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Medina Foundation College
Poblacion, Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental
Email Address: mfc_1984@yahooo.com

BACHELOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION - ENGLISH

COURSE CODE: TCW/LIT12–THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD/WORLD
LITERATUE
1st Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021

Introduction

At first glance, the world, as a concept, is abstract. After all, your daily experiences are
considered interactions with your country. When you read the news, you read about the
Philippines. When you engage in an official transaction like paying taxes, you deal with the
Philippine government. Almost all of your classmates are Filipino.

However, you only need to step back a little bit to see that the world “out there” is already
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here. For example, you likely have relatives who are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
Every time these relatives visit or send something home, they are bringing part of the world
with them. Even if you have not traveled outside the Philippines, you have likely heard
stories about foreign countries from these family members.

Needless to say, the media and the internet are also your windows to the contemporary
world. You are already a citizen of the world whether you are aware of it or not. Just by
living your life, you automatically think about the contemporary world.

Rationale

This course Contemporary Literature focuses on the study of texts, developing students as independent,
innovative and creative learners and thinkers who appreciate the aesthetic use of language, evaluate
perspectives and evidence, and challenge ideas and interpretations. It explores how texts shape perceptions
of the world that enable one to enter into the world full of information letting students actively participate in
the dialogue and do detail analysis towards the creation of critical and analytical texts in a range of modes,
mediums and forms.
Intended Learning Outcomes

A. Analyze the various contemporary drivers of globalization.

B. Relate the effects of globalization in different sectors.
C. Narrate a personal experience of globalization.
Activity

DIRECTIONS: Brainstorm ideas on language and grammar from the video clip with the link
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provided below to answer the given task .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQW3zC5QaY4

LANGUAGE GRAMMAR
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IDEAS AND MEANING

CONNECTING THEM

After watching the link videos, list the ideas connecting the two words considering the meaning,
appreciation and importance to humans using the above Venn diagram.

Discussion

ALL ABOUT THE HUMAN LANGUAGE

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Human Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols by means of which
human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, express themselves. The
functions of language include communication, the expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and
emotional release. It is the expression of ideas by means of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are
combined into sentences, this combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts.” The American linguists
Bernard Bloch and George L. Trager. Every physiologically and mentally typical person acquires in
childhood the ability to make use, as both sender and receiver, of a system of communication that comprises
a circumscribed set of symbols (e.g., sounds, gestures, or written or typed characters). In spoken language,
this symbol set consists of noises resulting from movements of certain organs within the throat and mouth.
In signed languages, these symbols may be hand or body movements, gestures, or facial expressions. By
means of these symbols, people are able to impart information, to express feelings and emotions, to
influence the activities of others, and to comport themselves with varying degrees of friendliness or hostility
toward persons who make use of substantially the same set of symbols. Different systems of communication
constitute different languages; the degree of difference needed to establish a different language cannot be
stated exactly. No two people speak exactly alike; hence, one is able to recognize the voices of friends over
the telephone and to keep distinct a number of unseen speakers in a radio broadcast. Yet, clearly, no one
would say that they speak different languages. Generally, systems of communication are recognized as
different languages if they cannot be understood without specific learning by both parties, though the
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precise limits of mutual intelligibility are hard to draw and belong on a scale rather than on either side of a
definite dividing line. Substantially different systems of communication that may impede but do not prevent
mutual comprehension are called dialects of a language. In order to describe in detail the actual different
language patterns of individuals, the term idiolect, meaning the habits of expression of a single person, has
been coined.

Typically, people acquire a single language initially—their first language, or native tongue, the language
used by those with whom, or by whom, they are brought up from infancy. Subsequent “second” languages
are learned to different degrees of competence under various conditions. Complete mastery of two
languages is designated as bilingualism; in many cases—such as upbringing by parents using different
languages at home or being raised within a multilingual community—children grow up as bilinguals. In
traditionally monolingual cultures, the learning, to any extent, of a second or other language is an activity
superimposed on the prior mastery of one’s first language and is a different process intellectually as
Language interacts with every aspect of human life in society, and it can be understood only if it is
considered in relation to society. It is both a working system of communication in the period and in the
community wherein it is used and also the product of its history and the source of its future development.
From these, there – born The science of language is known as linguistics. It includes what are generally
distinguished as descriptive linguistics and historical linguistics. Linguistics is now a highly technical
subject; it embraces, both descriptively and historically, such major divisions as phonetics, grammar
(including syntax and morphology), semantics, and pragmatics, dealing in detail with these various aspects
of language.
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00Tnoz9l4lHoH9-ddwzZNCZC2zWhQ
%3A1595809219054&ei=wx0eX9LxAtCZr7wPy56xgAo&q=human+language+vs+animal+language&oq=
human+language&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgBMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMg
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/human-language

Grammar is more than just order and hierarchy; it is a way of expressing complex multidimensional
schemas in one dimension. It provides information that helps the reader's comprehension. It is the structure
that conveys precise meaning from the writer to the audience. Eliminate errors from your writing, and
reward your readers with clear communication. Appreciation of language and grammar is a big help to
understanding ... is a pleasing, almost musical, way of constructing words, both to speak and to hear.

Often, grammar is a system of rules and principles for speaking and writing a language while language is
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(countable) a form of communication using words either spoken or gestured with the hands and structured
with grammar, often with a writing system.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/language

Language is something uniquely human. Bertrand Russell stated in 1948 that “A dog cannot relate his
autobiography; however eloquently he may bark, he cannot tell you that his parents were honest though
poor” (Whaley 1997: 4). Language is not only unique to humans and diverse but there are also
commonalities between languages. About five thousand languages are spoken in the world today but there
still is a basic unity that underlies their diversities. Many of the world’s languages show similar principles.
An example of such a similarity is word order. In some languages such as English, French and Italian the
word order is subject, verb and object. Language universals are examined within the field of typology.
Typology has the task of examining cross-linguistic patterns. This means that “all typological research is
based on comparisons between languages” (Whaley 1997: 7). Through comparing different languages with
each other, one necessarily comes into contact with universals, which hold true for a group of languages or
even for all languages. This is how language universals are placed within the field of typology. Absolute
and no absolute universals Absolute and no absolute universals
Absolute universals are statements which hold true for all languages at any time. The term universal
already suggests that something has to hold true everywhere and any time. Croft refers to these universals as
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unrestricted universals and states that they’re number is relatively small. Hawkins calls these universals
nonstatistical. In this paper it will always be refferred to the term absolute universal for the cause of
simplicity. Examples of absolute universals are the following:

a) All languages have consonants and vowels.

b) All languages are able to form questions.

Absolute universals require deeper explanations, for example why all languages are able to form questions.
These universals are absolute because they have no counter arguments in any of the world’s languages. This
also includes all the languages for which there is no description and all those which have become extinct. It
also has to include all the languages which will come into existence in the future because language is
constantly changing. This can be said because by linguists all over the world:

it is assumed that the rules that govern language structure today are the same that governed language
structure yesterday and will be the same that will govern language structure tomorrow.
A no absolute universal is one which admits exceptions. These universals are not essential to all languages
but they represent tendencies and they usually hold true. Hawkins refers to them as statistical universals.
Comrie calls them tendencies and in this paper they will be referred to as such since the term nonabsolute is
somehow contradictory in itself. Lindsay Whaley uses this contradictory term in her book because it is
commonly used in typological research. An example for a tendency is the following: „In a basic word order,
the subject precedes the object” (Comrie 1981: 19). There are probably less than 1 per cent of the world’s
languages which violate this universal. Two examples of such languages are Malagasy, an Austronesion
language with VOS word order and Hixkaryana, a Carribean language with OSV basic word order (compare
Comrie 1981: 19).

Hiskaryana (OVS): toto yahosIye kamara

man it-grabbed-him jaguar

The jaguar grabbed the man.

(Croft 1990: 44)

If anyone will ever discover one language for which the supposed universal does not hold true, then it will
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not be an absolute universal anymore but instead a no absolute universal.

Implicational and no implicational universals

Non-implicational universals are for example the absolute universals which were discussed in the previous
chapter. The statement that all languages have consonants and vowels makes no reference to any second
condition that has to be fulfilled for the universal to be true. The tendencies were also non-implicational.
The term implicational means that the universal has a precondition that needs to be fulfilled. It has the form
of {if p then q}. An example of an implicational universal is:

Universal 3: Languages with dominant VSO order are always prepositional.

Universal 4: With overwhelmingly greater than chance frequency, languages with

normal SOV order are postpositional.

(Greenberg 1966: 78)[1]

Implicational universals have two properties. They can either be absolute as in Universal 3 or nonabsolute as
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in Universal 4. Besides that the universals cannot be switched around. For example, universal 3 cannot be
reversed to the statement that if a language is prepositional, it also has VSO[2]. English for example is an
example of a prepositional language which is not VSO but SVO[3]. This means that the universals are
unidirectional.
https://www.slideshare.net/maryamzahra585/language-universals
https://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/ikos/EXFAC03-AAS/h05/larestoff/linguistics/Chapter%203.(H05).pdf

Animal languages are forms of non-human animal communication that show similarities to human
language. Animals communicate by using a variety of signs such as sounds or movements. Such signing
may be considered complex enough to be called a form of language if the inventory of signs is large, the
signs are relatively arbitrary, and the animals seem to produce them with a degree of volition (as opposed to
relatively automatic conditioned behaviors or unconditioned instincts, usually including facial expressions).
In experimental tests, animal communication may also be evidenced through the use of lexigrams (as used
by chimpanzees and bonobos). While the term "animal language" is widely used, researchers agree that
animal languages are not as complex or expressive as human language
The greatest similarities between human and animal communication can be through the sound. Humans
convey emotion through the use of words and tone in much the same way as animals communicate emotions
through sound. ... In early humans, as in animals, speech is indeed more defensive than offensive – “Help!

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_language

The Origins of Languages

Dr. C. George Boeree

It is an intriguing question, to which we may never have a complete answer: How did we get from animal
vocalization (barks, howls, calls...) to human language?

Animals often make use of signs, which point to what they represent, but they don't use symbols, which are
arbitrary and conventional. Examples of signs include sniffles as a sign of an on-coming cold, clouds as a
sign of rain, or a scent as a sign of territory. Symbols include things like the words we use. Dog, Hund,
chien, cane, perro -- these are symbols that refer to the creature so named, yet each one contains nothing in it
that in anyway indicates that creature.

In addition, language is a system of symbols, with several levels of organization, at least phonetics (the
sounds), syntax (the grammar), and semantics (the meanings).

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So when did language begin? At the very beginnings of the genus Homo, perhaps 4 or 5 million years ago?
Before that? Or with the advent of modern man, Cro-magnon, some 125,000 years ago? Did the
neanderthal speak? We don't know.

There are many theories about the origins of language. Many of these have traditional amusing names
(invented by Max Müller and George Romanes a century ago), and I will create a couple more where
needed.

1. The mama theory. Language began with the easiest syllables attached to the most significant objects.

2. The ta-ta theory. Sir Richard Paget, influenced by Darwin, believed that body movement preceded
language. Language began as an unconscious vocal imitation of these movements -- like the way a child's
mouth will move when they use scissors, or my tongue sticks out when I try to play the guitar. This evolved
into the popular idea that language may have derived from gestures.
3. The bow-wow theory. Language began as imitations of natural sounds -- moo, choo-choo, crash, clang,
buzz, bang, meow... This is more technically refered to as onomatopoeia or echoism.
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4. The pooh-pooh theory. Language began with interjections, instinctive emotive cries such as oh! for
surprise and ouch! for pain.

5. The ding-dong theory. Some people, including the famous linguist Max Muller, have pointed out that
there is a rather mysterious correspondence between sounds and meanings. Small, sharp, high things tend to
have words with high front vowels in many languages, while big, round, low things tend to have round back
vowels! Compare itsy bitsy teeny weeny with moon, for example. This is often referred to as sound
symbolism.

6. The yo-he-ho theory. Language began as rhythmic chants, perhaps ultimately from the grunts of heavy
work (heave-ho!). The linguist A. S. Diamond suggests that these were perhaps calls for assistance or
cooperation accompanied by appropriate gestures. This may relate yo-he-ho to the ding-dong theory, as in
such words as cut, break, crush, strike...

7. The sing-song theory. Danish linguist Jesperson suggested that language comes out of play, laughter,
cooing, courtship, emotional mutterings and the like. He even suggests that, contrary to other theories,
perhaps some of our first words were actually long and musical, rather than the short grunts many assume
we started with.

8. The hey you! theory. A linguist by the name of Revesz suggested that we have always needed
interpersonal contact, and that language began as sounds to signal both identity (here I am!) and belonging
(I'm with you!). We may also cry out in fear, anger, or hurt (help me!). This is more commonly called the
contact theory.

9. The hocus pocus theory. My own contribution to these is the idea that language may have had some
roots in a sort of magical or religious aspect of our ancestors' lives. Perhaps we began by calling out to
game animals with magical sounds, which became their names.

10. The eureka! theory. And finally, perhaps language was consciously invented. Perhaps some ancestor
had the idea of assigning arbitrary sounds to mean certain things. Clearly, once the idea was had, it would
catch on like wild-fire!

Another issue is how often language came into being (or was invented). Perhaps it was invented once, by

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our earliest ancestors -- perhaps the first who had whatever genetic and physiological properties needed to
make complex sounds and organize them into strings. This is called monogenesis. Or perhaps it was
invented many times -- polygenesis -- by many people.

We can try to reconstruct earlier forms of language, but we can only go so far before cycles of change
obliterate any possibility of reconstruction. Many say we can only go back perhaps 10,000 years before the
trail goes cold. So perhaps we will simply never know.
Water Babies

It may help us understand the origins of languages if we take a look at what is sometimes called the Hardy-
Morgan hypothesis, for the orijinator of the hypothesis - Alister Hardy, an English marine biologist, and
Elaine Morgan, a Welsh writer and journalist. It is more commonly known as the aquatic ape theory.

Humans have quite a few characteristics we don't share with our primate relatives. We don't have much
body hair; we lack the layer of fat under our skin; we have a descended larynx; we produce tears; we sweat a
lot; we tend to have sex face-to-fact; we can hold our breath quite easily; we are able to swim even before
we walk; and most importantly, we walk on our two legs just about all the time.
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Hardy, in the 1960s suggested that perhaps (he was cautious, and waited 30 years to tell anyone about his
idea) we, or at least our genus, Homo, must have spent some portion of our existence on this planet in the
water, wading, swimming, even diving. This may have been why we learned to stand up straight (while
wading, supported by water), then evolving the strength and coordination to do so without the support, and
only then proceeding into the savannah.

There are other animales that have some of our odd characteristics: sea mammals like whales and dolphins
have little hair, hold their breath, and have extra fat under our skin; others, like otters, have a lot of hair, but
share the other abilities with us. The only other land animal that shares our lack of hair is the elephant,
whose closest relatives include dugongs and manatees. Perhaps they, too, spent a portion of their evolution
in the water. They do still breath through their trunks when under water. (Gaeth et al 1999)

Perhaps our commonalities with these animals also extend to language.

Musical Babies

Darwin himself once said "Humans don't speak unless they are taught to do so", ie language is learned, and
not innate in the way that the famous linguist Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker, the author of "The
Language Instinct" say.

Mario Vaneechoutte and his students suggest that language comes from music, with some assitance from
gestures and dance. Music is what is innate, not language. Like in many species of birds and mammals,
singing (which uptight scientists prefer to call "calls", in order to keep language as our "special ability"
distinct) in order to call for help, keep track of each other, and - most especially - in order to attract mates.
That use of sound is most definitely something that can evolve, from simple to the complex.

Babies like music. They love listening to their mothers speak to them. The mothers like to use a sort of sing-
song speech ("motherese"), which babies like even more. Babies begin to vocalize in very "musical" ways,
and often hum or sing in short or long "phrases", with modulations. Babies prefer major rather than minor
intervals. And before they even learn individual words, they imitate the "melody of speech" (prosody). Even
fetuses can remember sounds in the last trimester.

Because our larynx is lower in the throat, our tongues are free to move around inside the mouth more and

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our ability to hold our breath means we can control our exhaling and inhaling. We are born ready to make
music and so speech. In fact, music and speech use the same areas of the brain, including Broca's area.

In regards to dancing, we see babies moving rhythmically while listening to music and even when not. We
see the ease with which they can imitate the movements of others (perhaps by way of the famous "mirror
neurons"?). And regarding gestures, maybe you have noticed the connection between movements of the
body, especially the hands, and movements of the mouth, especially the tongue. I still stick out my tongue
when I try to play guitar, and I have seen children make grinding movements of their mouths when using the
old school pencil sharpeners.

A lot of the grammar that seems so essential when we look at written language, in speech is much more
obvious: We use pauses, tone changes, melodies, rhythms, eye movements, facial expressions, and gestures
that add information to our speech. Perhaps you (like myself) use the pauses we hear or imagine to guide
our use of commas and periods. And perhaps you have noticed how much more difficult it is to understand
someone when talking on the phone that when you are across the table from them.

In addition to the hypothesis that we were once "aquatic apes", Vaneechoutte adds that we were and still are
very much "musical apes".
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References

Chomsky. N. (1957). Syntactic Structures. Mouton, The Hague.

Darwin, C. (1871). The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Concise Editon and Commentary
by Carl Zimmer (2007), Plume, Penguin Books.

Gaeth, A.P., Short, R.V., & Renfree, M.B. (1999). The Developing Renal, Reproductive, and Respiratory
Systems of the African Elephant Suggest an Aquatic Ancestry. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 96, 5555–5558.

Hardy, Alister Clavering (1977). "Was there a Homo aquaticus?". Zenith. 15 (1): 4–6.

Morgan, E. (1997). The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis - The Most Credible Theory of Human Evolution. London,
UK: Souvenir Press.

Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. New York: Morrow.

Vaneechoutte, M., & Skoyles, J.R. (1998). The Memetic Origin of Language: Humans as Musical Primates.
J. Memetics, 2. Accessible at: http://users.ugent.be/~mvaneech/ORILA.FIN.html

Vaneechoutte, M. (2014). The Origin of Articulate Language Revisited: The Potential of a Semi-Aquatic
Past of Human Ancetors to Explain the Orijin of Human Musicality and Articulate Language. Human
Evolution, 29, 1-33.

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Exercises
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Directions: Show the origin of languages in relation to human language by drawing a

timeline about it.

Assessment
As an overall, to analyze and to show in depth understanding of the language universals and the animal
language as well as the origin of languages in relation to human language, create a blog recounting the
events on the origin of languages until it is classified and known as language universals,animal
languages and human language

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Reflection

Write your own reflection on the idea presented below in MS Document and submit it through an email add
[dionsonhazel04@gmail.com.]

Appreciation the Importance of grammar and

language in every aspect of life.

Resources and Additional Resources

 https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1588373
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• https://www.youtube.com/?hl=en&gl=PH
 https://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheets-development-of-human-
language.html
• https://www.englishworksheetsland.com/grade9-10/10etym.html

Additional Resources:
• https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:timeline%20of%20transportation
 https://www.eslprintables.com/reading_worksheets/history/history_of_english_language/
The_history_of_the_English_lan_593878/
 https://www.google.com/search?
q=A+BLOG+ON+HUMAN+LANGUAGE&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjYroLFpuzqAhWOuJQKHXAL
BekQ2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=A+BLOG+ON+HUMAN+LANGUAGE&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoHCCMQ6gIQJzo
FCAAQsQM6BAgjECc6AggAOgQIABBDOggIABCx
 https://www.google.com/search?
q=rubrics+for+video+blog&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjByaeJruzqAhUZAqYKHdVeDOMQ2-
cCegQIABAA&oq=RUBRICS+FOR+BLOG+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgCMgIIADICCAAyBggAEAcQH
jIECAAQHjoECCMQJzoECAAQGDoGCAAQCBAeOgQIABBDOgoIABCxAxCD
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https://www.google.com/search?q=worksheets+on+
+the+origin+of+languages&tbm=isch&chips=q:worksheets+on+the+origin+of+languages,online_
chips:timeline&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiT27yppezqAhWIAKYKHX0XAqsQ4lYoAXoECAEQFw&
biw=1903&bih=969#imgrc=eZEsrg40HetH4M

Rubrics for Blog [Video Clip]

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RUBRICS FOR A CREATED TIMELINE

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