Rararata University Practical Activities-2020

Students of Year -3 and 2  can find their respective activities in their WHATSAPP Group. Please do them and send them with Index No. You also can do your Grammar Lessons, which will improve your writing skill.

IELTS 13.06.2020

Sameera, Lakmali, Pavitra

Speaking
1.  Self-introduction-1mnt
2.  Challenges for the younger generation-2 mnts
3.  How to face them?-mnts

Writing Task-1 Bar Chart
Writing Task-2 Essay (Discuss the impact of COVID 19 on Tourism Industry.)
Listening
Reading
Grammar-Present Perfect Continuous (since/for)
Listen to videos.

Send me voice messages and photographs of writing 50 words on IELTS Diagnostic Test

Diagnostic Test Rajarata University-13.06.2020

1.  Write 50 words about the Grammar Translation Method. (Year-3 Sem.2)
2.  Write 50 words about Middle English. (Year-3 Sem-1)
3.  Write 50 words about Semantics. (Year-2 Sem-1)

Practical: Please note that marks will be given.

Send me a photograph with clear handwriting.

AL. Lit. Diagnostic Test 13.06.2020

Write five sentences about any poem you like and send me a photograph.

Other Activities
1. Extracts
2. 10 words
3. Long answer: You encounter three female characters in Othello. How do you observe them? Discuss with relevant extracts.
4. You are all weak in grammar. Please improve, otherwise, you can't pass AL.Lit. Visit relevant websites and learn grammar. 

Diagnostic Test-12.06.2020 Correct Answers

Make meaningful sentences using the words given below.

1.      Ravi/absent last week/he ill (since)

2.      Since morning/they/work/they/very tired now

3.      She work hard last year/she has good results (therefore)

4.      If you come early yesterday/you/meet my father

5.      I go kandy/meet my friend(so as to)

6.      Ravi was absent last week since he was ill.

7.      Since morning, they have been working, so, they are very tired now.

8.      She worked hard last year; therefore, she had/has good results.

9.      If you had come early yesterday, you would/could have met my father.

10.  I go to Kandy so as to meet my friend. (I will go/I went/I am going )

Diagnostic Test 12.06.2020

                     Make meaningful sentences using the words given below.

1.      Ravi/absent last week/he ill (since)

2.      Since morning/they/work/they/very tired now

3.      She work hard last year/she has good results (therefore)

4.      If you come early yesterday/you/meet my father

5.      I go kandy/meet my friend(so as to)

      I will send the correct answers so that you can correct your wrong sentences. If you have problems regarding your activity, you can send a voice message or written message. You can use both Sinhala and English for speaking. (Whatsapp group)

Semantics-Reference and Sense Year-2 Sem.-1 Rajarata University

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Department of Languages

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

Online Lectures

Year and Semester	Year- Semester-1
Subject	Syntax and Semantics-16
Subject Code	ENGL2112
Course Unit	Reference and Sense
Date	06.06.2020
Time	Theory (9.00 am-11.00 am)  Practical (2.30 pm-4.30 pm)
Lecturer	D.N. Aloysius
Theory Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 16
Practical Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 16

Reference and Sense

Reference refers to what an expression refers to in the real world. For example, Wikibooks refers to the website where you can find this book. Barack Obama refers to the first black president of the United States. In the sentence Jimmy Wales, who founded Wikipedia, is an intelligent man, who refers to Jimmy Wales.

Constant reference occurs when an expression always refers to the same thing, regardless of context. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea usually has constant reference, as does Noam Chomsky. Smith, Mary and the dog do not have constant reference.

Sense is different from reference in that sense does not take care of objects in the real world. When you look in a dictionary, most of the definitions you get tell you the senses of the words. Consider this extract from Wiktionary's entry on plane:

1.     An airplane; an aeroplane.

2.     A level or flat surface.

3.     A level of existence or development.

None of these are related to actual aeroplanes or surfaces in the real world. They are senses.

Sometimes, a sentence is syntactically correct, but semantically meaningless. Let's revisit Chomsky's example:

(1a) Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

Obviously, this sentence doesn't make sense to us at all. We can often determine what words can fit into a sentence by using semantic features. Consider this example:

(1b) The N[+living] was killed.

This would prevent us from saying 'the homework was killed' or 'the building was killed'.

Practical: Explain the terms, reference and sense.

References: https://www.slideshare.net/ojenytan/sense-and-reference-41431144

Semantics-Lexical Relations Year-2 Sem-1 Rajarata University

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Department of Languages

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

Online Lectures

Year and Semester	Year- Semester-1
Subject	Syntax and Semantics-18
Subject Code	ENGL2112
Course Unit	Lexical Relations
Date	07.06.2020
Time	Theory (9.00 am-11.00 am)  Practical (2.30 pm-4.30 pm)
Lecturer	D.N. Aloysius
Theory Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 18
Practical Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 18

Lexical Relations

A lexical relation is the relationships between the meanings of words. Here are some important lexical relations:

·         Homophony: When two words have the same pronunciation, but are written differently and mean different things, such as bare and bear.

·         Homonymy: When two words have the same pronunciation and spelling, but mean different things, such as the verb bear and the noun bear.

·         Polysemy: When a single word has multiple meanings. For example, the verb bear can mean tolerate, but also bring (he bore gifts) or have (they bear a certain resemblance).

·         Synonymy: When two words are close in meaning, such as the synonyms insinuate and suggest. Although they are similar, they are not identical.

·         Antonymy: When two words have opposite meanings, such as the unmarked pair of antonyms happy and sad or the marked pair of antonyms unhappy and happy. There are two types of antonyms:

·         Hyponymy: When one word indicates a category of things that is a subset of the category of things indicated by another word. For example, child is a hyponym of human, which is a superordinate of child. Child and adult are called cohyponyms.

o    Prototype: Sometimes, a certain hyponym is more representative of the superordinate than most. For example, when you hear the word 'fish', you probably don't think about weird fish like seahorses or swordfish. You are more likely to think of, say, salmon, which is said to be the prototype of the hyponymy.

·         Metonymy: When a word is used in place of another related word. For example, you can say he found solace in the bottle if you want to express the idea that he drank alcohol to comfort himself. Using bottle instead of alcohol is a metonymy.

Practical:  Explain the Lexical Relations with suitable examples.

References:         

                                                              i.      Lexical Meaning by Lynne Murphy

                                                            ii.      Semantic Relations and the Lexicon: Antonymy, Synonymy and Other              Paradigms by Lynne Murphy

Semiotics Year-2 Sem-1 Rajarata University

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Department of Languages

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

Online Lectures

Year and Semester	Year-2 Semester-1
Subject	Syntax and Semantics
Subject Code	ENGL 2112
Course Unit	Semiotics
Date	05.06.2020
Time	Theory (9.00 am-11.00 am)  Practical (2.30 pm-4.30 pm)
Lecturer	D.N. Aloysius
Theory Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 14
Practical Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 14

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of sign process, which is any form of activity, conduct, or any process that involves signs, including the production of meaning. A sign is anything that communicates a meaning, which is not the sign itself, to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning can be intentional such as a word uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, such as a symptom being a sign of a particular medical condition. Signs can communicate through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory.

The semiotic tradition explores the study of signs and symbols as a significant part of communications. Unlike linguistics, semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems. Semiotics includes the study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

Semiotics is frequently seen as having important anthropological and sociological dimensions; for example, the Italian semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco proposed that every cultural phenomenon may be studied as communication. Some semioticians focus on the logical dimensions of the science, however. They examine areas belonging also to the life sciences—such as how organisms make predictions about, and adapt to, their semiotic niche in the world.

Practical: Write an introduction to Semiotics.

References:

1.      A Theory of Semiotics by Umberto Eco

2.      Handbook of semiotics by Winfried Nöth

Late Modern English-Year-3 Sem-1 Rajarata University

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka

Department of Languages

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

Online Lectures

Year and Semester	Year-3 Semester-1
Subject	History of English Language
Subject Code	ENGL 3112
Course Unit	Late Modern English
Date	04.06.2020
Time	Theory (9.00 am-11.00 am)  Practical (2.30 pm-4.30 pm)
Lecturer	D.N. Aloysius
Theory Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 20
Practical Hours	02                                            Total  No of  Hours: 20

Late Modern English (1800 – Present)

Although the pronunciation and grammar of Early Modern English continued into the late modern age, the vocabulary of English grew considerably, leading to the creation of Late Modern English. The main changes in vocabulary during the Late Modern period were due to the industrial revolution, scientific advancements and colonialism.

 Expansion of the British Empire

More new words seeped into the English language after the year 1700. This is because the English language started to spread all around the world due to the development of Britain’s new colonies. As the British Empire grew, English words were absorbed into the languages of the colonized countries, spreading the English language far and wide. At the same time, the English language expanded to accommodate many new foreign words within its vocabulary. For example, Late Modern English contains many words borrowed from Hindi and other Indian languages, such as ‘pajamas’, ‘bungalow’ and ‘shampoo’. In fact, English contains some words from most other languages: from the Finnish ‘sauna’, German ‘kindergarten’ and Japanese ‘tycoon’, to the Russian ‘balaclava’, Sanskrit ‘jungle’, Swahili ‘jumbo’ and West African ‘banana‘.

Although Late Modern English includes words from many languages, the largest number of words comes from French and Latin.

Maritime Language

In connection with Britain’s colonial explorations, the words and phrases of sailors were adopted into the mainstream vocabulary of Late Modern English. Many English phrases come from maritime roots, including: ‘three sheets to the wind’, ‘close quarters’, ‘the bitter end’, ‘cut and run’, ‘hand over fist, ‘fathom out, ‘in the offing, ‘taken aback’, ‘high and dry’ and of course, ‘walk the plank’.

Industrial Revolution

Until the early 18th century, people lived off the land and most people worked in agriculture. However, large developments in technology between1760 and 1830 took Britain into an industrial revolution.

The industrial revolution had a strong impact on the English language with many new words coined from these technological advancements. New words were invented to name new industrial techniques, machinery, products and technology.

Some words that entered the language around this time include: electricity, camera, telegraph, pulley, train, engine, reservoir and combustion.

New words also came about by using old words together in new ways to create a new meaning. For example: typewriter, horsepower, aero plane and railway all arrived in Late Modern English.

Advancement of Science

In the 17th and 18th centuries, new scientific discoveries meant that more new words had to be invented to describe the new findings; many of the words of this industrial age were borrowed from Latin and Greek. Words borrowed from French, Latin or Spanish may have been already borrowed at a previous time in English language history, causing a new meaning and/or pronunciation to develop. For example, the word ‘chef’ and the word ‘chief’ are both borrowed from French. ‘Chef’ was borrowed by Late Modern English, whereas ‘chief’ came into the language during the time of Middle English. This is why the same root has resulted in two distinct words with different meanings in English today.

Greek and Latin Roots

Many of the new words that came into the English language during the scientific revolution have a Latin or Greek root. For example: ‘oxygen’, ‘nuclear’ and ‘vaccine’. New words also came from the field of medicine, such as ‘ambulance’, which has a French root but was originally derived from Latin. We can see the influence of classical languages on new vocabulary today used in the world of science and computers, including ‘byte’, ‘micro’ and ‘cyber’.

 Military and Language

Wartime has always introduced many new words into the English vocabulary. In the Late Modern age, the First World War and Second World War added many new words and slang phrases, which were used originally by soldiers and came straight from the trenches. The two World Wars introduced the words: ‘booby trap’, ‘basket case’, ‘to be in a flap’, ‘zigzag’, ‘souvenir’, ‘browned off’, ‘gubbins’, ‘flak’, ‘fed up’, ‘dud’, ‘lousy’, ‘crummy’, ‘cushy’, ‘no man’s land’, ‘dekko’ and ‘Blighty’ (both these last words are derived from Hindi). Late Modern English also adopted other military-derived words that we use today, including: ‘ambush’, ‘spearhead’, ‘melee’, ‘radar’, ‘siege’, ‘camouflage’ and ‘sortie’, along with the aeronautical-related terms ‘nose dive’ and ‘landing strip’.

Practical: Write only one.

1.      Write a brief introduction to Late Modern English.

2.      Explain the varieties of Modern English.

3.      Write notes on the following.

a.       Sri Lankan English

b.      British English and American English

c.       Any other variety

References:

1.      Garner's Modern English Usage

2.      British or American English by John Algeo

3.      American and British English: Divided by a Common Language by Paul Baker

4.      The postcolonial identity of Sri Lankan English by Manique Gunasekera