26.5481, Review: Applied Ling; General Ling: Abdul-Raof (2015)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-26-5481. Wed Dec 09 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.5481, Review: Applied Ling; General Ling: Abdul-Raof (2015)

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Date: Wed, 09 Dec 2015 17:10:36
From: Lisa Sprowls [lsprowls at tulane.edu]
Subject: Introduction to Linguistics

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/26/26-1450.html

AUTHOR: Hussein  Abdul-Raof
TITLE: Introduction to Linguistics
SUBTITLE: For Students of English as a Foreign Language
SERIES TITLE: LINCOM Textbooks in Linguistics 14
PUBLISHER: Lincom GmbH
YEAR: 2015

REVIEWER: Lisa Sprowls, Tulane University

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

This textbook is intended to provide an introduction to linguistics,
particularly for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students studying at
international universities.  The text assumes no prior knowledge of
linguistics and aims to be an adequate tool for native speakers of English, as
well.  The text also adopts a pedagogical approach by providing study
questions and brief teaching materials for each chapter.

Chapter one provides an overview of the study of language.  Language is
defined as a specifically human capacity which can be oral, written, or
gestural; it is composed of a set of arbitrary symbols with infinite
expressive capacity.  The majority of the chapter provides a list of 50
universal features of language, characteristics which the author argues to be
applicable to ‘each language’.  The universal features center on language
being a rule-governed system, productive, and a medium of communication. 
Finally, the chapter touches upon paralinguistic and prosodic levels of
language, a topic revisited in more detail in later chapters.

Chapter Two focuses on the study of linguistics and major sub-disciplines
within the field.  Linguistics is defined as the descriptive, objective,
empirical study of language, focusing on linguistic structures and processes. 
Here, the author introduces later themes of the book, explaining that
linguistic study can be of syntax, semantics, morphology, phonetics, and/or
phonology.  Discussion then turns to major sub-disciplines of study:
sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, historical linguistics, applied
linguistics, and computational linguistics.  Sociolinguistics is defined as
the study of the relationship between language and society, attributed to
Labov.  Topics of study are listed, with the focus being on linguistic
variation tied to social class and gender.  Next is psycholinguistics, defined
as the study of how the brain processes language production and comprehension.
 This is accompanied by a list of related topics, such as neurological factors
influencing language development, acquisition, and theories of language
learning.  Historical linguistics is introduced as the study of language
evolution and change over time, accompanied by a brief discussion of
mechanisms of language change and the Indo-European language family.  Applied
linguistics is next discussed, defined as ‘language as a practice’.  Related
topics such as language-teacher development, curriculum design, and critical
assessment of pedagogy and students’ language competence are given.  Finally,
the chapter provides a brief overview of computational linguistics, the
analysis of digital corpora of written and/or spoken language.  

Chapter Three discusses syntax, defined as the analysis of sentence structure.
 This is followed by a description of the various parts of speech in English
and related phrase structure rules, focusing on the possible components of NPs
and VPs.  Syntactic analysis is then described through both immediate
constituent (IC) analysis and transformational generative grammar (TGG).  IC
analysis is briefly introduced as the study of constituents, groups of words
which function together as a unit.  This is accompanied by a linear sentence
diagram showing how constituency can be at the word, phrase, clause, and
sentence level.  The chapter then turns to TGG, introducing its main goals as
to generate all the sentences of a language, to not generate ill-formed
sentences, and to yield a grammar that expresses all of the linguistic
generalizations of a language.  TGG is shown largely through the
transformational relationship between deep and surface structures of
sentences.  Drawn from Chomsky (1957), the following transformational rules
are introduced: ‘yes/no’ inversion, ‘do’-support, wh-movement, passive,
‘there’ insertion, affix hopping, dative movement, negation, CP embedding, and
coordination.   Each rule is defined and accompanied by multiple example
sentences in English.  Non-binary tree diagrams showing both the deep
(pre-movement) and surface (post-movement) structures accompany each
transformational rule.  Finally, the chapter discusses the difference between
structural and semantic ambiguity, explaining how they are often responsible
for sentences having multiple readings.  Syntactic ambiguity, particularly the
various spots a PP can be generated, is clearly illustrated through
tree-diagrams.  

Chapter Four introduces morphology, defined broadly as the study of word
structure.  The main discussion of the chapter focuses on the morpheme,
introduced as the smallest unit of meaning in a word.  Free morphemes are
described as root words which can stand on their own, divided into lexical and
functional free morphemes.  The former are described as content words like
nouns and verbs, and the latter as function words such as prepositions and
conjunctions.  The chapter then turns to bound morphemes, derivational or
inflectional affixes which cannot stand on their own as a root word. 
Derivational morphology is described as the study of word formation.  English
derivational prefixes (like un-) and suffixes (like –ly) are listed and
examples show how their use can potentially change the grammatical category of
a word.  The chapter next introduces English inflectional morphology, showing
the uses of suffixes such as (-s, -ing, -ed, -er, -en, and –est).  Allomorphs,
the different equivalent forms of a morpheme, are illustrated through the
forms the English plural can take: [-s, -z, -iz].  Finally, the chapter
briefly describes major word formation processes (with example words), such as
derivation, backformation, blending, and compounding.

Chapter Five focuses on semantics, introducing it as the field of study of
meaning in language on the word, phrase, sentence, and text levels.  The
discussion aims to focus on language in isolation, as language in contextual
use – pragmatics – is discussed in Chapter Eight.  The chapter mainly
describes semantics through componential analysis, the study of the
distinguishing semantic features of a word.  The major described features are
[+/- Human, Male, Adult, Animate, Concrete, Countable].  These features are
used to judge semantic correctness and co-occurrence restrictions.  For
example, ‘the tree trimmed the woman’ is judged as semantically ill-formed
because the verb ‘trim’ requires a [+Human] actor.  Similarly, ‘the tree
married the cat’ is ill-formed because ‘tree’ cannot co-occur with ‘marry’. 
Furthermore, the chapter argues that these semantic features tell us the deep
structure of grammatical classes; this is illustrated through examples like
‘ill’, which the author describes as an adjective that is underlying used to
describe [+/- Human, +Animate].  Next, the difference between denotative,
connotative, and contextual meaning is discussed and illustrated with English
examples.  Finally, the chapter introduces meaning relations such as synonymy,
hyponymy, homophony, homonymy, polysemy, metonymy, entailment, and paraphrase.

The longest section in the text is Chapter Six, an overview of translation
studies.  The author introduces the chapter as an example of applied semantics
and “a valuable source for translation projects which [EFL] students are
required to do” (150).  Translation is defined as replacing text in one
language with functionally equivalent text in another language.  This process
requires analysis of semantic and syntactic features of the source text and
language (ST, SL) and how best to convey it using the linguistic norms of the
target language (TL) in the resultant target text (TT).  The main focus of the
chapter is cultural problems in translation, illustrated through issues in
translating between English and Arabic.  The author suggests that cultural
transposition is the best solution to this problem, that themes of the ST and
SL should be adapted to equivalents in the SL culture.  For example, a ST
describing Eid may be inaccessible to an English target audience, as it is a
holiday exclusive to Arabic cultures.  The cultural equivalent suggested is to
translate this to Christmas.  Similarly, the chapter discusses how to
translate proverbs and metaphors, suggesting they are domesticated to images
and meanings known to the TL audience.  This is illustrated through
religious/taboo expressions, like how to adapt English use of pig or dog in
metaphors to Arabic, which largely prohibits images of such animals.  The
chapter ends with a summative practice section, providing an analysis of five
short English texts and how to translate them into Arabic.

Chapter Seven describes the vowels, diphthongs, and consonants of British
English and introduces IPA notation.  Consonants are described through place
and manner of articulation, phonation/voicing, and aspiration.  This is
accompanied by an illustrated description of the vocal tract and vocal organs
involved in production.  Vowels are next described and categorized according
to length, height/backness of the tongue, and lip rounding.  This includes a
brief introduction to the difference between tense and lax vowels, with the
former being equated to long vowels.  Diphthongs, complex vowels involving
movement from one vowel sound to another, are listed and example words are
given.  The chapter then differentiates between phonemes and allophones.
Minimal pairs (like ‘pin’ and ‘bin’) are used to show that phonemes are the
smallest contrastive units which can impact meaning, while allophones are
described via aspirated stops.  Finally, the chapter lists five suprasegmental
features – pitch, stress, intonation, tempo, and tone – and provides
definitions of the first four.

The last chapter is on pragmatics, introduced as the study of language in
context and intended (rather than literal) meaning.  Speech acts, defined as
the goals a speaker wants to achieve in talking to people, is illustrated
through examples like greeting, promising, informing, and prohibiting. 
Grice’s Maxims are briefly introduced as characteristics of effective,
cooperative communication; these include quality (truth telling), quantity,
manner, and relevance of communicated information between interlocutors. 
Finally, the chapter ends with a discussion of conversational implicatures,
the additional meanings of spoken language in certain contexts.  

EVALUATION

This textbook largely accomplishes its goal to provide an introduction to
linguistics for EFL students.  For the range of material covered, the book is
relatively concise (228 pages) and the prose is accessible.  Major linguistic
terms are clearly defined and supplemented with English examples where
applicable, providing students with multiple avenues in which to learn these
new terms.  While the theoretical linguistics covered in the textbook is
perhaps not given in as much detail as in other introductory books such as 
O’Grady et al (2009) or Mihalichek & Wilson (2011), it is better suited for
EFL students.  In addition to the simpler prose, the focus on English examples
and English translation practices found in this textbook specifically tailor
it to the needs of students pursuing international degrees in English studies.

Each chapter ends with a ‘study questions’ and ‘references and further
readings’ section.  The study questions are prefaced with a brief ‘tutorial’,
pedagogic instructions for the teacher to aid in completing the activity with
students.  The study questions are largely recall/comprehension questions [eg.
“Provide a brief definition of linguistics?” (56) or “What are the major
differences between a free morpheme and a bound morpheme”? (124)], meant to be
answered orally rather than in written form.  This is a format beneficial for
EFL students:  reading the chapter benefits their reading proficiency while
answering the study questions practices their oral proficiency--both skills
are vital in an academic setting.  The references and further reading list
provided at the end of each chapter is likewise beneficial.  While the
chapters themselves provide a general overview of each selected topic, the
selected references provide students with sources which they can peruse on
their own to learn more about the topics introduced in the book.  However, it
can be overwhelming to have all the references for a chapter listed at the end
and not cited within the chapter where they are relevant.  More in-chapter
citation would make it easier for students to find further information on
particular topics that they find interesting or challenging.

However, there are issues in how some topics are presented.  First, though the
text presents itself to be accessible to all EFL students, most examples and
practice are limited to the Arabic language – the translation chapter
especially, as it is solely presents examples of translation issues and
strategies between Arabic and English.  For EFL students who do not speak
Arabic, this makes such analysis and skills practice inaccessible.  
Furthermore, while the textbook stresses that linguistics is a descriptive
field, the manner in which some topics are presented is arguably prescriptive.
 For example, the textbook begins by claiming that language is ‘specifically
human’ and that “humans possess a magnificent gift called language” (6).  The
idea that language could be a larger characteristic of other animal
communication systems is not mentioned or provided in the chapter-ending
references, despite the fact that this debate is central to the study of
language evolution (Balter 2010).  Similarly, while the discussion on
sociolinguistics devotes a major section to gender-based language variation,
students are told at the onset that “women usually discuss their personal
feelings more than men.  Men prefer to talk about business matters, sport, and
news” (36).  This provides an incomplete opinion of gender variation that, for
example, does not mention the fact that women are actually innovators who
largely initiate linguistic change (Eckert 1989, Milroy & Milroy 1978).  While
the author successfully presented a general view of theoretical linguistics as
a whole, the book would have benefited from providing students with more
neutral, descriptive analysis and citations for debated issues such as those
mentioned above.  

There are also certain topics one would expect to find in an introductory
textbook which are glossed over or omitted from this book.  The chapter on
syntax, for example, omits key components of both the constituency and
generative analyses it focuses on.  While ‘constituent’ is defined, students
are not introduced to constituency tests which would allow them to put the
given definition into practice.  In the discussion of generative grammar, the
covered transformations are shown only through non-binary tree diagrams with
no mention of further development into X-bar theory.  This gives students an
outdated view of syntax, and these omissions are odd given the focus afforded
to constituency and X-bar theory in other contemporary introductory syntax
textbooks (see Carnie 2012, Aarts 2013).  Relatedly, though Chapter Seven is
entitled ‘Phonetics and Phonology’, the presented content is almost entirely
limited to articulatory phonetics.  Phonology is not defined or discussed in
the chapter, apart from a brief description of allophones.  For students
relying on this textbook as their introduction to linguistics, such
theoretical gaps are detrimental to their understanding of the field.  

Overall, this textbook provides an adequate overview to linguistics as a
whole, using language accessible to its targeted EFL audience.  While certain
aspects could be refined, the text achieves its goal of introducing
international students to linguistic analysis.

REFERENCES

Aarts, B. (2013). English syntax and argumentation. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.

Balter, M. (2010). Evolution of language: Animal communication helps reveal
roots of  language. Science, 328(5981), 969-971.

Carnie, A. (2012). Syntax: A generative introduction. Hoboken:
Wiley-Blackwell.

Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. Berlin: Mouton & Co. 

Eckert, P. (1989). Jocks and burnouts: Social identity in the high school. New
York: Teachers College Press.

Mihalichek, V. & Wilson, C. (2011).  Language files: Materials for an
introduction to Linguistics. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.

Milroy, J. & Milroy, L. (1978). Belfast: Change and variation in an urban
vernacular. In Peter Trudgill (Ed.), Sociolinguistic patterns in British
English, pp. 19-36. London: E. Arnold.

O’Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., & Rees-Miller, J. (2009).
Contemporary linguistics. New York: Bedford St. Martin’s Press.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Lisa Sprowls is a linguistics PhD student at Tulane University. She holds an MA in linguistics from the University of Montana, where she taught English as an Academic Second Language and completed a thesis on second-dialect acquisition. Her current research focuses include OT analyses of dialectal variation, Montana and Pittsburgh dialects of English, and sociophonetics.




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