Week 1 - An Introduction

Question 1

What is communication?

Answer 1

Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. It is the shared transmission of information, ideas and thoughts using a variety of modalities. 
It is an active process that involves:
Encoding 
Transmitting and
Decoding
It involves 3 key elements:
A sender and
A receiver and 
A message

Question 2

Describe the speech chain

Answer 2

The speech chain is a chain of events for communication information, thoughts and ideas from one persons brain to another’s. It involves a speaker and a listener, although in fact there are actually two listeners as the speaker is continuously monitoring by an auditory feedback loop, whether what had been spoken matches the intended concept and is articulated appropriately.
The speech chain begins and end in representation. The speaker has an idea or thought that they wish to communicate verbally. This concept must be represented or encoded into a verbal message. This message is sent via motor nerves to the vocal
muscles and speech is produced. The sound waves travel to the ear where the are transmuted into
Neural signals that travel to the brain via motor nerves. The message is then decoded and the concept represented in the listeners brain.

Question 3

Describe the extra linguistic and linguistic aspects of communication

Answer 3

Linguistic forms of communication include:
Verbal: speaking and listening
Physical: reading and writing
Manual: signing

Extra linguistic forms of communication
Paralinguistic
Meta linguistic
Non-linguistic

Question 4

What are paralinguistic features?

Answer 4

The prefix para means beside, beyond, or in addition to.
Paralinguistic features are also called suprasegmental devices because they Chané the form and meaning of the sentence by acting across the elements or segments of the sentence.
Paralinguistic devices are;
Intonation
Stress
Pause or hesitation
Speed/rate of delivery

Question 5

What are metalinguistic features?

Answer 5

The prefix meta means referring to its self

Meta linguistics is the ability to reflect on language.

Question 6

What are the non linguistic features of language?

Answer 6

Gestures
Body posture 
Facial expressions 
Eye contact 
Head and body movements

Question 7

What is speech?

Answer 7

Speech is a verbal means of communicating. It is the term given to describe the production of sounds and words and has three concepts associated with it:
Voice
Articulation
Fluency

Question 8

ASHA definition of language

Answer 8

Language is a complex and dynamic system of symbols that is used in various modes for thought and communication

Question 9

Owens (2012) definition of language

Answer 9

Language is a socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and the rule governed combinations of those symbols

Question 10

Hassan (2018) definition of language

Answer 10

Language refers to the learned system of words or signs used to express and understand meaning, also encompassing the rules for combing them to form sentences and longer text (such as stories or instructions). Language allows us to interact, share ideas and express wants and needs , and can be spoken, written and signed.

Question 11

What sets human language apart

Answer 11

Humans can produce and understand an indefinitely large number of utterances with meanings that have never before been encountered (= creative and productive), by combining and recombining a finite number of vocabulary items in a rule governed way (= structure dependent)
(Aitchison 1989)

We can talk about anything that occurred at any time (past, present, future)
We can talk about our ability to create language, and reflect on how effectively we do it.

Question 12

What are the 6 design features that make language unique?

Answer 12

Arbitrary 
Rule based
Productive/generative
Meaningful
Discrete
Displacement

Question 13

Describe Arbitrary

Answer 13

There is no resemblance between the signal and the concept that it represents.

Question 14

Describe “language is discrete’

Answer 14

Language is made up of discrete units (sounds, words, phrases) which can be combined in novel ways to create meaning. We use language in novel ways to create words and sentences that have never been spoken before

Question 15

Describe “language is productive/generative”

Answer 15

Knowledge of a language allows us to combine sounds to create new words, words to form novel phrases, phrases to form novel sentences.

Question 16

Describe “language is meaningful”

Answer 16

Signals convey meaning and are referring to objects, concepts and emotions in the world.

Question 17

Describe “language is able to represent displacement “

Answer 17

We can use language to talk about things that are physically or temporally displaced. This requires memory.

Question 18

Describe “language is rule based”

Answer 18

Each element of language is governing a set of rules.

Question 19

What are some other design features of language?

Answer 19

Linguistics attempt to describe the characteristics of language using a variety of descriptors

Language is a social tool. We use language as a social tool to achieve social ends.

Language is generative - see productive

Language is reflexive- we are able to use language to reflect on language, it’s correctness, it’s effectiveness and it’s quality. Many jokes are based on our knowledge of language and language rules.

Question 20

Discuss competence versus performance

Answer 20

Competence is the underlying knowledge about language.

Performance is our use of language.

Question 21

What is the hierarchy of language units?

Answer 21

Phonemes
Morphemes
Words
Phrases
Sentences

Question 22

What is syntax?

Answer 22

The structure or form of language - the grammar. 
Rules that specify:
Word, phrase and clause order
Sentence organisation
Relationship between words

Question 23

What is morphology?

Answer 23

Components of words that hold meaning and cannot be further divided - root, pre-fix, suffix

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning (Owens, 2012).

Bound morpheme: a grammatical marker that cannot function independently. (My, ing)

Free morpheme: independent (cat, run)

Question 24

Define phonology

Answer 24

Rules that governing the structure, distribution and sequencing of speech sounds, and the shape of syllables (Owens, 2012)

A phoneme is the smallest speech unit.

Question 25

Define semantics

Answer 25

The system of rules governing the meaning or content of words and word combinations.

Question 26

Define pragmatics

Answer 26

The study of language in context
The way language is used to communicate, rather than the way it is structured (Owens, 2012).
Pragmatic competency. The ability to use language or communication in ways that are appropriate to social norms and conventions.
Culturally specific.

Question 27

Why is understanding and describing language important to Speech Pathologists?

Answer 27

1) analysing patterns in speech, language and communication
2) considering why communication breakdowns occur
3) planning and providing interventions
4) evaluating treatment effectiveness