RLD Chapter 2 The Elements of Language

What: I read about the elements of language.
Phonology- study of the sound system of language
Phoneme- the smallest unit of sounds that can signal a difference in meaning. ex) change pill to bill
Morphology- study of words and how they are formed
Morpheme- smallest unit of meaning in language ex) basement = 2 morpheme. baseball= 2 morphemes
Syntax- rules that govern how words are put together to make sense and be put into phrases and sentences.
Semantics- study of the riles that govern the assignment of meaning to words.
Pragmatics- rules that govern the social use of language/how we use it

Why: I read this because it was an assignment, but also because I want to learn more about the elements of language. I think that it can sometimes be difficult to remember all of the elements and their definitions. By reading the chapter and the examples the book gave was very helpful.

Reaction: My reaction to this was that there a lot of elements that go into language and that teaching them to someone will be a difficult task. When learning language it isn't just memorizing a definition it is about learning what makes language language.

Learned: I learned how to make the distinction between a morpheme, phoneme, semantics, and pragmatics. For me this was a big accomplishment because I always struggled with distinguishing between them all.

Goal Setting: Next I will make flash cards and continue to study the elements of language.


In Class:

Questions:
1. As a teacher how can you devise strategies to help your students learn the elements of language? 
2. Why would it be important for parents to understand elements of language in order to help their children?
3. What would be an activity you could do in the classroom to help your students learn selection restrictions? 

Activity:
The activity gave example of the elements of language and we had to figure out if there were morphemes, phonemes, or something else. Also in the activity we had to match the definitions of semantics, pragmatics and syntax. 

An outline of the chapter with definitions and concepts was also handed out.