Language Concepts and Pedagogy Questions and Answers

Q: By 'language transfer' is meant

Language transfer means the carryover of rules of the mother tongue syntax, phonology or semantic system to the second language.In second language learning a learner carries habits of the first language into the new one, which can help (positive transfer) or cause errors (negative transfer).The first option is a vague account of knowledge from other domains. The third reverses the direction, from second language to mother tongue. The fourth describes haphazard borrowing and not transfer of rules.

Q: The following statements relate to the early history of the English language. Identify the set that gives INCORRECT statements :1. English has borrowed words such as sky, give, law, and leg from Norse.2. English has also borrowed some pronouns like they, their, them from Norse.3. In grammar, Modern English is much more highly inflected than Old English.4. After the Norman Conquest, French became the language of the court, the language of nobility and polite society, and literature.5. Following the Norman Conquest, French virtually replaced English as the language of the people.6. Among the French words that came into English are : study, logic, grammar, noun, etc.

The incorrect statements are 3 and 5, so the answer is 3, 5.Statement 3 is false because Modern English has lost most of Old English's inflections. Statement 5 is false because French became the language of the court and nobility but did not replace English as the language of the people.Statements 1, 2, 4 and 6 are correct: English borrowed sky, give, law, leg and they, their, them from Norse, and French words such as study and grammar entered English after the Conquest. So the other options name correct statements.

Q: Choices of linguistic forms in using a language, or how a language is actually spoken/written, especially one that differs from its prescribed grammar, is called

The term is usage.Usage refers to the choices speakers and writers actually make in a language, including those that differ from prescribed grammar.An utterance is a single spoken unit, 'use' is a general word, and deviation is a departure from a norm for effect, so they are not the standard term for actual practice.Descriptive grammar records usage, what speakers really say, while prescriptive grammar lays down what they should say, and the question defines the first of these when it speaks of how a language is actually used.

Q: After the Norman Conquest England became a three-language nation for at least two centuries. The three languages were

The three languages were English, French and Latin.After 1066 French was spoken by the court and nobility, Latin was the language of the Church and learning, and English remained the speech of the common people.German and Greek played no such part in England at the time, so the options with them are wrong.English returned to official use only gradually, and a statute of 1362 made it the language of the law courts, so the three-language situation lasted until about the fourteenth century.

Q: In the word rapidly, 'ly' is an adverbial suffix indicating manner while rapid is a ______, ly is a ____.

Rapid is a free morpheme and ly is a bound morpheme.A free morpheme can stand alone as a word, as rapid can. A bound morpheme such as the suffix ly cannot stand alone and must attach to another form.'Word' and 'wordling', 'morpheme-bit' and 'half-morpheme' are not technical terms in morphology, so the other options are wrong.The same split applies to other words: in 'unhappy' the prefix un- is bound and happy is free, so a bound form needs a free form to carry it, as ly does with rapid.

Q: In most people, the first language / dialect acquired is 'mother tongue'. Among the commonly used terms for mother tongue, one of the following is avoided. Identify the one term NOT applied to mother tongue :

The term not used for mother tongue is prime language.Mother tongue is commonly called first language, native language and primary language. 'Prime language' is not an accepted term in the field.The other three are all in regular use, so they cannot be the answer.In linguistics these terms are used almost interchangeably for the first acquired language, and L1 is the usual abbreviation, which is why a made-up term like prime language stands out as the odd one.

101.

Why is "Universal grammar" so called ?

A.It is a set of basic grammatical principles universally followed and easily recognized by people.
B.It is a set of basic grammatical principles assumed to be fundamental to all natural languages.
C.It is a set of advanced grammatical principles assumed to be fundamental to all natural languages.
D.It is a set of universally respected practices that have come, in time, to be known as "grammar".

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: B

Universal grammar is so called because it is a set of basic grammatical principles assumed to be fundamental to all natural languages. The idea, associated with Noam Chomsky, is that all human languages share an innate core of principles that every child is born with, and that this explains how children learn the grammar of any language so quickly.

It is not a set of principles that people universally follow or recognise, and it is not a body of respected practices that came to be called grammar, which describes prescriptive grammar. The third option mentions advanced principles, which is not the claim, since the principles are basic and not advanced.

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102.

What is register ?

A.The way in which a language registers in the minds of its users.
B.The way users of a language register the nuances of that language.
C.A variety of language used in social situations or one specially designed for the subject it deals with.
D.A variety of language used in non-professional or informal situations by professionals.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2012,

Answer: C

A register is a variety of language used in social situations or one specially designed for the subject it deals with. It is the kind of language that suits a use: the register of law, of science or of a casual talk differs in vocabulary and style from the others according to the field, the topic and the occasion.

The first two options turn the word register into a verb, 'registers in the minds' or 'register the nuances', which is not the linguistic sense. The fourth option restricts it to informal or non-professional use by professionals, which is too narrow, since registers include formal ones. The third option is the correct one.

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103.

While "a well-boiled icicle" for "a well-oiled bicycle" is an example of Spoonerism, someone saying "Congenital food" for 'Continental food' is an example of ______.

A.Malaproprism
B.Pleonasm
C.Neologism
D.Archaism

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: A

The error is a malapropism. A malapropism is the misuse of a word for another that sounds similar but means something different, as “congenital” is misused for “continental”, and the name comes from Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan’s The Rivals. Pleonasm is needless repetition of words, neologism is a newly coined word, and archaism is an old-fashioned word, so none of these describes the swap of one real word for a sound-alike. The wording in the stem helps: the first example, “a well-boiled icicle” for “a well-oiled bicycle”, swaps initial sounds and is the spoonerism, while the second swaps whole words of similar sound, so the question is separating those two kinds of verbal slip.

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104.

By 'language transfer' is meant

A.Knowledge generated in the development of a learner on account of other domains of knowledge.
B.The carryover of rules of the mother tongue syntax, phonology, or semantic system to the Second language in question.
C.The carryover of rules of the Second language syntax, phonology, or semantic system to the mother tongue in question.
D.The vocabulary and sentencestructure transferred haphazardly during Second language acquisition from any other language accessed by the learner.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: B

Language transfer means the carryover of rules of the mother tongue syntax, phonology or semantic system to the second language.

In second language learning a learner carries habits of the first language into the new one, which can help (positive transfer) or cause errors (negative transfer).

The first option is a vague account of knowledge from other domains. The third reverses the direction, from second language to mother tongue. The fourth describes haphazard borrowing and not transfer of rules.

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105.

The following statements relate to the early history of the English language. Identify the set that gives INCORRECT statements :

1. English has borrowed words such as sky, give, law, and leg from Norse.
2. English has also borrowed some pronouns like they, their, them from Norse.
3. In grammar, Modern English is much more highly inflected than Old English.
4. After the Norman Conquest, French became the language of the court, the language of nobility and polite society, and literature.
5. Following the Norman Conquest, French virtually replaced English as the language of the people.
6. Among the French words that came into English are : study, logic, grammar, noun, etc.

A.1, 2, 3
B.3, 5
C.4, 5, 6
D.2, 4

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: B

The incorrect statements are 3 and 5, so the answer is 3, 5.

Statement 3 is false because Modern English has lost most of Old English's inflections. Statement 5 is false because French became the language of the court and nobility but did not replace English as the language of the people.

Statements 1, 2, 4 and 6 are correct: English borrowed sky, give, law, leg and they, their, them from Norse, and French words such as study and grammar entered English after the Conquest. So the other options name correct statements.

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106.

Choices of linguistic forms in using a language, or how a language is actually spoken/written, especially one that differs from its prescribed grammar, is called

A.Utterance
B.Use
C.Usage
D.Deviation

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: C

The term is usage.

Usage refers to the choices speakers and writers actually make in a language, including those that differ from prescribed grammar.

An utterance is a single spoken unit, 'use' is a general word, and deviation is a departure from a norm for effect, so they are not the standard term for actual practice.

Descriptive grammar records usage, what speakers really say, while prescriptive grammar lays down what they should say, and the question defines the first of these when it speaks of how a language is actually used.

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107.

In many ways, grammatical categories remain mysterious. What does it mean to speak a language that in every sentence requires you to locate yourself in time, or specify your source of knowledge, or the shape of what you are talking about ? We still don't know. But putting the question like this suggests a clear and limited way of interpreting the idea that different languages represent different worlds. Which of the following statements on this passage interprets it most accurately ?

A.The passage reflects the unreliability of grammatical categories of a language generally.
B.The passage concedes that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis cannot be discounted entirely.
C.The passage upholds the reliability of grammatical categories of a language generally.
D.The passage suggests that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is largely discredited today.

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: B

The statement that interprets the passage most accurately is that it concedes that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis cannot be discounted entirely.

The passage asks what it means to speak a language that forces you to mark time or source of knowledge, and says that putting the question this way suggests a limited way of reading the idea that languages represent different worlds. That is a measured concession and not a rejection.

It does not say that grammatical categories are unreliable or reliable, and it does not say the hypothesis is largely discredited.

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108.

After the Norman Conquest England became a three-language nation for at least two centuries. The three languages were

A.English, French and German
B.English, Latin and German
C.English, French and Latin
D.English, French and Greek

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: C

The three languages were English, French and Latin.

After 1066 French was spoken by the court and nobility, Latin was the language of the Church and learning, and English remained the speech of the common people.

German and Greek played no such part in England at the time, so the options with them are wrong.

English returned to official use only gradually, and a statute of 1362 made it the language of the law courts, so the three-language situation lasted until about the fourteenth century.

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109.

In the word rapidly, 'ly' is an adverbial suffix indicating manner while rapid is a ______, ly is a ____.

A.Word, wordling
B.Morpheme, morpheme-bit
C.Free morpheme, bound-morpheme
D.Full morpheme, half-morpheme

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: C

Rapid is a free morpheme and ly is a bound morpheme.

A free morpheme can stand alone as a word, as rapid can. A bound morpheme such as the suffix ly cannot stand alone and must attach to another form.

'Word' and 'wordling', 'morpheme-bit' and 'half-morpheme' are not technical terms in morphology, so the other options are wrong.

The same split applies to other words: in 'unhappy' the prefix un- is bound and happy is free, so a bound form needs a free form to carry it, as ly does with rapid.

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110.

In most people, the first language / dialect acquired is 'mother tongue'. Among the commonly used terms for mother tongue, one of the following is avoided. Identify the one term NOT applied to mother tongue :

A.First language
B.Prime language
C.Native language
D.Primary language

Exam Year(s)

UGC NET - 2013,

Answer: B

The term not used for mother tongue is prime language.

Mother tongue is commonly called first language, native language and primary language. 'Prime language' is not an accepted term in the field.

The other three are all in regular use, so they cannot be the answer.

In linguistics these terms are used almost interchangeably for the first acquired language, and L1 is the usual abbreviation, which is why a made-up term like prime language stands out as the odd one.

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