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Semantics is the study of meaning, the relationship between the linguistic signs and the things or ideas they represent. It can be divided into subfields: lexical (the study of how words mean) and compositional (how words and syntax work together to make sentences mean). When we use words in verbal communication, the meaning can be modified and amplified depending on the context and rules of discourse. This is also related to our personal experiences and our perceptions of words.
For example, our perception of a "dog" is the one we conjure up in our minds individually. You may think of a bull dog and I may think of a labrador. We are both still thinking of an animal in the dog category. Your ELL student may have a totally different one in mind! In addition, words, have to be considered in the physical and cultural context, not in isolation from sentences and discourse, and the cognitive process that has helped shape our thought and understanding of the words. In spoken discourse, we look for cues to help us make meaning in the physical context, tone, gesture, and other behaviors about the speaker. Further, words have semantic relationships with other words such as synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, idioms, etc. These relationships are also not very clear cut in terms of the words meaning and syntax. Remember: Rules of Grammar are universal but different in a speech community (which we will read more about). Teaching Tips: * Notice the complexity of figuring out the word meaning from ELLs point of view who are just trying learn English language in the academic setting of your classroom and through interactions with their peers. * Avoid making assumptions about how ELL speakers view the world based on their language structure. It would helps if you can learn about the culture of your ELLs while evaluating their native language, since the two are intertwined. * ELL speakers can think "outside" their language as exemplified here, an Amazonian indigene group, who has few words for geometrical concept, can exploit geometric concepts in solving problems. * Grammatical gender influences how ELL speakers think about objects. i.e. "key" in German is masculine, so native speakers associate it with hard, heavy, jagged,... But in Spanish it is feminine, so native speakers describe it as golden, intricate, little,... * Note: Learning academic language is much more demanding than everyday language for the ELLs according to the experts in the field. Hence acquisition of the academic English demands more timed practice, up to 5 years, from the students than previously believed (1-2yrs). |