Archives for April 2023

Psycholinguistics: Definitions, 6 Examples & Research Topics

April 10, 2023

Psycholinguistics is one of the types of linguistics, and it is a complex and fascinating one. Combining psychology and linguistics, it is a field that has fascinated linguists and psychologists alike.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the key ideas in psycholinguistics, including definitions, examples, as well as research topics. I will also compare it with other, commonly talked about disciplines. Let’s start!

What is Psycholinguistics?

In simple terms, psycholinguistics is a field of study that combines psychology and linguistics to examine how people acquire, use, and understand language. The focus of this field is on the psychological and neurobiological factors that allow humans to use language.

It was first introduced by Jacob Kantor, an American psychologist, in 1936 in his book ”An Objective Psychology of Grammar.” Read the book here. Jacob Kantor is also thought to be the father of psycholinguistics.

One of the earliest definitions of psycholinguistics comes from the American linguist Charles F. Hockett, who defined it in 1955 as “the study of the psychological and neurological bases of language acquisition, production, and comprehension.”

Apart from this definition, there are a few other psycholinguistics definitions, such as the one by two of the most famous psycholinguists—Wilhelm Wundt and Carl Wernicke.

Wundt’s definition of: ”Psycholinguistics is the study of the mental processes involved in language comprehension, production, and acquisition.” (Wundt, 1900) and Wernicke’s: Psycholinguistics is the study of the relationship between language and thought, with an emphasis on how language disorders (e.g. aphasia) can help us understand the neural basis of language and cognition.” (Wernicke, 1874)

What is Chomsky’s psycholinguistics?

Chomsky’s psycholinguistics proposes that language is a natural human ability. He also says that humans are born with a “language acquisition device” (LAD). This device that them to learn and use language.

One of Chomsky’s significant contributions to the field is his generative grammar theory. This theory aims to explain how humans can generate an infinite number of sentences from a finite set of rules. According to this theory, humans have an innate understanding of the fundamental structure of language, allowing them to create new sentences that are grammatically correct.

Interested to learn more about this? Here’s the link to Chomsky’s ”Syntactic Structures” where he talks about this!

6 Examples of Psycholinguistics & Research Topics

This research topics could also be used as psycholinguistics topics for presentation, so feel free to get inspired by them!

1.Language Acquisition

How do children learn language, and what are the cognitive processes involved in learning a first and second language?

2.Language Production

How do we produce language, and what are the cognitive processes involved in planning, organizing, and producing speech and written language?

3.Language Comprehension

How do we comprehend language, and what are the cognitive processes involved in understanding spoken and written language?

4.Language Processing

How does the brain process language, and what are the neural mechanisms involved in language processing?

5.Billingualism

What are the cognitive and neural effects of learning and using more than one language?

6.Language Disorders

What are the cognitive and neural bases of language disorders, such as aphasia, dyslexia, and specific language impairment?

Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics: Difference and Similarities

Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics are two closely related fields of study that explore the complex relationship between language and the human mind. In fact, people often think they study the same thing! While they do share some similarities, they also have significant differences in terms of their focus and approach.

Psycholinguistics examines how language is processed and learned in the brain, whereas Neurolinguistics investigates the neural basis of language and the effects of brain damage on language function.

Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics: The Main Difference

Another field that is often mentioned when talking about this is sociolinguistics. The main difference between psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics is the level of analysis. The former focuses on how individuals acquire, process, and produce language, while sociolinguistics focuses on how language is used in social contexts and how it reflects and reinforces social structures and identities.

Just think of the psycho- and socio- prefixes and what they mean—psycholinguistics is concerned with the psychological and cognitive aspects of language, sociolinguistics is concerned with the social and cultural aspects of language use.

Psycholinguistics Careers

So, we’ve established you really like this discipline, what are some jobs you could do? I already have an article on career paths you can pursue as a linguist, so let’s see what you could do as a psycholinguist.

Some possible psycholinguistics careers are: researcher, speech-language pathologist, natural language processing (NLP) specialist, special education teacher…

Hope you enjoyed my article! Stay tuned for more. 🙂

Teaching tips

Grammar in Context: 20 Engaging Exercises Students Love

April 7, 2023

Are you tired of teaching grammar to your students through boring exercises? I know I was, so I came up with these 20 grammar in context exercises to share with you! Ain’t nobody got time for boring grammar.

Teaching grammar in context is seriously a game changer. By providing students with exercises that incorporate grammar rules into real-life situations, students will be more engaged, motivated, and better able to retain the information they learn.

In this article, I share 20 fun and engaging grammar exercises that will help you teach grammar in context and keep your students entertained. These exercises include gap-fill exercises, story writing, role-playing, and more. So, let’s dive in and make learning grammar a fun and enjoyable experience for your students!

1. Use real-world examples

There’s a reason why this is my favorite one—there’s seriously nothing better than authentic content. News articles, short stories, and songs, are great resources to teach grammar in context.

For example, if you’re teaching the past tense, you can provide a news article about a historical event that uses the past tense extensively. Students can then analyze how the past tense is used in context.

2. Dialogue

Encourage students to create dialogues using a particular grammar structure, such as the present perfect tense. For example, have students work in pairs to create a conversation using the present perfect tense.

You can provide a prompt such as “What have you done in the last week?” or “Have you ever traveled to another country?” to guide them.

3. Writing stories

Have students write a story that includes specific grammar structures, such as conditionals or reported speech.

One that I really like is conditional storytelling: have students write a story where they must use the conditional tense. For example, the story could be about a person who discovers a magical object that grants them one wish, but with a catch that they must use the conditional tense to make their wish.

4. Reading comprehension

Provide students with a reading passage that contains examples of the grammar structure you want them to learn. For example: Present Perfect Tense ESL Reading Comprehension Worksheet (englishwsheets.com)

5. Vocabulary + Grammar

I know you’re like…wait, aren’t these supposed to be *grammar* in context exercises? Hear me out. This one is specifically for those students who prefer vocabulary to grammar. To be honest, I was definitely one of those students, haha.

Use vocabulary exercises that incorporate the grammar structure you want your students to learn. This exercise will help students understand how the grammar structure works with specific vocabulary. Two birds, one stone, right?

6. Role play

Have students role-play using a particular grammar structure, such as the past continuous tense. E.g. you can have them act out a conversation between two friends about what they were doing yesterday at a particular time. You could even ask them to create a mini play!

7. Jigsaw reading

Divide a reading passage into sections and give each student a section to read. Then, have them work together to put the passage in order. This will not only help them with grammar, but also teamwork!

8. Sentence transformation

Provide students with sentences that use a particular grammar structure and ask them to transform them into different structures. This will also help them remember the names of such structures, which can come in handy.

9. Jam session

How about turning your classroom into a party? This has to be one of my favorite grammar in context exercises. Have your students sing songs that include the grammar structures they’re learning.

For instance, if you’re teaching the past tense, you can have them sing “Yesterday” by The Beatles. Your students will love it, and it will help them with grammar too! You can thank me later.

10. Picture description

Show students a picture and ask them to describe it using a particular grammar structure. Then, assign a specific grammar structure to each team (e.g. present continuous for Team A, simple past for Team B, etc.).

Give the teams a set amount of time to come up with a creative and descriptive paragraph using their assigned grammar structure to describe their picture. Encourage the use of vivid vocabulary words and descriptive language. Once time is up, each team can read their paragraph out loud.

11. Debate

Challenge your students to argue on a topic using a specific grammar structure, and watch them build their persuasive skills while improving their language fluency!

12. Word formation

Provide students with a root word and ask them to create words that use a particular grammar structure. This exercise will help them understand how the grammar structure works with different words. Let’s say the root word is ”fame”—ask your students what the adjective would be, etc.

13. Error correction – Grammar detective

How about playing the “Grammar Detective” game? Divide students into teams and provide them with a text that contains errors related to a particular grammar structure. Each team must identify and correct as many errors as possible within a set amount of time. Fun!

14. Grammar board game

You can play a board game where each space contains a sentence with a particular grammar structure. Students must correctly identify, but also use the grammar structure to move forward!

Alternatively, there could be different spaces that represent different tenses. Each player must roll a dice and land on a space that corresponds to a tense.

15. Scavenger hunt

Hide sentences around the classroom that use the grammar structure you want your students to learn! Students must find the sentences and then use them in a sentence of their own.

To add more context, you can tailor the sentences to a specific topic or subject that the students are interested in.

Also, if you want to make the scavenger hunt even more engaging, you can add a storyline or theme to it! For example, you can create a mystery where the sentences are clues to solve the case, or a treasure hunt where the sentences lead to a hidden treasure.

16. Essay writing

Ask students to write an essay using a particular grammar structure. Depending on how competitive you want it to be, you can even divide the class into teams and give each team a different grammar structure to use in their essays!

17. Social Media Posts

This is a wonderful way to make grammar structures more relatable! Your students love Justin Bieber? Go through his Instagram feed and find the structure you’re working on, and then present it to class. Yes, you will have to do some ”stalking” to find the right structure, but it’s totally worth it.

18. Picture description

Show students a picture and ask them to describe it using a particular grammar structure. You can always ask them to use a picture of something that they like, or ask them who their favorite celebrity is.

That way, you can print out a picture of their favorite celebrity or person doing something that you could have them describe, and engage them even more! I’ve done this in the past and it works wonders.

19. Matching exercise

Provide students with a list of sentences and a list of grammar structures. Students must match the sentences with the correct grammar structures.

You can even create a memory game with the list of sentences and grammar structures. Write each sentence and grammar structure on separate cards and mix them up. Then, have students take turns flipping over two cards to try and find a match. When they find a match, they must say the sentence aloud and identify the grammar structure used.

20. Story retelling

Last but not the least in my list of grammar in context exercises! What you can do is have students form pairs and provide them with a short story that includes a variety of grammar structures. One student must retell the story using the same grammar structures, while the other student listens and checks for accuracy. Then, they switch roles and repeat the exercise with a different story.

Hope you enjoyed this list of grammar in context exercises! Let me know in the comments below. Also, feel free to modify any of the exercises, and adjust them in the way that suits you and your students 😊

Like the idea of teaching students using context? I have a cool article on using anchor charts here.

Linguistics

Linguistic Relativity: 10 Examples You’ll Find Fascinating

April 3, 2023

Before we dive into some examples of linguistic relativity, let’s define the term first. Linguistic relativity is the idea that the language we speak influences how we think, perceive, and understand the world around us. It’s also known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. So, this means that as a native speaker of English you think differently than a native speaker of Italian, just because you speak different languages.

So, does language shape cognition? It’s just a theory, after all, but I must say—a very good one! Not only that, but there are so many examples to support it. Let’s explore my top 10 linguistic relativity examples, along with sources and links for further study:

1.Color Perception

Different languages categorize colors differently, which can affect how speakers of those languages perceive and distinguish colors. For example, the Dani people of Papua New Guinea have only two basic color terms, mili (cool) and mola (warm), and have been found to have difficulty distinguishing between blue and green!

2.Time Perception

Mandarin and English speakers differ in their focus on either the vertical or horizontal axis when it comes to describing time. Mandarin speakers tend to use vertical spatial metaphors to talk about time, such as “up” for future and “down” for past, while English speakers use horizontal metaphors like “ahead” for future and “behind” for past.

Source: Boroditsky, L. (2001). Does language shape thought? Mandarin and English speakers’ conceptions of time. Cognitive Psychology, 43(1), 1-22.

Further Study: Does Language Shape Thought?: Mandarin and English Speakers’ Conceptions of Time – ScienceDirect

3.Spatial Orientation

Some languages, like Guugu Yimithirr spoken in Australia, use cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) instead of relative terms (left, right, front, back) to describe spatial orientation. As a result, speakers of these languages have been found to have excellent spatial orientation skills, as they need to constantly be aware of their cardinal direction.

Source: Levinson, S. C. (2003). Space in language and cognition: Explorations in cognitive diversity. Cambridge University Press.

Further Study: https://www.livescience.com/32528-do-languages-influence-thought.html

4.Number Concepts

The Piraha people of Brazil have no words for exact numbers, and instead use approximate terms like “few” or “many”. As a result, they have been found to have difficulty with tasks that require exact numerical calculations.

Source: Gordon, P., & Carey, S. (2015). The acquisition of specific number words: A cross-linguistic study. Child Development, 86(5), 1318-1337.

Further study: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/306/5695/496

5.Gender and Language

Different languages have different grammatical gender systems, which can influence how speakers perceive and treat gender in society. For example, in Spanish, nouns are assigned a grammatical gender (masculine or feminine) which can affect how people perceive and treat gender in society.

Source: Boroditsky, L. (2011). How languages shape the way we think. Scientific American, 304(2), 62-65. (pp. 63-64)

Further Study: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/space-in-language-and-cognition/3F3D63FE63E388E1CCF6C7B2C2B60977

6.Perception of Objects

The words we use to describe objects can affect how we perceive them. For example, speakers of languages that use classifiers (like Chinese or Japanese) tend to focus more on the shape and material of objects, while speakers of languages without classifiers (like English) tend to focus more on the function or use of objects.

Source: Deutscher, G. (2011). Through the language glass: Why the world looks different in other languages. Random House. (pp. 47-51)

Further Study: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/109/1096719/through-the-language-glass/9780099505570.html

7.Perception of Emotions

Some languages have more specific and nuanced terms for certain emotions, while other languages may use more general or broad terms. For example, in the Japanese language, there is a specific term for “feeling a sense of regret after a missed opportunity” called “komorebi”, whereas in English, we might use the more general term “regret” or “disappointment.” This more specific term in Japanese may lead to a different and more nuanced understanding and experience of that emotion among Japanese speakers compared to English speakers.

Source: Boroditsky, L. (2011). How languages shape thought. Scientific American, 304(2), 62-65.

Further Study: What is komorebi? (happiful.com)

8.Time References

The way different languages refer to time (e.g. using clock time versus event time) can influence how their speakers perceive and remember events. For example, in Hopi, a Native American language, time is described using events, rather than using a linear timeline like in English. As a result, Hopi speakers tend to focus more on the context and relationships between events, rather than on the exact timing of events.

Source: Boroditsky, L. (2001). Does language shape thought?: Mandarin and English speakers’ conceptions of time. Cognitive Psychology, 43(1), 1-22.

Further Study: Can language slow down time? – BBC Culture

9.Taste Perception

Languages may influence how their speakers perceive and describe tastes. For example, some languages have specific words to describe tastes like umami, which is a savory taste found in Japanese cuisine, also called ”the fifth taste” which is different from sour, sweet, salty, and bitter.

Source: Lupyan, G., & Casasanto, D. (2015). Language, perception, and the structure of concepts. In The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition (pp. 3-15). Routledge.

Further Study: What is umami? (umamibook.net)

10.Memory Encoding

The way different languages encode information in memory can affect how easily it is remembered. For example, research has shown that people are better at remembering words that are congruent with their native language’s grammatical structure. For example, speakers of German might find it easier to remember the word “Haus” (meaning “house”) because it follows the grammatical structure of German, which is a highly inflected language. In German, the word “Haus” is a neuter noun and takes the article “das”, which is consistent with other neuter nouns in the language. In contrast, an English speaker might have a harder time remembering the gender and article of the word “casa” (meaning “house” in Spanish), because English is a language that doesn’t use grammatical gender and articles in the same way as Spanish.

Source: Cook, V. (2016). Second Language Learning and Language Teaching (5th ed.). Routledge.

Further Study: Does obligatory linguistic marking of source of evidence affect source memory? A Turkish/English investigation (jcu.edu.au)

Hope you enjoyed my article on examples of linguistic relativity! Read more about linguistics here, and hope to see you next time!