SECTION 2(PPIU APPLIED LINGUSITICS)

1. Explain with Examples the term “Hedges”
Sometimes what we are saying may not be totally accurate. Hedges are used to show that the speaker is cautious of what they say and helps to maintain Quantity, Quality, Relation and Manner.

2. Underline the Hedges in the following sentences and indicate which cooperative principles it tries to maintain.


a. The teacher is not married, I guess. Quality
b. I don't know if this is important, but some of the files are missing Relation
c. I'm not sure if this makes sense, but car had no lights. Manner
d. I won't bore you with all the details, but it was an exciting trip Quantity
e. This may be a bit confused, but I remember being in a car Manner
f. I may be mistaken, but I saw a wedding ring on her finger. Quality
g. This may sound like a dumb question, but whose handwriting is? Relation
h. As you probably know, I am terrified of bugs. Quantity


3. What is the relationship between Cooperation and Implicature
When speakers and listeners are involved in conversation, they are generally cooperating with each other. For example, speakers use references to make listeners to understand them, while listeners use inference to understand the speaker.
The ability for speakers to communicate by providing additional conveyed meaning is called Implicature. It is through these Implicatures that listeners are able to understand the intended meaning of speakers. Implicatures help listeners to interpret the intended meaning of the speakers.


4. Explain in details the relationship between Speech act and Speech Events.

When people speak, they do not just use grammatical structures or words but rather, they perform actions with their utterances (sound or words). Speech act refers to the action performed through utterances.
Speech events on the other hand, refer to the circumstances surrounding the utterances which may include other utterances.
Therefore, the action performed (Speech Act) by an utterance depend on the circumstances (Speech Event) of the utterance and the Circumstance determines the Action Performed by the utterance.



5. Do you agree or disagree that Animals have a language? Give reasons to support your answers.

It is evident that animals just like humans can communicate with each other. However, the question of whether animals have a language is contentious. Human beings are the only species capable of learning language.
This is because Humans can think and talk about things that happened in the past, present and even in the future. Human beings can talk about things that are near or far, they can talk about things which are seen or unseen as well as things from their imaginations.
Animals do not posses such characteristics in their communication.


6. What is Cohesion? Give Reasons why Cohesion is important element of Discourse Analysis.

Cohesion is an important element of written text and spoken data. Cohesion refers to how the information contained in the text links together. For Texts to be understandable by readers, the writer should ensure that the information is Cohesive. Cohesion helps the texts to have meaning.

7. What is the difference between Reference and Inference?

Reference is an act in which a speaker, or writer uses linguistic forms to enable a listener, or reader, to identify something.
Inference on the other hand refers to the reasoning which listeners/readers use to make logical judgment from circumstantial evidence rather than from observation. Inference helps to clarify references.



8. What is the difference between Morphemes and Semantics?

These are the most basic units of meaning in a language. A word (e.g book) is a morpheme because it conveys a single unit of meaning (a set of bound pages). However, s at the end of a noun is also a morpheme because it conveys the meaning that there are more than one. Thus, the word books contain two morphemes, book and s.
Semantics refers to the system of meaning of words within a context. For example, when we say "Ravy flew down the street in her new car". Flew in this sentence has a different meaning than it is used in the sentence; The Pilot flew to Toronto and back in the same day.

It is important to note that semantics and morphemes deals with meaning. However, while Semantics focuses on units of meaning associated with the relationships among words, Morphemes are units of meaning associated with the components that make up a single word.

9. Outline the Approaches of Language Acquisition
APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.
There are four categorical approaches to Language acquisition.
1. Biological Basis of language acquisition
2. Cognitive Basis of Language acquisition
3. Socio cultural Basis of language acquisition
4. Behavioral and Social Learning Bases for Language Acquisition


Answer for Section 3 Click Here