What is the nature of language? How does it behave? What is language learning then? A review paper in Applied Linguistics
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Date
2021-12
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Abstract
Language is viewed differently by people from different fields, and
one of the reasons why linguists and philosophers encounter
difficulties in clarifying what the study of language should involve
has to do with the general view that language means many things to
people from different disciplines. This paper provides a
comprehensive and analytical discussion patterning to the nature of
language, theories, methods, and approaches to language teaching
and learning based on a literature review. In particular, the paper
answers questions of what is the nature of language, what is
involved in the study of a language and how does it behave? And
how language can be taught effectively? To address these questions,
the paper has reviewed various studies on the definition of language
and the trend in trying to define language. Also, it has examined
how much scholars have defined language economically, but
adequately, and it has discussed the nature of language and its
assumptions or theories, then it has indicated how language can be
best taught. The review indicates that there are conflicting claims
about the nature of language, and thus, it is difficult to define the
nature of language or to tie it down to one statement, for it means
many things to different people. The paper concludes that it is
difficult to define the nature of language comprehensively in one
statement, and the concept of language teaching is mainly
influenced by the idea of the nature of language, and on how
language is taught and learnt. Therefore, success in language
teaching depends on the learning environment, how a teacher views
what is a language or the nature of language and on the
motivations of learning provided to the learners.
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Keywords
Language, Nature of language, Language teaching and learning