BIL3023 - Linguistics For Esl Teachers

ASSIGNMENT 2

REPORT ON SELECTED TOPIC

( TOPIC : 4 – SEMANTICS )

GROUP

UPSI 01

MATRIKS NO

D20102040807 / 801204-14-5448

NAME / CONTACT NO

NURHAFIZAH BINTI AJLAN

0197166070

LECTURER

DR. AINON BINTI OMAR

INTRODUCTION

Semantics is a language to interpret the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. In

sense of linguistic function, semantics is a study of meaning of words. It also a study of

the systematic ways of the structures of the language in words and sentences

( Finegan 2008: 173 )

REFLECTION

By reading this unit from the module given, I really attracted to highlight unit 4 that is

Semantics which is very useful to all the English Language teachers including me, to

implement it in teaching English as a Second Language at schools.

Based on what I have read, there are three types of meaning. There are linguistic,

social and affective.

i- Linguistic meaning can be categorized into two that is referential and sense.

Referential meaning happens when the meaning of words or sentences is referred to

the actual person or objects, situation or events too.

For example : Maya is drawing in the living room. This sentence is showing that a

person or a girl named Maya, is drawing ( action that took place at that time ), and in the

living room is showing the place where the girls ( Maya ) is doing her action ( drawing ).

Some more example is : The women are talking each other at the bus stop.

The women ( the actual person ) who have been doing the action ( talking ) to each

other ( to whom that they are talking ), and the place where do they are talking to ( at

the bus stop ).

Based on the two examples given, it is showing that referential meaning is clear as the

referents are real objects/person and the events they refer to.

But, in certain cases or situation, the referential meaning can be insufficient because

they cannot explain how the sentences represent what they mean.

For example : Anuar Zain is a singer……..Anuar Zain is Anuar Zain…

This is insufficient because both of the sentences may not identical and may not refer to

the same person. It could be the other people with the same name as mentioned above.

ii- Social meaning

Sentences which are produced or uttered also showing who are the speakers. For

example , the use of this sentence : We leave now lah, Come on, ma..Hey, bro!.

By listening to the first and the second sentence, we know that it is uttered by some

people with the specific ethnicity such as Malays, Chinese or even though Indians ( in

Malaysia ).

For the third sentence, it is commonly used and uttered by youngsters to communicate

with their colleagues among themselves with the same range of age.

I used to have this kind of experience when I was teaching in an urban school in SK St

Xavier, Pulau Tikus, Penang. 90% of the pupils come from educated and modern

families and they always uttered some sort of sentences such as…..Relax, bro…What’s

up dude and so on…They use these kind of sentences in their daily communication

among themselves which are accepted as the sentences carry their meaning.

Iii – Affective meaning

Sentences can also give or lead to affective meaning which give the different impact.

For example : i- Sharifah who teaches the lower class gives a good teaching to her

pupils….ii- Sharifah who teaches the lower class makes her pupils failed in the

exam.

The two sentences convey the different meaning. The first and the second sentences

are telling to us about the same teacher, Sharifah. However, the first sentence carries a

good and effective teacher rather compare to the second sentence which carries an

ineffective teacher.

Another example is : Sara is a soft spoken woman….Sara is a fierce woman….

These two sentences are telling about the same person, that is Sara. But, the different

is, the first sentence is conveying a positive character that is soft spoken but in contrast,

the second sentence is telling the negative character of Sara that is fierce woman.

Rather than linguistic, social and affective meaning, the meaning of sentences can be

conveyed by denotative and connotative. Denotative carries the meaning as presented

in the dictionary but on the other hand, connotative carries refers to association of the

other words to get the meaning.

For example : the word blind in two types of sentences.

i- I’m going to Kuala Lumpur to have a blind date

ii- The blind man is crossing the road.

The first sentence is describing that the person is going to Kuala Lumpur to meet

somebody for the first time meeting. However, the second sentence is telling that a blind

man ( a man who cannot see ) is crossing the road. The use of word blind itself is

showing where the connotative meaning take place.

Next is, Lexical Semantics. It can be conveyed when the words are analyzed by its

relationship to the other words. Sometimes, we can identify the words by looking at the

same characterization of the words.

For example : i- jump, sleep, throw, sick

By referring to the above samples, the word jump, sleep and throw are showing that

they are under the same category that is verbs, but not the word sick as it is an

adjective.

Another sub topic that attracted me is Ambiguity. It is refers to a knowledge where the

the users use their semantic knowledge to convey the meaning. It also informs the

users whether the words or phrases have more than one meaning.

For example :The man hit the burglar with a sharp object.

The sentence above carries two meaning. The first one is telling that the man hit the

burglar by using a sharp object ( action ). However, it can be understood on the other

way. The second meaning is telling that the man hit a burglar who is carrying a sharp

object with him. ( noun )

By referring to the above example, it shows where the ambiguity occurs. The sentence

is considered as ambiguous as it has two different meaning. In fact, ambiguity should be

avoided to be done as to avoid any misinterpretation or miscommunication towards the

meaning of the sentences or phrases uttered by the language users.

CONCLUSION

There are many types of meaning of words or sentences. There are linguistic, social,

affective, denotative, connotative, ambiguity and so on. Each of the meaning carries

their own characters of definition. The most important thing is, we have to know the

actual meaning conveyed by the sentences or phrases uttered by the users by looking

at all aspects such as the socialization, characterization, regional, races, ethnicity as

well as the background of the language users.

REFERENCE

Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri, Nor Azmi Mostafa, 2013: LINGUISTICS FOR ESL

TEACHERS. FAKULTI BAHASA DAN KOMUNIKASI. UPSI.

ASSIGNMENT 1

ARTICLE REVIEW

( PREPOSITIONS )

GROUP

UPSI 01

MATRIKS NO

D20102040807 / 801204-14-5448

NAME / CONTACT NO

NURHAFIZAH BINTI AJLAN

0197166070

LECTURER

DR. AINON BINTI OMAR

ARTICLE

Rules for PrepositionsPrepositions are relationship words. They give clues and guidance

regarding how the remainder of the sentence fits together. There are

several important rules when using prepositions in the context of a

sentence. These rules relate to how prepositions can be used, which

prepositions can be used when, and where prepositions have to go in

the sentence.

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What is a Preposition?

A preposition is a word that explains the time, space or logical

relationship between the other parts of the sentence. In other words, it

links all the other words together, so the reader can understand how

the pieces of the sentence fit. 

There are hundreds of prepositions in the English language. One easy

way to remember prepositions is that they are words that tell you

everywhere a bunny can run; for example, a bunny can run

up

down

near

far

by

at

around

close

always

All of these words, and many more, are prepositions. 

Preposition Rules

There are 2 major rules when it comes to the use of prepositions.

1. The first major rule deals with preposition choice. Certain

prepositions must follow certain words, and the correct preposition

must be used to make relationships between words in the sentences

clear. 

2. The second major rule deals with the prepositions place in the

sentence. Prepositions must be followed by nouns, and prepositions

can only go on the end of the sentence in certain situations. 

Preposition Choice

Determining the correct preposition to use can be a tricky proposition. 

This can be especially difficult when dealing with idioms- expressions

in the English language that require the use of a certain word, simply

because that is the word we have chosen to use.  Idiomatic

expressions are expressions you just have to memorize, and when

errors are made, they are almost always preposition errors. 

Here are some examples of idioms, along with the correct prepositions:

Able to

Capable of

Preoccupied with

Concerned by

Prohibited from

Each of the italicized words are the only acceptable prepositions to

follow these words. It would not be grammatically correct to say

"able with" or "capable to"

Prepositions In the Context of Sentences

Prepositions must always be followed by a noun or pronoun. That noun

is called the object of the preposition. A verb can't be the object of a

preposition.

The bone was for the dog. This is correct- the preposition for is

followed by the noun "dog."

The bone was for walked. This is not correct. The

preposition for is followed by a verb "walked." Walked can't be the

object of a preposition. 

 

This rule may seem confusing at first, because you may have seen

words that look like verbs following the preposition to in sentences; for

example:

I like to ski or These boots are for skiing.

 

However, in these examples, the ski and skiing are not actually acting

as verbs.

In the first example, to ski is part of the infinitive. An infinitive is

NOT a verb. An infinitive occurs when a verb is used as a noun,

adjective, or adverb. Here, "to ski" is a THING that the person likes

doing, not an action that they are doing. It is a verbal noun. 

In the second example, skiing is a gerund. Like an infinitive, a

gerund is NOT a verb, but is instead a noun, adjective or adverb.  Here,

"skiing" is a thing that the boots are for. No one in this sentence is

doing the action of skiing.  

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Using Prepositions at the End of Sentences

Because prepositions must be followed by a noun and have an object,

they usually can't be used at the end of a sentence.  For example, it is

not correct to say:

The table is where I put my books on. 

However, there are certain circumstances where it is acceptable to end

a sentence with a preposition.  These exceptions exist where the

preposition is not extraneous. In other words, the preposition needs to

be there, and if it wasn't, the meaning of the sentence would change.

In the above example, "The table is where I put my books on." the use

of the preposition "on" isn't necessary. We could take the "on" out of

the sentence and the meaning would be the same. So, the use of the

preposition was extraneous or unnecessary and we don't need it. 

However, here is an example where it is perfectly acceptable to use a

preposition to end a sentence:

"I turned the TV on." 

If you removed the "on" from the end of this sentence, it would change

the meaning. Instead of switching on the set, you would be saying that

you turned the TV itself.   

Retrieved from : http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/rules-for-

prepositions.html

This article is telling about the definition and rules of prepositions. Prepositions are

relationship of words which is giving clues of the sentence to fit together. To have a

good sentence structure, several rules need to be followed such as :how prepositions

can be used, which prepositions can be used and where prepositions are going to be

used. According to this article, a preposition is a word that explains time, space, or

logical relationship between the other sentences. The key word here is, it links all the

words together so that the sentences can be understood clearly. In order to remember

the examples of prepositions, one formula has been created, that is words that can tell

you where a bunny can run. There are : up, down, near, far, by, at, around, close and

always. And, the use of these words depend on the contexts or sentences especially

the rules of prepositions itself.

There are two main rules of prepositions. The first one is choice of the prepositions. The

correct choice of prepositions is needed to get the correct sentences. It must be

followed by certain correct words.

For example : the choice of the word over ( preposition ) . He jumped over the fence.

In this sentence or context, the use of the word fence is mostly related to the suitable

preposition such as over in order to tell the place where the person jumped.

The second major rule is the place of the prepositions which is must be followed by

nouns and can be go on at the end of the sentence in certain situations.

For example : The table is where I put my books on…In this sentence, it is showing

that the use of the word on ( preposition ) is used at the end of the sentence. On is an

example of preposition to indicate the location of the books ( referring to the above

sentence / context ).

Second example is : The bone was for the dog… This sentence is telling that the

preposition ( for ) is followed by the noun ( dog ). It is not similar with the other situation

or sentence like : The bone was for walked…This is incorrect because preposition

( for ) cannot be followed by a verb as the verb ( walked ) cannot be the object of a

preposition.

Based on my experience, most of the pupils are able to cover the basic prepositions

such as on, in, under, at, across, over, through, near, next to and between. Most of

them are referring to prepositions of location.

Generally, there are many types of prepositions. There are prepositions of location,

prepositions of place, prepositions of time, and prepositions of movement .

Prepositions of location describes or indicates the actual or specific location of places

such as : The market is opposite the school.

In this context, the word opposite is followed by a noun ( school ).

Prepositions of place describes the specific place depending on the use of the

prepositions itself. For example : We use the word at for specific address ( The girl lives

at No. 22, Jalan Garuda, Johor Bahru ).

But, we use on to designate names of streets or roads such as : Her house is on

Petaling Street.

It is different with the other preposition, we use in for the names of land areas such as

They are staying in a rural area.:

The next one is prepositions of time which is referring to time or duration. There are

three samples of prepositions of time such as at, on and in.

For example : The train is due at 12.30pm – to designate the specific time.

The bus arrived at 10am – to designate specific time

My sister will be coming on next Monday. – to designate days and dates.

He likes to jog in the evening. – to designate the nonspecific times.

As for prepositions of place, we use between with two or more people or things that we

see as individual or separate, and we use among when we see the people or things as

part of a group or mass. But, among is only used with three or more people or things.

Examples :Aina is standing between Ahmad and Razak.

Ahmad Aina Razak

Next is, prepositions of movement which describes the positions or movement of the

objects or people.

For example :to – is used to express movement toward a place.

They are driving to the office together.

She’s going to the clinic to get some treatment.

For example : toward – to express movement too.

We are walking toward the big house.

To indicate the positions of the objects or people, we use some words such as across

and over.

Examples : Mak Bedah lives in the house across the river.

Once she was over the border, she knew that she would be safe.

Graphic Organizer of Prepositions ( Summary )

PREPOSITIONSPREPOSITIONS

C

CONCLUSION

Prepositions are important to link the nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in

constructing sentences. This is to make sure that the sentences are well organized and

constructed to avoid the ambiguity or confusion when the readers read the sentences.

References

H. Martin: Advanced Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press.UK.

RULES

Choice of prepositions

Place of the prepositions

RULES

Choice of prepositions

Place of the prepositions

TYPES OF PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions of location

Prepostions of place / movement

Prepositions of time

TYPES OF PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions of location

Prepostions of place / movement

Prepositions of time