language is a central
issue. Then, using your knowledge of Research in Applied
Linguistics,
explain how to scientifically find the answer to that problem.
Answer:
There are four skills involved in language
proficiency, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They are the practical area of applied linguistics, and they are
also the real-world problem in which language is a central issue. In this case,
I am going to focus on reading skills. I identify it as one of the real-life
problems in EFL classroom activities. As we know that reading skills involve understanding the meaning of
written language. One person may be able to speak the language with a high
level of proficiency but not be able to read it at all, while another may find
it easier to read than speak because they can consume and process the language at
their own pace, and how to improve these skills is a challenge for teachers to
research it, and it becomes the real issue for the educator to find out solutions.
Nunan (1998) stated that reading
requires an appropriate identification and interpretation process so that the
reader must have knowledge of the structure of the language used in the text
and the knowledge to understand it. This complexity makes students' reading
interest low. They find it difficult to understand it because they do not know
the appropriate technique or way to help them in understanding the text, and
this difficulty occurs in almost every language class.
Sanders (2001) classified reading
comprehension into 2 categories, namely the passive readers and the active
readers. Most junior high school students still have difficulty understanding
the text and are classified as passive leaders, and they cannot get information
from the text they read. In EFL class, students have difficulty doing their
assignments reading assignments. They often turn to dictionaries to look up the
meaning, but sometimes the meaning is not exactly the intended meaning of a
text. So, when students are asked about their understanding of the text,
sometimes the answer is wrong. This describes the condition of students having
a low ability to understand a text. The problem relates to students and
teaching techniques. Educators only focus on testing students' ability to
translate and answer questions. But educators do not use the right strategy.
How to find answers to the
problem scientifically based on knowledge of Applied Linguistic Research, one
of which is the use of semantic mapping in improving students' reading
comprehension. Semantic mapping is the word representation of knowledge and
diagramming of the results (Zaid, 1995). Therefore, semantic
mapping is used as a key idea and as a graphic layout to help show
relationships in text, or between the meaning of words and the find out the
suitable meaning of the text. The use of semantic maps is students get the
central idea in a circle in the middle of a piece of paper and then develop it
with words related to the topic. In reading class, semantic mapping helps
teachers focus on detailed text structure and conceptualize the structure of
reading paragraphs. Zaid (1995) also stated that the use of
semantic mapping in the reading classroom has proven to be a useful technique
for all levels of education. This is corroborated by Curtain (1997),
who proposed that techniques in reading such as semantic mapping as a
pre-reading strategy. And finally, the use of semantic mapping in experimental
research is the answer to the student’s ability in reading comprehension, based
on Applied Linguistic Research.
2. Structural syllabus is often compared to Notional/ Functional syllabus.
The two syllabi have different content and sequence to be learned.
Compare the Structural syllabus and Notional/ Functional syllabus
to show your understanding of the concept. Identify THREE aspects of differences to compare, and give an example to each aspect to make your
comparison clear.
Answer:
Structural syllabus
Structural syllabus (grammatical syllabus) is the most popular
syllabus in teaching English, where the focus is on the ordering of grammatical
structures from the simplest to the most complex. Vocabulary and grammar tend
to be treated as separate phenomena and the language presented tends to be
somewhat artificial, in order to allow for a systematic introduction of grammar
rules. This syllabus is product-oriented and based on grammatical. According to
Nunan
(1988), a structural
syllabus is a syllabus that contains a list of selected grammar items and is graded
from the easiest to the most complex level. Ellis (2003) stated that formal grammar instruction works
by developing explicit knowledge of grammatical features. Ensuring that
students master the rules of the language but do not guarantee that they are
able to communicate
Notional / Functional syllabus
The Functional syllabus is ordered according to the lists of functions
and notions that the syllabus designer deems relevant to learners at a
particular level. According to Wilkins (1976), the functional / Notional syllabus is a
syllabus that emphasizes the ideas or ideas that are expected to be expressed
by the learner through the target language and the action function that is
expected to be achieved by the learner. Munby (1978) also stated that this syllabus looks for
correlations between form and function but will define the relationship between
the forms of language available to the user and the meaning he wants to
express. Richards
& Rodgers (1986) linked the functional/notional syllabus with communicative language
teaching. Functions are communicative purposes for which language is used and
include things such as advising or persuading, and notions are the contexts in
which these functional communicative acts take place. It focuses on the
function when language is used, or language expressions are used.
We can see the
difference between the Structural syllabus and the Notional/ Functional syllabus as follows:
1. Content of syllabus
|
The structural syllabus focuses on grammar rules and structures. However,
meaning and communication are not priority goals. For example, the teacher chooses the structure that the
students have to learn according to the level and learning objectives, such
as mastery of simple present, simple past, present future, etc. |
|
The Notional /
Functional syllabus focuses on communication through language in
its functions and notions but does not focus on grammatical. Examples of
functions:
informing, agreeing, apologizing, requesting, promising, and others. Examples of notions include size, age, color, comparison, and
others |
2. Purpose and the
priority of capability
|
In the structural syllabus, students
are expected to be able to master a language system that will ensure correct
and accurate language production through the four language skills, starting
with receptive skills that contribute to productive skills. For example, writing skills by making interrogative sentences using appropriate
verbs and the right sentence structure. |
|
In the functional/notional syllabus, Students
are expected to be able to master the suitable social
language without neglecting the production of accurate and context-based
language codes in communicating by using
expressions and notions. For example, greeting, introducing, asking or giving permission, asking or giving an
apology, and so on. |
3. Sequence to be learned
|
In the structural
syllabus,
the syllabus contains a list of grammatical items sorted by level of
difficulty and complexity, from easy and simple material to material that is difficult
and complex, thus helping students gradually master the target language
grammatical system. For example: The easiest form includes vocabulary, verbs,
nouns, adjectives, and so on. The complexity includes the use structure of
the sentences. |
|
The functional/notional syllabus, this syllabus emphasizes its attention to
the communicative functions of language used as a basis for selecting and
sorting the subject matter in the form of functions communicative. The order
of the functional syllabus is from the general to the more specialized sets
of major functions, and from the most general to the more varied or refined
linguistic codes/function realizations. For example: Functions were described as communicative purposes related to
language use such as congratulating and persuading. And notions are general areas of meaning based on ideas, concepts, and
logical relationships such as time, cause, emotion, or measure. |
Advantages and disadvantages of two
syllabi:
|
Items |
Structural syllabus |
Functional syllabus |
|
Advantages |
Students learn from simpler to the more complex structures and they
learn the structures or grammatical easily |
Students learn how to use the target language to express their own
ideas, notions, and functions. |
|
Disadvantages |
Students get worried about grammar in communicative activities
because they feel afraid to make mistakes (error grammatical). |
The teacher applies the functions and notions together into learning
tasks. |
3. One of the textuality criteria is cohesion which refers to the way certain words or grammatical features of a sentence can connect that sentence to its predecessors and successor in a text. Cohesion can be divided into five types. One of them is references.
Reference is a semantic relation that is realized by nouns, determiners, personal and demonstrative pronouns, or adverbs.
Look at the following sentences:
(1) We really respect our professor. He really
cares about the student’s success.
(2) It is not an easy test. The coverage is so
complex.
(3) When they start working collaboratively, the
students produce amazing works.
(4) She made herself comfortable at my home.
(5) She made her comfortable at my home.
Describe the reference of those sentences one by one: What kind of reference is shown and why do you think it is.
Answer:
Halliday and Hasan Both, (1976) say that anaphoric and cataphoric references are used for personal, pronominal, demonstrative, and comparative. The category of personal reference includes three classes of personal pronouns, possessive determiners usually called possessive adjectives, and possessive pronouns (Halliday and Hasan, 1976).
(1) We really respect our professor. He really
cares about the student’s success.
The subject “He” in the second sentence refers back to “our professor”. In this case, we can put them in personal reference. The word “He” identifies individuals (our professor) who are named at some other point in the text. So, there is no need to mention the name "our professor"
(2) It is not an easy test. The coverage is so
complex.
“The” in the second sentence means refers to demonstrative reference because the word “The” refers back to “an easy test” in the first sentence.
(3) When they start working collaboratively, the
students produce amazing works.
The word “the students” refers back to the subject “they”. We can conclude it in personal reference. “The students” identify the individual for the word “they”. Here we do not mention again "They”.
(4) She made herself comfortable at my home.
The word "herself" refers to the word "she". This is included in the personal reference (personal pronouns) category because the position of the object in the word "herself" is a pronoun that refers to the position of the subject "she"
(5) She made her comfortable at my home.
In this sentence where the position of the object in the word "her" refers to the position of the subject in the word "she". So, we categorize it as a personal reference (personal pronouns).
4. Morpheme is defined as a minimal unit of
meaning, the smallest meaningful unit in a language.
The word ‘rewrite,’ for example, means “to write again.” We observe that the word part ‘re-“ adds meaning of repetition to the meaning of write.’ We can say that ‘rewrite has two morphemes. While the word ‘pen’ cannot be split into smaller units, so we can say that ‘pen’ has one morpheme. But in ‘pens,’ word part ‘-s’ adds the meaning of “more than one,” then we can say that ‘pens’ has two morphemes.
How many morphemes would you say are contained in the following words? Give an analytical explanation to support your answer.
(1) Walkman
(2) Miscommunication
(3) Visited
(4) Oyster
Answer
1. Walkman = (walk+man) = compounding = noun
We can observe that the word "Walkman"
is a combination of the word "walk" which means walking, and
the word "man" which means an adult man. It has two
morphemes and means the brand name of an electronic device for small audio
or video player with tiny headphones, which you can take with you everywhere.
So, the word “Walkman” is composed of two words (walk+man = noun+noun).
In this case, we can say it into bound morpheme, because the word “Walkman”
makes new words by combining two/more bases/roots/stems.
2. Miscommunication = (mis+communicate+ion) = compounding = noun
This word is compounding. We can get the meaning from the word “Miscommunication” which is the word that indicates the meaning of failing to communicate ideas. The word “miscommunication” is a combination of words from the prefix "mis" which means done wrongly, then the word "communicate" which means give information to others by speaking, and the suffix "ion".
3. Visited = (visit + suffix “ed”) = inflectional morpheme = verb
In this case, we can observe this word as inflectional morphemes, the use of the word is the same word, but some suffixes are added. Where the word “visited” (verb + suffix “ed”) is a combination of the word “visit” that has the meaning go to a certain place and the word “ed” (suffix for past participle and past tense).
4. Oyster = free morpheme = noun
The word “oyster” is a free morpheme because a syllable can stand alone as a word that has a certain meaning. And the meaning word of “Oyster” is a type of saltwater shellfish that lives in marine habitats such as bays and oceans.
References:
Curtain, P. L. (1997). Using semantic mapping to improve reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 50(6), 468-474.
Ellis, R. (2003). The structural syllabus revisited. Applied Linguistics, 24(2), 128-148.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nunan, D. (1998). Second language teaching and learning. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sanders, T. (2001). Teaching reading comprehension: Strategies for developing reading fluency and comprehension in grades 4-12. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Wilkins, D. A. (1976). Notional syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Zaid, S. (1995). The effects of semantic mapping on reading comprehension in the intermediate grades. Reading Research Quarterly, 30(4), 376-392.