AFL1501( STUDY PACK FOR QUIZ
ASSESSEMENT NUMBER O1)
PLEASE READ AND HAVE THIS AT HAND WHEN DOING YOUR ASSESSEMENT 01
You will need to complete this activity before attempting to do your formative
assessment. Your assessment will not open unless you read and completed the unit.
Furthermore, it must be noted that your Quiz contributes 5% toward your final mark.
1.1: Language as a process
For you to understand the following section, consider the questions below.
To what extent does your background and culture, i.e., your frames of reference,
influence the way you use language to communicate with other people?
Have you ever noticed that you use different words and registers of language in
the same situation when you speak to different people?
Imagine yourself (The man sitting at the desk in the pictures, on the left) in the following
situation and fill in a question that you would pose to the person greeting
Reflect and elaborate using the pictures
1. Was there any difference in the words you used?
2. Why did you use the specific words in each case?
Now, in each of these situations, you as a person are required to ‘survive’, i.e., you need
to say something in such a way that it fits the speech situation. You do this by, for
example, asking a question, i.e., you use language to interact with the other person.
However, the questions that you ask may vary from situation to situation. Your attitude
is different for each speech situation and these differences are then expressed in terms
of the language that you use.
I am sure that different people filled in different questions above. Why? Is it because we
have different attitudes towards the persons appearing before us? The answer should be
, related to the fact that each one of us has a specific identity that needs to be preserved
to enable us to survive linguistically within each specific speech situation. We also need
to be able to adapt to different speech situations. This ability enables us to change the
questions that we ask in each speech situation. We also reproduce certain words or
phrases in similar situations. The first reaction is to say: “Good Morning”. This works
within the speech situation and is used repeatedly. The way a person answers the
telephone in the same way repeatedly is an example of this. We all, therefore, adhere to
the basic human need for the conservation of identity (the
self), adaptation and reproduction in every speech situation in a specific linguistic
environment.
In terms of linguistic identity, every individual has an idiolect. It is a variety of
language and grammar, or words, idioms, or pronunciations that are unique to
an individual. The grouping of words and phrases is unique, rather than an individual
using specific words that nobody else uses. An idiolect can easily evolve into
an ecolect — a dialect variant specific to a household. Forensic linguists use idiolects to
decide if a certain person did or did not produce a given piece of writing (or transcribed
speech). While often passing unnoticed in speech, some idiolects, particularly unusual
ones employed by famous individuals, are immortalized in the form of nicknames. A
famous example is the nickname of Willie Mays ("the Say-Hey Kid"), who frequently used
"say hey".
In each speech situation, the meaning of words is of crucial importance when we
communicate. Words are the tools or instruments that we use to communicate with.
Dictionaries are useful aids for looking up the meanings of words. Take any dictionary
of another official language other than English or Afrikaans and compare the meaning of
the basic words that are used to greet, e.g., Dumela/Dumelang (Setswana). You will find
that they are often translated in terms of English as ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Hallo’. Can we
really translate these words directly into English as ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Hallo’? Does the
use of these words to greet indicate a difference in attitude in terms of the language
user in relation to a specific culture? Does the etymology of a word still play a part in the
modern use of the word?
As for the use of language as a medium of communication, a significant distinction
needs to be drawn between the user of the language (addressor: speaker/writer) and
the receiver of the language (addressee who receives and interprets the message:
hearer/reader). The use of language is on a different level for each of these language
users. The s (shorthand for speaker/s and writer/s) uses language to get a message
across to h (shorthand for hearer/s and reader/s) that needs to receive and interpret the
message. As for h, a significant distinction can be made between a receiver (a person
who receives and interprets the message) and an addressee (a person who is an
intended receiver of the message). A receiver might be a bystander or an eavesdropper,
rather than an addressee. What happens when we think? Do we speak when we
think? Is there a speaker and a hearer?
ASSESSEMENT NUMBER O1)
PLEASE READ AND HAVE THIS AT HAND WHEN DOING YOUR ASSESSEMENT 01
You will need to complete this activity before attempting to do your formative
assessment. Your assessment will not open unless you read and completed the unit.
Furthermore, it must be noted that your Quiz contributes 5% toward your final mark.
1.1: Language as a process
For you to understand the following section, consider the questions below.
To what extent does your background and culture, i.e., your frames of reference,
influence the way you use language to communicate with other people?
Have you ever noticed that you use different words and registers of language in
the same situation when you speak to different people?
Imagine yourself (The man sitting at the desk in the pictures, on the left) in the following
situation and fill in a question that you would pose to the person greeting
Reflect and elaborate using the pictures
1. Was there any difference in the words you used?
2. Why did you use the specific words in each case?
Now, in each of these situations, you as a person are required to ‘survive’, i.e., you need
to say something in such a way that it fits the speech situation. You do this by, for
example, asking a question, i.e., you use language to interact with the other person.
However, the questions that you ask may vary from situation to situation. Your attitude
is different for each speech situation and these differences are then expressed in terms
of the language that you use.
I am sure that different people filled in different questions above. Why? Is it because we
have different attitudes towards the persons appearing before us? The answer should be
, related to the fact that each one of us has a specific identity that needs to be preserved
to enable us to survive linguistically within each specific speech situation. We also need
to be able to adapt to different speech situations. This ability enables us to change the
questions that we ask in each speech situation. We also reproduce certain words or
phrases in similar situations. The first reaction is to say: “Good Morning”. This works
within the speech situation and is used repeatedly. The way a person answers the
telephone in the same way repeatedly is an example of this. We all, therefore, adhere to
the basic human need for the conservation of identity (the
self), adaptation and reproduction in every speech situation in a specific linguistic
environment.
In terms of linguistic identity, every individual has an idiolect. It is a variety of
language and grammar, or words, idioms, or pronunciations that are unique to
an individual. The grouping of words and phrases is unique, rather than an individual
using specific words that nobody else uses. An idiolect can easily evolve into
an ecolect — a dialect variant specific to a household. Forensic linguists use idiolects to
decide if a certain person did or did not produce a given piece of writing (or transcribed
speech). While often passing unnoticed in speech, some idiolects, particularly unusual
ones employed by famous individuals, are immortalized in the form of nicknames. A
famous example is the nickname of Willie Mays ("the Say-Hey Kid"), who frequently used
"say hey".
In each speech situation, the meaning of words is of crucial importance when we
communicate. Words are the tools or instruments that we use to communicate with.
Dictionaries are useful aids for looking up the meanings of words. Take any dictionary
of another official language other than English or Afrikaans and compare the meaning of
the basic words that are used to greet, e.g., Dumela/Dumelang (Setswana). You will find
that they are often translated in terms of English as ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Hallo’. Can we
really translate these words directly into English as ‘Good Morning’ or ‘Hallo’? Does the
use of these words to greet indicate a difference in attitude in terms of the language
user in relation to a specific culture? Does the etymology of a word still play a part in the
modern use of the word?
As for the use of language as a medium of communication, a significant distinction
needs to be drawn between the user of the language (addressor: speaker/writer) and
the receiver of the language (addressee who receives and interprets the message:
hearer/reader). The use of language is on a different level for each of these language
users. The s (shorthand for speaker/s and writer/s) uses language to get a message
across to h (shorthand for hearer/s and reader/s) that needs to receive and interpret the
message. As for h, a significant distinction can be made between a receiver (a person
who receives and interprets the message) and an addressee (a person who is an
intended receiver of the message). A receiver might be a bystander or an eavesdropper,
rather than an addressee. What happens when we think? Do we speak when we
think? Is there a speaker and a hearer?
