Lecture One, 17th of October 2007
Introduction
1. Introduction
2. Learner's Diary
3. Tasks and Quizzes
4. Evaluation
5. References
1. Introduction
The first session was mainly an introduction and overview of the course and its concept. First of all was given an overview of the topics: Language History, Language in Society, Language and the Mind, Building Blocks of Language and Applying Linguistics.
2. Learner's Diary
Properties of signs
3. Tasks and Quizzes
Why is a portfolio important?
A portfolio can help to understand the weekly lessons and to have an easier access to in the internet. For other students a portfolio makes it possible to share information with the writer. In addition to this the writer gets to know important skills of modern media. It is important to reflect the lessons again afterwards.
What should a portfolio contain and how are these components defined?
A portfolio should contain a summary of the lecture, this is called a learner’s diary, where the main topics of the lecture are described and evaluated. Additionally, it should include a glossary to explain technical terms of every lecture and the answers which been given.
Why should a portfolio be on a website?
With a portfolio you can exchange information with other students and lecturers are able to observe your learning development. So this is the easiest way of access at any time.
How do you make a website?
You can create a website by uploading an html document onto an online server on the internet or you can go to the "hers" and upload your files there. This html document needs to have a certain form, otherwise it does not work.
Prepare reports for discussion on …
What are the following, and how old are they?
Indo-European
Indo-European is a family of languages having more speakers than any other language family. It is estimated that approximately half the world’s population speaks an Indo-European tongue as a first language. The Indo-European family is so named because at one time its individual members were prevalent mainly in an area between and including India and Europe, although not all languages spoken in this region were Indo-European. Today, however, the Indo-European languages have spread to every continent and a number of islands. It should be stressed that the term Indo-European describes language only and is not used scientifically in an ethnic or cultural sense. The languages classified as Indo-European are sufficiently similar to form one major linguistic division. The characteristics Indo-European languages share with respect to vocabulary and grammar have led many scholars to postulate that they are all descended from an original parent language, called Proto-Indo-European, which is believed to have been spoken some time before 4000 B.C., perhaps before 8000 B.C. or earlier. Since there are no written records of Proto-Indo-European, it apparently was in use before writing was known to its speakers.
(Encyclopedia information about Indo-European The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2001-2005, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic is the hypothetical common ancestor (proto-language) of all the Germanic languages, which include, among others, modern English, Dutch, German and Swedish. The Proto-Germanic language is not directly attested by any surviving texts, but has been reconstructed using the comparative method. However, a few surviving inscriptions in a runic script from Scandinavia dated to c. 200 are thought to represent a stage of Proto-Norse or Late Common Germanic immediately following the "Proto-Germanic" stage. Some loan-words from early Germanic which exist in neighbouring non-Germanic languages are believed to have been borrowed from Germanic during the Proto-Germanic phase.
(Wikipedia article "Proto-Germanic language". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic, 22.10.2007)
Old English
Language spoken and written in England before AD 1100. It belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group of Germanic languages. Four dialects are known: Northumbrian (in northern England and south-eastern Scotland), Mercian (central England), Kentish (southeastern England), and West Saxon (southern and southwestern England). Mercian and Northumbrian are often called the Anglian dialects. Most extant Old English writings are in the West Saxon dialect. The great epic poem of Old English is Beowulf; the first period of extensive literary activity occurred in the 9th century. Old English had three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) for nouns and adjectives; nouns, pronouns, and adjectives were also inflected for case. Old English had a greater proportion of strong (irregular) verbs than does Modern English, and its vocabulary was more heavily Germanic.
(Britannica information about Old English Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2007 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9056971/Old-English-language, 22.10.2007)
Middle English
Vernacular spoken and written in England c. 1100–1500, the descendant of Old English and the ancestor of Modern English. It can be divided into three periods: Early, Central, and Late. The Central period was marked by the borrowing of many Anglo-Norman words and the rise of the London dialect, used by such poets as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer in a 14th-century flowering of English literature. The dialects of Middle English are usually divided into four groups: Southern, East Midland, West Midland, and Northern.
(Britannica information about Middle English Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2007 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.
Early Modern English
Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the later half of the 1400s) to 1650. Thus, the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare both belong to the late phase of Early Modern English, although the King James Bible intentionally keeps some archaisms that were not common even when it was published. Current readers of English are generally able to understand Early Modern English, though occasionally with difficulties arising from grammar changes, changes in the meanings of some words, and spelling differences. The standardization of English spelling falls within the Early Modern English period, and is influenced by conventions predating the Great Vowel Shift, explaining the archaic non-phonetic spelling of contemporary Modern English.
(Wikipedia article "Early Modern English".
Provide examples of similar words in each of these
What are the main differences between English and German?
First of all one main difference is probably, that there are 3 articles in German and that they have to change for every case. Also there is no visible difference between adverbs and adjectives and the syntax is different as well. The English syntax is very strict (always Subject, Predicate, Object), the German syntax is more variable. Moreover the German sound-to-spelling rules are more logical than the English, most of the times it is impossible to tell how a word is pronounced just by looking at its orthography.
4. Evaluation
Interesting topic, especially the history of the English language.
5. References
http://www.bartleby.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.britannica.com
http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/Classes/Classes2007WS/ITL/index.html
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