Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures Unit 2 ‘What is language?’ Culture

1. Welcome to ……. • Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures • Unit 2 ‘What is language?’ Culture • Unit 3 ‘Language Change and Language Learning’ • Unit 4 ‘Group Project’ global communication Created by Leighton Park School

2. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures What is language? global communication Created by Leighton Park School

3. What is language? Read these statements and answer the questions… Language is a method of sharing thoughts and information. • Do you agree with these statements about language? • Are there any you disagree with? • Which three do you think best explain or represent what language is? Explain your reasons. Language is the ability to read and spell correctly. Language is natural. Language is part of culture. Language is something you learn. Language is a system. Language is a physical process. Language is important. Language is not always spoken. Language is unique to humans. Language is always changing. Language is what makes us human. Language is what enabled humans to become the dominant species on the planet. Language is a way of forming relationships with people. What do you think language is? Write your own definition! Created by Leighton Park School

4. Professor Robert Winston here! In my book ‘Human’, I describe language like this…. Understanding human behaviour is impossible without taking account of the huge influence of language. Language is the chief way in which humans share information across generations, with their contemporaries, and even with themselves. The ability to think and express ourselves verbally has immeasurably extended our control over the world: we are able to make sense not just of the present, but of the past and the future too. Through our grasp of words, we can communicate complex and novel ideas, and learn about things never experienced. Humans also build relationships with language…it is a powerful tool to influence those around us. Created by Leighton Park School

5. Re-read Professor Robert Winston’s description of language and think about the statements about language you have heard. Then complete the following sentences in your own words. Language is the main way in which…… Because of their ability to use language, humans…. Language allows us to…. Language is important in developing…... If we didn’t have language…… Spoken language is not the only way to communicate…. Created by Leighton Park School

6. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures What do we need language to be able to do? global communication Created by Leighton Park School

7. Group these examples of language into three categories and give each category a title or description. 1 A mum sings to her child to help him stop crying. 3 A granddad refers to his granddaughter by a family nickname. 2 A teacher tells the class what their homework is. 4 Two best friends invent a secret code to speak in. 5 A policeman reads the arrest statement to a suspected criminal. 6 A shop assistant tells a boy how much a DVD costs. 7 A bully swears at a classmate and says he can’t join in their football game. 9 A lady says ‘good morning’ to her neighbour in the street. 8 A teacher points at a class and says ‘ssshh’ when they have been misbehaving. 12 A guest on a TV show does not speak until the host asks her a question. 10 A TV presenter reads the weather forecast. 11 The council put up a ‘No Ball Games’ sign outside some flats. 15 A doctor reads a patient’s notes and discusses them with the nurse. 13 A girl puts two kisses and a smiley at the end of text message to her friend. 14 The winning lottery numbers are published on a website. • What does the language in each category do? • Do some of the statements fall into more than one category? Why? • Can you think of other examples for each category? Created by Leighton Park School

8. Communicating Ideas and Information Forming and Sustaining Relationships Demonstrating Power We use language to ask for and give information, and to share our ideas about things. We ask and answer questions on and tell people about all manner of things every day, from the trivial to the extremely important. A teacher tells the class what their homework is. A policeman reads the arrest statement to a suspected criminal. We use language to form relationships with other people, and then to keep those relationships going successfully. We use language to be polite, and show that we are interested in other people and their feelings. A mum sings to her child to help him stop crying. We can use language to indicate that we have power or authority over someone else. Sometimes this can be useful and necessary, but at other times it can be unpleasant. A shop assistant tells a boy how much a DVD costs. Two best friends invent a secret code to speak in. A bully swears at a classmate and says he can’t join in their football game. Read the definitions of each language function. Which examples do you think go in each category? A TV presenter reads the weather forecast. A lady says ‘good morning’ to her neighbour in the street. A guest on a TV show does not speak until the host asks her a question. A doctor reads a patient’s notes and discusses them with the nurse. A girl puts two kisses and a smiley at the end of text message to her friend. The council put up a ‘No Ball Games’ sign outside some flats. The winning lottery numbers are published on a website. A granddad refers to his granddaughter by a family nickname. A teacher points at a class and says ‘ssshh’ when they have been misbehaving. • How do these categories compare to the ones you came up with? • Do you think any one category is more important than the others? • Can you answer the question ‘What do we need language to be able to do? In your own words? Created by Leighton Park School

9. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures Speech and writing global communication Created by Leighton Park School

10. Work with a partner to think of as many different types of spoken and written communication as you can – you can include the examples you collected for prep. Writing Speech • What are the differences between spoken and written language? • Do spoken and written language serve different purposes? • What are the features of speech and writing? How do they differ? Created by Leighton Park School

11. Decide whether these statements refer to speech or writing by putting an ‘S’ or a ‘W’ next to each one. Uses punctuation. Often formal. Uses more complex sentences and connectives. Mostly planned and can be edited. Uses simpler sentences. Involves pronunciation. Often informal. It can only rely on words to communicate a message. Gets ‘instant feedback’ from an audience who can respond, question and comment. Often spontaneous and unplanned. Involves spelling. There is a delay before people can respond. Uses pauses and intonation. Tends to be more standardised across regions. Everyone acquires the skill. People use pitch, rhythm and their bodies to help communicate. Not everyone learns to do it. Created by Leighton Park School Has dialect variations which represent a region.

12. Speech Writing Everyone acquires the skill. Not everyone learns to do it. Has dialect variations which represent a region. Tends to be more standardised across regions. It can only rely on words to communicate a message. People use pitch, rhythm and their bodies to help communicate. Uses pauses and intonation. Uses punctuation. Involves spelling. Involves pronunciation. Often spontaneous and unplanned. Mostly planned and can be edited. Gets ‘instant feedback’ from an audience who can respond, question and comment. There is a delay before people can respond. Often formal. Often informal. Uses more complex sentences and connectives. Uses simpler sentences and connectives. Created by Leighton Park School

13. Think about the following scenarios, and for each one, discuss the EFFECTS, ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES of using a) speech and b) writing. Complaining to a restaurant about bad service Comforting a friend Inviting people to a party Telling your grandparents about your holiday Extension: Fired by text message! Created by Leighton Park School

14. Would speech or writing be the most appropriate choice in this situation? Justify your answer Sam was playing football in his garden and accidentally kicked the ball over the fence and smashes his neighbour’s window. When he went over to get the ball, there was no-one there, so he would probably never have been caught, but his mum told him he must own up and apologise. Sam agreed, but how should he do it?! Created by Leighton Park School

15. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures How did we learn our own languages? global communication Created by Leighton Park School

16. Work in a small group to brainstorm the answers to the following questions and be ready to share your answers with the class. • How did you learn to talk? • If you had been born in Azerbaijan, which language would you have grown up speaking? • How is learning to speak different from learning to write? Created by Leighton Park School

17. Watch this video clip from the BBC’s Human Body documentary. In the clip, Professor Robert Winston talks about how humans develop language. Make notes whilst you watch the video! Tell your partner the five most important things you learned from the video clip. Created by Leighton Park School

18. When babies learn to talk they go through five distinct stages. Match the name of the stage to the approximate age and the examples. 8-18 months Lucas playing with the little car! ba-ba-ba-ba Babbling Pig say oink! Multiword stage 6-8 months Up! Two-word stage 18-24 months 24-30 months Where Katie? You give the dolly! Juice! I’m having this big one! I’m having ‘nana! 30+ months Holophrastic* stage Telegraphic stage Daddy car! ma-ma-ma-ma *If something is ‘holophrastic’ this means it stands for a whole phrase Created by Leighton Park School

19. Five phases of language acquisition. ba-ba-ba-ba 6-8 months Babbling ma-ma-ma-ma Up! Holophrastic* stage 8-18 months Juice! Where Katie? Two-word stage 18-24 months Daddy car! You give the dolly! 24-30 months Telegraphic stage Pig say oink! I’m having this big one! I’m having ‘nana! 30+ months Multiword stage Lucas playing with the little car! Created by Leighton Park School

20. Watch Youtube’s famous ‘talking twin babies’ and answer the following questions. (Click on the twins to get to the link!) • What do they already know about speech and interaction? • What do they still need to learn? • How old do you think the twins are? Why? Created by Leighton Park School

21. Show what you know by completing the following exercises. Answer the following questions in full sentences: What does it mean if we say that spoken language is ‘innate’? Explain how learning to speak is different from learning to write. Explain what ‘holophrastic’ means and give an example. Optional extension task: Find out what ‘overextension’ means in terms of language acquisition and explain why overextension helps prove that language acquisition is an innate process. Complete the text by filling in the gaps. When babies are born, they communicate ____________ or discomfort by crying. They move on to making ‘____________’ noises after around eight weeks, and from the age of____________months they begin to babble. Babbling sounds are made up of a vowel-__________ combinations which are ____________several times. Babies move through a one-word stage, also known as the____________stage, to the two-word stage and then the telegraphic stage. At the telegraphic stage, babies can combine a few words to convey ____________, but they do not have a highly developed understanding of ____________. From around ____________ months, babies begin to use grammatical structures and from the age of two years, babies’ ____________ develop very quickly. Created by Leighton Park School

22. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures How do we learn to communicate in a foreign language? global communication Created by Leighton Park School

23. Brainstorm the reasons why people might learn a foreign language. Travel? Meeting people? Work? In your community? Click on the pictures to watch three video clips of people speaking foreign languages. Despite their shortcomings, what characteristics do Del, Joey, and Sheldon have which make them good language learners? Created by Leighton Park School

24. Spend five minutes reviewing what you learned about: • Speech and writing • Children’s language acquisition • Then think about these questions…… • What does ‘communicating’ mean? • Do we have to be grammatically perfect / fluent in a foreign language to communicate in that language? • What have we learned about babies’ language which can help us understand learning to communicate in a foreign language? This is tricky, but you can do it! Make notes, and discuss your ideas with a partner. Now complete the ‘Get the Message Across’ activity. Your teacher will give you a message which you must communicate to your partner in a foreign language. You will also be given some resources to help you. Created by Leighton Park School

25. What methods did you use to complete the task? How did you feel before starting the task? How did you feel after completing the task? Could you communicate successfully with the other person even if you couldn’t speak their language fluently? What attributes did you have to show in order to be successful? Are there situations where accuracy is required? What skills do we need to be able to build up accuracy in a foreign language? Created by Leighton Park School

26. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures Building blocks: Nouns, pronouns and adjectives global communication Created by Leighton Park School

27. Complete the identification activity. Look at the page of words and colour code them appropriately: Nouns in red /Adjectives in blue / Pronouns in green abhorrent cute we anger I dodgeball cat equal ethical Paris banana they it she carpark magical precious equality co-operative David Cameron fluffy magic puffin friendly he large The Co-operative Bank shoe you iPod Created by Leighton Park School

28. How did you do? abhorrent cute we anger I dodgeball cat equal ethical Paris banana they it she carpark magical precious equality co-operative David Cameron fluffy magic puffin friendly he large The Co-operative Bank shoe you iPod Created by Leighton Park School

29. Created by Leighton Park School

30. Why has this comic strip featured Lego? What’s that got to do with language? Created by Leighton Park School

31. Now look at the sentences from other languages. Try to colour code them appropriately: Nouns in red /Adjectives in blue /Pronouns in green (Not all words will need to be colour coded.) Tengo un cocheazul. J’aiunevoiturebleue. Mon chienestgentil. Ichhabeeinblaues Auto. Ik heb een blauwe auto. Mein Hundistfreundlich. Mijnhond is vriendelijk. Il mio cane è amichevole. Miperroesamistoso. Houn'autoblu Created by Leighton Park School

32. IchhabeeinblauesAuto. Mein Hundistfreundlich. Ik heb een blauweauto. Mijnhond isvriendelijk. Tengo un cocheazul. Miperroesamistoso. J’aiunevoiturebleue. Mon chienestgentil. Houn'autoblu Il mio cane è amichevole. • What do the two sentences mean? What languages do you think these are? What do you notice about the languages? • How did you work out which were pronouns, nouns and adjectives? • Could you use the skills you used for this exercise in real life? In what kind of situation? Could you use anything to help ‘fill in the gaps’? • Try and communicate a message to someone using just pronouns, nouns and adjectives! Did it work? Could this be useful in real life? What disadvantages would it have? Created by Leighton Park School

33. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures The man eating chicken! global communication Created by Leighton Park School

34. When you were asked to draw a man eating chicken, did you draw………… or • In each picture, who or what is eating? • Who or what is being eaten? Created by Leighton Park School

35. o v v o s s The man eats chicken. The chicken eatsman! Many languages follow the SubjectVerbObject pattern. The subject is the thing which is doing the action. The verb is the action itself. The object is having the action done to it. Created by Leighton Park School

36. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object in these sentences. v o s The boy plays football. Created by Leighton Park School

37. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object in these sentences. v o s Kittens love milk. Created by Leighton Park School

38. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object in these sentences. v o s Usain Bolt wore his medal. Created by Leighton Park School

39. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object in these sentences. v o s The pupils did their work. • The two previous sentences were different from the two first ones and the example – in what way? Did this affect the SVO rule? Created by Leighton Park School

40. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object in these sentences. v o s Das Baby trinktMilch. Created by Leighton Park School

41. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object in these sentences. v o s El elefante juega al fútbol • There is an ‘extra’ word in this sentence – what could this be? Does it change the overall SVO rule? Created by Leighton Park School

42. Unit 1 ‘What is language?’ Structures Building blocks: Verbs and adverbs global communication Created by Leighton Park School

43. Verb Challenge! Underline the verb(s) in as many sentences as you can. • Get out of here! • He has already eaten his lunch. • Were you wearing your seatbelt? • Put those books back on the shelf. • Will you be bringing your brother? • Would you close the door please? • She was carrying a pink handbag, I think. • Had he already been to see you when I called? • Don’t you think you ought to call your parents? • Had they really been going to buy a lottery ticket? • What ails thee? • Colourless green ideas sleep furiously. • The kids play football every day. • Parrots squawk. • Mo Farah runs quickly. • I have a younger brother. • The man wandered around the town. • It is sunny today. • Have you got any money? • I had pizza for dinner last night. • I am going to buy some sweets. • Jessica Ennis won a gold medal. • Berlin is the capital of Germany. • We are proud of you. • My mum bought a cup of coffee. Created by Leighton Park School

44. Verb Challenge! Underline the verb(s) in as many sentences as you can. • Getout of here! • He has already eaten his lunch. • Were you wearing your seatbelt? • Put those books back on the shelf. • Will you be bringing your brother? • Would you close the door please? • She was carrying a pink handbag, I think. • Had he already beento see you when I called? • Don’t you think you ought to call your parents? • Had they really been going to buy a lottery ticket? • What ails thee? • Colourless green ideas sleep furiously. • The kids play football every day. • Parrots squawk. • Mo Farah runs quickly. • I have a younger brother. • The man wandered around the town. • It is sunny today. • Have you got any money? • I had pizza for dinner last night. • I am going to buy some sweets. • Jessica Ennis won a gold medal. • Berlin is the capital of Germany. • We are proud of you. • My mum bought a cup of coffee • How did you know which were the verbs? • How would you define a verb? Created by Leighton Park School

45. Verbs, perhaps more than any other word class, form the building blocks of language. Without verbs, we could only name or describe things, but with verbs, we can talk about what things do. Verbs are very flexible and useful! We can take a basic verb (called the infinitive) and change it or add bits to it in various ways, so that it does what we want it to. Just like Lego! Hey, you forgot one! What about ‘I eat the ice-cream’? The dragon eats the ice-cream. The dragon ate the ice-cream. The dragon is going to eat the ice-cream. The dragon is eating the ice-cream. The dragon was eating the ice-cream. The dragon will be eating the ice-cream. The dragon has eaten the ice-cream. The dragon had eaten the ice-cream. The dragon will have eaten the ice-cream. The dragon has been eating the ice-cream. The dragon had been eating the ice-cream. The dragon is going to have been eating the ice-cream. Created by Leighton Park School

46. All those sentences were formed using the infinitive verb ‘to eat’. In English, infinitives always start with the word ‘to’. In other languages, there are other ways of identifying infinitives. For example: manger (French) comer (Spanish) to eat (English) In French, infinitives end in er, re orir. In English, infinitives start with to. In Spanish, infinitives end in ar,erorir. eten (Dutch) mangiare (Italian) essen (German) In Dutch, most infinitives end in en. In Italian, infinitives end in are, ere orire. In German, most infinitives end in en. Created by Leighton Park School

47. Each infinitive has a part which makes it unique – the part that gives us the meaning of the verb. This part is called the stem. It is useful comer (Spanish) to eat (English) manger (French) In Spanish, we find the stem by taking the ar,eroriroff the infinitive. In English, we find the stem by taking the to off the infinitive. In French, we find the stem by taking the er, iror re off the infinitive. eten (Dutch) mangiare (Italian) essen (German) In Dutch, we find the stem by taking the enoff the infinitive. In Italian, we find the stem by taking the are, ere orire off the infinitive. In German, we find the stem by taking the enoff the infinifive. Created by Leighton Park School

48. Find the stems of the following infinitives. trinken Created by Leighton Park School

49. aller Created by Leighton Park School

50. snuiven Created by Leighton Park School