Basically, the graph in page 9 is a wheel-like structure of languages. The core matter of it is phonetics, and other elements like phonology, syntax, semantics, or pragmatics are radiated to the outside. The way I see it is that the graph is more like a guide shown to language learners of. The order from the inside to outside indicates the where the first step is and in which directions learners will be moving after going through the previous cycle. As a novice in language learning, the graph shaped the overall structure of my learning plan, and hopefully I will tap into the phonetics soon. The surface cycle seems to be irrelevant to my learning plans since my linguistic skills are not proficient enough to allow information-dense conversations to take place. However, it clearly presents me with multiple fields that my study may benefit me in. There is no question that my current goal is to hold basic conversational skills of my targeted language. Thus, I would say that I will be more attracted to socioliguistics after completing all goals of my learning plan. The reason why socioliguistics seems to be more facinating than applied linguistics is that when it comes to societies, culture has to be taken into consideration. Culture contributes in language learning in not only idioms, slangs that make overall sentence more natural, but also thinking structure. Perhaps, that’s why English speakers are not simply speaking English. They think in English.
You need to be a member of The SDLAP Ning to add comments!
Replies