Describing Language

THE ONLINE SEMINR ON

Describing
Language

Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng

Guest Speaker

College of Teacher Education, PNRU

"LANGUAGE IS A PURELY HUMAN AND
NON-INSTINCTIVE METHOD OF
COMMUNICATING IDEAS, EMOTIONS AND
DESIRES BY MEANS OF VOLUNTARILY
PRODUCED SYMBOLS.” (HOUGUE, 2015)

THE SEMINAR ON

Describing
Language

SUBMITTED BY

Miss Artitaya chamram ID code 6110111224011
Miss Taraya Lerdsri ID code 6110111224013
Mr. Subin Siadnongyung ID code 6110111224017
Miss Pattarada Pasurat ID code 6110111224031

Phranakhon Rajabhat University

Preface

The organizing of the seminar followed on Describing Language aims to prepare
fourth-year students in English major for internship next coming year. Language learning
is an active process that begins at birth and continues throughout life. Students learn
language as they use it to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, establish
relationships with family members and friends, and strive to make sense and order of their
world. English is the international language around the world. People use English as a tool
for communication. The Government of Thailand realized about the communication to the
foreigners for the business purpose so they included English into the national curriculum
in almost every level of education system. That is the reason why the organizers organize
this seminar for giving many benefits to the teacher students for their applying in the
classroom in the future.
Organizing the seminar on Teaching has following steps

1. Choosing the given topics (Describing Language)
2. Preparing the information related to the topic
3. Making Documents for organizing the seminar
4. Doing The seminar on Describing Language
5. Evaluating and Summarizing
After the evaluation the satisfaction of the result revealed that
Speakers are able to answer questions professionally and the audiences benefits
gained from the presentation of this seminar. have the most satisfied mean score (4.60) which
is in very satisfied level. Following by Convenience of online registration. (4.50). The quest
speaker shares opportunity to ask questions and answer questions. (4.45) and Preparation prior the
start of the seminar (4.40) which are in very satisfied level. The quest speaker’s skill of
presentation with clear examples to apply. (4.35) which are in very satisfied level. The quest
speaker is always ready for the presentation and the usefulness of documents and power point
presentation (4.30) which are in very satisfied level. Overall of the organizing of the seminar,
the quest speak provides knowledge and understanding on the topic presented efficiently and the
quest speaker demonstrates appropriate activities during the presentation (4.30) which are in very
satisfied level.
We hope that this seminar will benefits to teacher students about the way to teach
effectively for their internship and their working life in the future. The seminar on
describing language also provided the knowledges of language strategies and language
theories for applying in different classroom in the future

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page
A
Contents B
Preface C
Table of contents 1
Table of contents (Continue) 1
Describing Language 2
Meaning of Context 3
Element of Language 4
Forms and meaning 4
Characteristics of language 4
Definitions of language 4
Historical attitudes toward language 5
Meaning and style in language 5
Types of meaning 5
Structural, or grammatical, meaning 5
Lexical meaning 5
Semantic flexibility 6
General and specific designations 6
Style 6
Part of speech 6
1. Noun 7
2. Pronoun 7
3. Verb 7
4. Adjective 7
5. Adverb 8
6. Preposition 8
7. Conjunction 8
8. Interjection 8
Hypothetical meaning 9
History of the Theory
The Theory's Flaws

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continue) Page
9
Contents 9
Words Together 10
Two word phrases 10
Combining Words Together 11
Common Questions about Word Combinations 12
Language functions 12
Using Language Function in Your Learning 12
Teaching Language Functions 12
13
Beginning Level 13
Intermediate Level 14
Advanced Level 14
Grammar-Based Learning or Function-Based Learning? 15
Text and discourse
Discourse Analysis in Education 20
Critical Discourse Analysis: Keywords 20
21
Global Language Variables 23
Adding Language Variables 24
Pulling Language Variables in Content
APPENDICES 28
APPENDIX A Invitation card and poster of the seminar on
31
Describing language
34
APPENDIX B Teaching Reading: The Seminar on “Describing
Language” 36
39
APPENDIX C Script of the seminar on Describing MC SCRIPT
The online seminar on Describing language

APPENDIX D Summary of Evaluation of the seminar on
Describing language

APPENDIX E Pictures of the seminar on Describing Language
APPENDIX F PowerPoint presentation about Describing

Language Guest speaker PowerPoint presentation

Describing Language

Describing language

Introduction
A language function refers to what students do with language as they engage with

content and interact with others. Functions represent the active use of language for a
specific purpose. Students use language functions in order to express ideas, communicate
with others, and show understanding of content in an academic setting.

Language forms deal with the internal grammatical structure of words and phrases as
well as the word themselves. When one compares boy and boys, for example, or man and
men, he or she is considering the relationship between different language forms or
structures.

Language is a means of communication consisted of sounds, words, symbols, and
grammar used by the people in a particular country, region, or group. It is a system of
communication based upon words and the combination of words into sentences. Language
is a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length, and constructed out of a finite
set of elements. Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating
ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. A language is a
system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group cooperates.
(Hougue, 2015).

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Describing Language

Meaning of Context

Meaning is created not only through what speakers say to each other but also through
what they do with words to satisfy the needs of their social environment. Meaning involves
linguistic and situational factors where the context of language use is essential. This
contextual use of language is what makes language unique to humans. (Rhalmi, 2013).

Everybody agrees that the context has a vital role to play in communication;
observing that the meaning of an utterance is determined in context is stating the obvious.
The downside of this commonplace or general truth is that quite different phenomena are
captured by this supposedly uncontroversial claim. The widely used notions of ‘context’
and ‘contextual meaning’ are fairly intuitive concepts but they do not necessarily cover the
same ground in current debates. In a similar way, the concept ‘pragmatic’, as a synonym
of ‘contextual’, has become a very generic term which potentially obscures argumentation
rather than elucidates it. (Depraetere, 2019).

The word ‘context’ is used by different authors and communities for different but
often interrelated and dependent notions. Linguists often refer to the context of phrase or
word as the text that surrounds it. Another everyday usage of ‘context’ refers to a section
of the realworld in which some events or the discourse takes place, and is often intertwined
and confused with another meaning, namely knowledge about the same thing. Many
dictionaries were consulted to identify the meaning of context and found that
context related to meaning. Any chunk of meaning is a context. The meaning of a sentence
affects and is affected by context. (Christiansen & Dahl, 2005, p. 100).

The role of context ranges from disambiguating ambiguous expressions as in we
just got to the bank in time, through identification of referents (who is he, where is there,
in time for what, in he didn't get there in time), walking ' between the lines
messages.... (Cruse, 2004, p. 13).

Two expressions can have the same or different normality, or meaning. An example
of two words with the same normality is pullover and sweater. Dog and cat are examples
of two words that have different normality; ‘our cat has had kittens’ is more normal than
‘our dog has had kittens’. This concept is referred to as "relative normality" and is an
example of a contextual approach to meaning. (Cruse, 2004, p. 41).

Knowing the goal of a context permits an appropriate interpretation of a text.
General objective contexts appear as true statements, such as scientific facts. They are
usually found in documents such as scientific papers and news articles. Subjective contexts
include feelings, beliefs, and opinions. Probability contexts are comprehended in human
inference and as a consequence of human languages. Time and space contexts occur in
human reasoning and language. Domain contexts concern restrictions regarding the domain
of applicability of a statement. Necessity contexts specify necessary conditions for

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Describing Language
something to happen, e.g., the verb "must". Planning contexts involve information about
someone's plans or wishes. When several contexts of different types overlap or coincide, a
richness in information rather than conflict is achieved. (Fortu & Moldovan, 2005, pp. 171-
173).

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Element of Language
Linguistics is the study of language, its structure, and the rules that govern its

structure. Linguists, specialists in linguistics, have traditionally analyzed language in terms
of several subfields of study. Speech-language pathologists study these subfields of
language and are specially trained to assess and treat language and its subfields. These
include morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and phonology.

1. Language Is Communicative
Communicative by definition is a willingness to dispense information. The ancient
Roman society preserved records and instructed their progeny in the form and vocabulary,
the lexicon of their language. Because of its communicative nature, that ancient language,
Latin, existed for centuries perpetuating generational culture which sustained that society.

2. Language Is Arbitrary in Nature
One word describing an object may very well be another—such as the word door
could as easily have been assigned to a window. Language is based on random choices by
groups of people (nations, even) to communicate needs and wants, a collective system for
commerce.
The arbitrary nature of language can be called into question since objects have
names based on whatever they were used for initially; however, for this brief treatment, it
stands as a ruler for language.
The evidence that language is arbitrary is overwhelming. The fact that there are
literally hundreds of languages attests that anything can be called anything! Take the word
Yes. In English, yes, means to agree or answer in the affirmative. In Spanish, Si is to agree
or answer in the affirmative. In French, Oui is to agree or answer in the affirmative. In
Xhosa it is Ewe. Depending on what language a person uses, what English people call yes
could be any sound.
3. Language Is Structured
There is a pattern of organization that takes an identifiable shape. The patterns are
familiar enough to be identifiable to all other users of that language. Language has basic
building blocks that set it aside from other forms of communication.
It would be difficult to build a house without a blueprint. Even if there is no written
blueprint, there is a mental template that exists to reference so that others can fashion
something similar to the first house. In other words, for those out there thinking that they
can build a house without directions, it is not so. The directions are mental and/or physical.

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Even languages that have no written form have building blocks in common with
languages that are written. There is a certain way to put words together to make them
intelligible to the hearers.

4. Language Is Generative
Language constantly creates new phrases, new structures—it generates more of
itself. It is comparable to a living thing that reproduces, changes, and even dies. Even
though Latin is a dead tongue, those who speak it keep it alive or generative by speaking
and writing it.
New ideas are communicated with language that could not be conveyed well with
gestures and grunts alone. Sign Language is an exception to gesturing because it consists
of the five elements of language with no sound.

5. Language Is Dynamic
Language experiences augmentation and refinement (change) as time passes, which
can be looked upon also with some questions. But for this work, dynamic is a decent gauge
for describing language. Dynamic in this cause means that language has the ability to
evolve and never repeat the same phrase with the same meaning in the same way without
doing so on purpose.
Language gives humanity the ability to be innovative, because of its dynamic nature.
Cultures, religious systems, and political systems all use language to perpetuate hundreds
of dogmas in written form or speech. Language is a very effective tool of persuasion
because it is dynamic.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a thousand words can clearly express
an idea with little room for misunderstanding. (Johnson, 2018)

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Forms and meaning
Language, a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed), or written symbols

by means of which human beings, as members of a social group and participants in its
culture, express themselves. The functions of language include communication, the
expression of identity, play, imaginative expression, and emotional release.

Language forms deal with the internal grammatical structure of words and phrases as well
as the word themselves. When one compares boy and boys, for example, or man and men, he or
she is considering the relationship between different language forms or structures.

Language forms also include cross-curricular academic vocabulary - words or phrases
frequently used across different content-areas. Cross-curricular academic vocabulary words
typically describe or are related to academic processes and may include:

• verbs (e.g. hypothesize, analyze),
• complex prepositions, (e.g. in contrast to, as well as),
and • nouns (e.g. comparison, conclusion, analysis)

Characteristics of language
Definitions of language

Many definitions of language have been proposed. Henry Sweet, an English
phonetician and language scholar, stated: “Language is the expression of ideas by means
of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are combined into sentences, this
combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts.” The American linguists Bernard
Bloch and George L. Trager formulated the following definition: “A language is a system
of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group cooperates.” Any succinct
definition of language makes a number of presuppositions and begs a number of questions.
The first, for example, puts excessive weight on “thought,” and the second uses “arbitrary”
in a specialized, though legitimate, way.

The science of language is known as linguistics. It includes what are generally
distinguished as descriptive linguistics and historical linguistics. Linguistics is now a
highly technical subject; it embraces, both descriptively and historically, such major
divisions as phonetics, grammar (including syntax and morphology), semantics, and
pragmatics, dealing in detail with these various aspects of language.

Historical attitudes toward language
As is evident from the discussion above, human life in its present form would be
impossible and inconceivable without the use of language. People have long recognized
the force and significance of language. Naming—applying a word to pick out and refer to
a fellow human being, an animal, an object, or a class of such beings or objects—is only
one part of the use of language, but it is an essential and prominent part. In many cultures
people have seen in the ability to name a means to control or to possess; this explains the
reluctance, in some communities, with which names are revealed to strangers and the taboo
restrictions found in several parts of the world on using the names of persons recently dead.
Such restrictions echo widespread and perhaps universal taboos on naming directly things
considered obscene, blasphemous, or very fearful.

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Meaning and style in language
The whole object and purpose of language is to be meaningful. Languages have
developed and are constituted in their present forms in order to meet the needs of
communication in all its aspects.
It is because the needs of human communication are so various and so multifarious
that the study of meaning is probably the most difficult and baffling part of the serious
study of language. Traditionally, language has been defined as the expression of thought,
but this involves far too narrow an interpretation of language or far too wide a view of
thought to be serviceable. The expression of thought is just one among the many functions
performed by language in certain contexts.

Types of meaning
Structural, or grammatical, meaning

First, one must recognize that the meaning of any sentence comprises two parts: the
meanings of the words it contains and the structural or grammatical meaning carried by the
sentence itself. In English the dog chased the cat and the boy chased the cat differ in
meaning because dog and boy are different words with different word meanings; the same
applies to equivalent sentences in other languages. The two sentences the dog chased the
cat and the cat chased the dog, though containing exactly the same words, are different in
meaning because the different word orders distinguish what are conventionally called
subject and object. In Latin the two corresponding sentences would be distinguished not
by word order, which is grammatically indifferent and largely a matter of style, but by
different shapes in the lexical equivalents of dog and cat. In Japanese the grammatical
distinction of subject and object, normally marked by the word order subject–object–verb
(SOV), can be reinforced by a subject particle after the first word and an object particle
after the second.

Lexical meaning
The other component of sentence meaning is word meaning, the individual
meanings of the words in a sentence, as lexical items. The concept of word meaning is a
familiar one. Dictionaries list words and in one way or another state their meanings. It is
regarded as a sensible question to ask of any word in a language, “What does it mean?”
This question, like many others about language, is easier to ask than to answer.

Semantic flexibility
Not only are word meanings somewhat different in different languages; they are
not fixed for all time in any one language. Semantic changes take place all along (see below
Linguistic change), and at any moment the semantic area covered by a word is
indeterminately bordered and differs from context to context. This is a further aspect and
condition of the inherent and necessary flexibility of language.

General and specific designations
People can be as precise or as imprecise as they need or wish to be. In general,
words are fairly imprecise, yet for particular purposes their meanings can be tightened up,
usually by bringing in more words or phrases to divide up a given field in more detail.
Good contrasts generally with bad, but one can, for example, grade students as first-class,

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excellent, very good, good, fair, poor, and failed (or bad). In this case, good now covers a
restricted and relatively low place in a field of associated terms.

Style
The capacity for conceptualization possessed and developed by languages is by no
means the only purpose language serves. A person’s speech, supplemented by facial
expression and gesture when speaker and hearer are mutually in sight, indicates and is
intended to indicate a great deal more than factual information, inquiries, and requests.
Similarly, sign languages incorporate facial expressions and body language to add meaning
and nuance. The fact that some of these other functions are performed by parts of a
language usually mastered later by foreign learners gives rise to misinterpretation and often
makes foreign speakers appear rude or insensitive when they are, in actuality, simply
deploying fewer resources in the language. (Crystal, 2021)

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PARTS OF SPEECH
There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb,

adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates
how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An
individual word can function as more than one part of speech when used in different
circumstances. Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct
definition of a word when using the dictionary.

1. NOUN
A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.
man... Butte College... house... happiness
A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an
article (the, a, an), but not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common
nouns do not. Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession
by adding 's. Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun
can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a
preposition.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she
quickly disappeared. Oh my!

2. PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.
She... we... they... it
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for
a specific noun, which is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for
the pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type: personal pronouns refer
to specific persons or things; possessive pronouns indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns
are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative pronouns introduce a subordinate
clause; and demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!
3. VERB
A verb expresses action or being. jump.
... is... write... become
The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and
sometimes one or more helping verbs. ("She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the

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helping verb.) A verb must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are
plural). Verbs also take different forms to express tense.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

4. ADJECTIVE
An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.
pretty... old... blue... smart
An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually
answers the question of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are
usually classified as adjectives.)
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

5. ADVERB
An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
gently... extremely... carefully... well
An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never
a noun. It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions,
or to what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

6. PREPOSITION
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase
modifying another word in the sentence.
by... with.... about... until (by the tree, with our friends, about the book, until
tomorrow)
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying
another word in the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional
phrase. The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb.
The following list includes the most common prepositions:

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The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

7. CONJUNCTION
A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.
and... but... or... while... because
A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship
between the elements joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal
elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are
not equal: because, although, while, since, etc. There are other types of conjunctions as
well.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

8. INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word used to express emotion.
Oh!... Wow!... Oops!
An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an
exclamation point.
The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my! (Butte College, 2019)

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Hypothetical meaning

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the linguistic theory that the semantic
structure of a language shapes or limits the ways in which a speaker forms conceptions of
the world. It came about in 1929. The theory is named after the American anthropological
linguist Edward Sapir (1884–1939) and his student Benjamin Whorf (1897–1941). It is
also known as the theory of linguistic relativity, linguistic relativism, linguistic determinism,
Whorfian hypothesis, and Whorfianism.

History of the Theory

The idea that a person's native language determines how he or she thinks was
popular among behaviorists of the 1930s and on until cognitive psychology theories came
about, beginning in the 1950s and increasing in influence in the 1960s. (Behaviorism taught
that behavior is a result of external conditioning and doesn't take feelings, emotions, and
thoughts into account as affecting behavior. Cognitive psychology studies mental processes
such as creative thinking, problem-solving, and attention.) Author Lera Boroditsky gave
some background on ideas about the connections between languages and thought: "The
question of whether languages shape the way we think goes back centuries; Charlemagne
proclaimed that 'to have a second language is to have a second soul.' But the idea went out
of favor with scientists when Noam Chomsky's theories of language gained popularity in
the 1960s and '70s. Dr. Chomsky proposed that there is a universal grammar for all human
languages—essentially, that languages don't really differ from one another in significant
ways....

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was taught in courses through the early 1970s and had
become widely accepted as truth, but then it fell out of favor. By the 1990s, the Sapir-
Whorf hypothesis was left for dead, author Steven Pinker wrote. "The cognitive revolution
in psychology, which made the study of pure thought possible, and a number of studies
showing meager effects of language on concepts, appeared to kill the concept in the 1990s...
But recently it has been resurrected, and 'neo-Whorfianism' is now an active research topic
in psycholinguistics." Neo-Whorfianism is essentially a weaker version of the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis and says that language influences a speaker's view of the world but does not
inescapably determine it.

The Theory's Flaws

One big problem with the original Sapir-Whorf hypothesis stems from the idea that
if a person's language has no word for a particular concept, then that person would not be
able to understand that concept, which is untrue. Language doesn't necessarily control
humans' ability to reason or have an emotional response to something or some idea. For
example, take the German word sturmfrei, which essentially is the feeling when you have
the whole house to yourself because your parents or roommates are away. Just because
English doesn't have a single word for the idea doesn't mean that Americans can't
understand the concept. (Richard, 2019)

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Words Together
Developing Language skills - Putting words together
Two word phrases

Children need to understand words before they are able to say them. Once they can
say about 50 words, which include the name of objects, people and actions they are ready
to start putting two words together to make little phrases. At this stage we need to encourage
them to combine familiar words in everyday situations and in their play.

How you can help:
• Expand your child’s single words by adding information e.g. if your child
wants another drink and says ‘drink’ or ‘more’ you can say ‘more drink’
• Model phrases using two words e.g. ‘Bye-bye grandma’, ‘Mummy’s car’
• Use short, simple sentences that your child can understand so they are more
likely to copy you
• Emphasis the most important words in your sentence e.g. ‘the teddy is sleeping’
• Encourage your child to point and use gestures when they speak
• Remember your child will need to hear the phrases lots of times before
they will begin to use them. (NHS, 2016).

Combining Words Together: A Big Step in Language Development
It’s so exciting when a child says his first word. According to the American
Academy of Pediatrics, a child should say his first word by 15 months of age. Parents
eagerly await this milestone and proudly record their child’s first word amongst his other
achievements in his “baby book”.
But another milestone which receives a lot less attention is also very important for
a child’s language development – that is, a child’s ability to combine words. Children’s
first word combinations express two ideas using any two words (such as “Daddy up” when
the child wants to be picked up). But as children progress, their combinations start to
include verbs, such as “want juice” or “car go!”. These combinations that include verbs are
important as they set the stage for the child's grammar skills to develop. Children should
be combining two words together by 24 months of age.

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Common Questions about Word Combinations
Are “thank you” and “night night” examples of two-word combinations?
Some toddlers learn expressions like “thank you” and “night night” early on, and
parents may think that these are evidence of two-word combinations. However, these
expressions are memorized as a single “chunk” of language, as opposed to two separate
words that the child has combined together. When children learn “thank you”, they are not
able to combine either of these words with other words to form new combinations (such as
“thank Mom” or “you go”). True two-word combinations express two separate ideas.
(Lowry, 2016).

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Language functions
A language function explains why someone says something. For example, if you

are teaching a class you'll have to give instructions. "Giving Instructions" is the language
function. Language functions then require certain grammar. To use our example, giving
instructions requires the use of the imperative.

• Open your books.
• Insert the DVD into the drive.
• Purchase your ticket online.
There is a wide range of language functions. Here are examples of guessing,
expressing wishes and persuading—all language functions.
Guessing
• He might be busy today.
• She must be at work if she's not at home.
• Maybe she's got a new boyfriend!
Expressing Wishes
• I wish I had five million dollars!
• If I could choose, I'd buy the blue car.
• I'd like to have a steak, please.
Persuading
• I think you'll find our product is the best you can buy.
• Come on, let's go have some fun! What can it hurt?
• If you give me a moment, I can explain why we should do this deal.
Thinking about which language function you'd like to use helps you learn phrases
used to accomplish these tasks. For example, if you want to make a suggestion you'll use
these phrases:
• How about ...
• Let's ...
• Why don't we ...
• I'd suggest we

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Using Language Function in Your Learning
It's important to learn correct grammar such as the tenses, and when to use relative
clauses. However, if you think about it, it's probably just as important to know why you
want to say something. What is the purpose? What is the language function?

Teaching Language Functions
Teaching language functions can lead to confusion at times as it's common to use a
wide range of grammatical structures for each function. For example, when expressing
wishes students might use the present simple (I want ...), conditional sentences (If I had the
money, I could ...), the verb 'wish' for past and present wishes (I wish I had a new car / I
wish she had come to the party), and so on. When teaching, it's best to mix language
functions with grammar. Provide functional language as students are ready to learn. In the
example above, using "I wish I could go to the party" will likely confuse lower level
students. On the other hand, "I'd like to go to the party" or "I want to go to the party" is
appropriate for lower level classes. Generally speaking, the more advanced a student
becomes the more they will be able to explore language and improve increasingly subtle
functional demands. Here's a short overview of some of the most important language
functions by level. Students should be able to accomplish each task by the end of the course.
Naturally, students should also master language functions of lower levels:
Beginning Level
• Expressing likes
• Describing people, places, and things
• Asking yes / no and information questions
• Comparing people, places, and things
• Ordering food in a restaurant
• Expressing abilities
Intermediate Level
• Making predictions
• Comparing and contrasting people, places, and things
• Describing spatial and time relations
• Relating past events
• Expressing opinions

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• Showing preferences
• Making suggestions
• Asking for and giving advice
• Disagreeing
• Asking for a favor
Advanced Level
• Persuading someone
• Generalizing about topics
• Interpreting data
• Hypothesizing and speculating
• Summarizing
• Sequencing a presentation or speech
Grammar-Based Learning or Function-Based Learning?
Some courses try to focus on only functional based English. However, I find these
courses fall short as the focus is often on NOT speaking about grammar. Unfortunately,
students need explanations. Focusing only on function can turn into an exercise of just
memorizing specific phrases for specific situations. Mixing the two gradually as students
improve their understanding of the underlying grammar will help students put appropriate
phrases into use to obtain their functional goals. (Bear, 2018)

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Text and discourse

Discourse Analysis in Education

Discourse-based studies in education have been influenced by at least three broad
theoretical moves. First, the advent of psycholinguistics had several significant educational
consequences -- beginning in explicitly language-based areas like early childhood
language learning and development, English as a Second Language and gradually
spreading across language arts, literacy and literature curriculum and instruction. The shift
from behaviourist to psycholinguistic descriptions of language recast the student as a
"phonating subject" [1], an innately creative language user whose competence could
account for the range and complexity of texts s/he produced. Second, work in
sociolinguistics and the ethnography of communication stressed the social character of
language use

That research agenda systematically connected language development with
socialisation, language use with norms and roles, and, in educational work, re-envisioned
schools and classroom as discourse communities with their own conventions of
appropriateness. Each of these models, in turn, provided contrasting explanations for texts
and discourses. While the psycholinguistic model explained language production by
reference to speakers' internal productive syntactic and semantic capacities, the
sociolinguistic model tended to explain texts by reference to rule-governed, learned social
interaction and performance. Each, in their way, stresses the constructed nature of written
and spoken texts.

The third and most recent turn toward discourse studies is based on the
poststructuralist analyses of social history and contemporary culture by Michel Foucault.
Foucault described the constructing character of discourse: that is, how in both broader
social formations (i.e., epistemes) and in local sites and uses, discourse actually defines,
constructs and positions human subjects. According to Foucault discourses
"systematically form the objects about which they speak", shaping grids and hierarchies
for the institutional categorisation and treatment of people. These knowledge/power
relations are achieved, according to Foucault, by the construction of “truths” about the
social and natural world, truths which become the taken-for-granted definitions and
categories by which governments rule and monitor their populations and by which
members of communities define themselves and others. Foucault describes the
examination, military training, incarceration, and the official regulation of human sexuality
as moments where such "discipline" occurs. But the results are not simple top down
ideological manipulation. Communities participate in discourse in local, often
idiosyncratic ways, both resisting and becoming complicit in their own moral regulation.
When and where these discourses are internalised by the subject as her or his own, this is
the moment of non-coercive discipline par excellence: discourses about the self become
"technologies of the self"

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Schools and other significant social institutions are constituted by discourse and
discursive relations. Foucault's work offers educators a fundamental shift in the way that
we view educational texts and discourses, as Gore's recent critique of critical and feminist
pedagogies demonstrates. It shifts our view from a perspective on text and discourse as
constructed artefact explicable by reference to essential characteristics of its producers and
productive contexts -- to the study of how texts are constructive of social formations,
communities, and individuals' social identities. Indeed, the very concept of the individual
is a relatively recent historical construction of discourse that serves particular political and
governmental purpose, yet another moment in discourse that constructs and positions us as
human subjects across our life trajectories.

If there is no social space, domain of practice or lifeworld outside of discourse, then
the focus of much educational research and, quite possibly, curriculum and instruction can
begin to move from a concern with behavior, skill, and mind to discourse as a constitutive
pedagogical category. Recent interest in discourse among educational researchers has been
strongly influenced by this third turn in discourse studies, particularly as it has been
developed in feminist theory, literary and cultural studies, and pragmatic philosophy.
Generally speaking, Foucault's work has been applied to show how pedagogic discourse is
implicated in systems of "governmentality", surveillance and moral regulation differs from
neo Marxian approaches to education because of its skepticism towards potentially
reductionist and determinist models of ideological interpellation and its discomfort with
class as a reified category he principal methodological contribution of Foucault's
poststructuralism has been to reinforce skepticism towards the transparency of talk,
interview data, and recounts as unproblematic sources of information about reality and
truth, intent and motivation

More specifically, concepts of voice, discourse, and subjectivity have become
central to recent studies of the education of women and girls and minority students.
Teacher education has been reexamined as an arena where dominant sociocultural
discourses compete to construct and position teachers and students. Further, numerous
discourse analytic studies have looked closely at the construction of particular areas of
school knowledge and curriculum in textbooks and in face-to-face classroom interaction.
Finally, there have been significant attempts at theoretically reframing the work of
educational research, data collection and analysis, and experiment as discourse practice.
The emphasis on epistemological and methodological reflexivity in research has been
extended by ethnographic and case study work, and with the ongoing efforts of qualitative
researchers to develop exacting analytic tools for looking at language and social relations
in classrooms. These include productive approaches to narrative analysis of written and
spoken texts. Much of this work has attempted deliberately to move beyond descriptive
research, and to use discourse analysis to critique and challenge dominant institutional
practices.

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Critical Discourse Analysis: Keywords

Many teachers and educational researchers complain about the impenetrability of
the language of critical educational theory, with good reason. No doubt some readers of
this chapter also will consider discourse analysis an esoteric activity, couched in an elusive
and arcane terminology. At first glance, the terms discourse, text, subjectivity, and so forth
do not appear to have much to say about everyday life in classrooms, staffrooms and
boardrooms, particularly because of their strong affiliations with literary analyses and
cultural studies. There is an inevitability to this, because one of the main purposes of
critical language studies is to denaturalize everyday language, that is, to make sensible and
available for analysis everyday patterns of talk, writing and symbolic exchange that are
often invisible to participants. To do so requires a specialized language for talking about
texts. In what follows, I set out a glossary of keywords for critical discourse analysis: text,
discourse, intertextuality, genre, subjectivity, hegemony and ideology.

Critical discourse analysis shares with sociolinguistics and ethnomethodology the
assumption that language use should be studied in social context. It also shares the view
of educational ethnographers that human subjects engage in the negotiation of knowledge,
identity and social relations in the everyday patterns of institutional life. But it departs
from much mainstream research with its focus on how power, identity and are legitimated,
negotiated and contested towards political ends

Such an analysis attempts to establish how textual constructions of knowledge have
varying and unequal material effects, and how whose constructions come to 'count' in
institutional contexts are manifestations of larger political investments and interests.

The critical discourse analysis of written and spoken texts operates in two ways:
critically and constructively. Both have significant potential applications in education.
Systematic asymmetries of power and resources between speakers and listeners, readers
and writers can be linked to the production and reproduction of stratified political and
economic interests. That is, discourse in institutional life can be viewed as a means for the
naturalisation and disguise of power relations that are tied to inequalities in the social
production and distribution of symbolic and material resources. This means that dominant
discourses in contemporary cultures tend to represent those social formations and power
relations that are the products of history, social formation and culture as if they were the
product of organic, biological and essential necessity. By this account, critical discourse
analysis is a political act itself -- an intervention in the apparently natural flow of talk and
text in institutional life that attempts to “interrupt” everyday commonsense Such an
analysis has the potential to destabilise "authoritative discourses” and foreground relations
of inequality, domination and subordination

In its constructive moment, critical discourse analysis sets out to generate agency
among students, teachers and others by giving them tools to see how texts represent the

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social and natural world in particular interests and how texts position them and generate
the very relations of institutional power at work in classrooms, staffrooms and policy. In
this sense, it can be a productive part of an agenda for training educational researchers and
prospective teachers and for curriculum development in the teaching of critical literacy.

Life in fast capitalist societies is a text-saturated matter. That is, every waking
moment is caught up in engagement with text of some kind: from children's story to
political speech, from television sitcom to casual conversation, from classroom lesson to
memorandum. Here I define text as language-in-use any instance of written and spoken
language that has coherence and coded meanings. We might more generally speak of
visual, audiovisual, gestural texts. Certainly, many contemporary texts are multimodal,
mixing visual, audio, electronic texts with the longstanding media of spoken and written
language. But if natural languages and their affiliated sign systems are the raw materials of
communication, then texts are those artefacts of human subjects' work at the production of
meaning and social relations. Because texts are moments of intersubjectivity - the social
and discursive relations between human subjects - they involve writers and readers,
speakers and listeners, individuals whose intentions are neither self-evident nor recoverable
without recourse to another text. Reading and writing, listening and speaking thus depends
on intertextuality, repeated and reiterated wordings, statements and themes that appear in
different texts.

Texts are moments where language connected to other semiotic systems is used for
symbolic exchange. All texts are located in key social institutions: families, schools,
churches, workplaces, mass media, public transport and so on. Human subjects use texts to
make sense of their world and to construct social actions and relations required in the labour
of everyday life. At the same time, texts and construct individuals, making available
various meanings, ideas and versions of the world.

Boundaried instances of social interaction around or with a written or spoken text
constitute discourse events An actual text may be used within the context of a larger event
which involves face-to-face interaction between participants. In this way, texts are actually
lodged within other texts and may intertextually index each other. Many popular-cultural
texts (music videos, TV ads, movies) predicate their narrative meaning and semiotic
representational structure on other media texts. Discourse events are themselves
constrained by their institutional location, by the regularised procedures, rules and
constraints of particular social institutions. But the rules of social institutions, as we will
see, do not finally determine or restrict what people do in local events and sites. In face-to-
face events in classrooms, discourse often unfolds in uneven, contested and unpredictable
social configurations.

For human subjects, texts are not just something that they as child and student,
teacher and, parent use as part of a stabilised or fixed role or identity -- these texts are the
actual media and instances through which their socially constructed and contested identity,

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or subjectivity, are made and remade. It is through these texts that one learns how to
recognise, represent and be, for instance, a "rapper", "learning disabled", a "loyal
American", or for that matter, part of "Generation X". It is through everyday texts that
cultural categories and versions of children and students, adults and workers are built up,
established in a hierarchical social grid of the normal, and taught and learned: categories
of gender identity, sexual desire, ethnic identity, class and work, regional solidarity,
citizenship and national identity.

Social subjectivities, further, are not unitary are singular. In negotiating everyday
life, we tend to assume various positions in discourse. Together, these available positions
and discourses offer possibilities for difference, for multiple and hybrid subjectivities
which human subjects actively make and remake through their textual constructions,
interpretations and practices. In other words, critical discourse analysis tends to begin from
a poststructuralist skepticism towards the assumption that people have singular, essential
social identities or fixed cultural, social class or gendered characteristics. It assumes that
subjectivities are strategically constructed and contested through textual practices, that they
are crafted in the dynamics of everyday life.

Texts are not random and arbitrary, nor are they stand alone units that require that
we begin from scratch in each discourse event. Texts connect with each other and refer to
each other, sometimes systematically and sometimes unsystematically, sometimes through
authorial choice and deliberation and at others through coincidence. All texts are made up
of recurrent statements: claims, propositions and wordings. These statements recur across
texts, setting up intertextual networks and webs. Consider another example: the public
discourse on Asian-ness. In a given day, one might encounter a newspaper or magazine
article on the "Japanese economic miracle", a racist comment on the street, a television
portrayal, or a portrayal of a Chinese family in a textbook. sometimes through authorial
choice and deliberation and at others through coincidence. All texts are made up of
recurrent statements: claims, propositions and wordings. These statements recur across
texts, setting up intertextual networks and webs. Consider another example: the public
discourse on Asian-ness. In a given day, one might encounter a newspaper or magazine
article on the "Japanese economic miracle", a racist comment on the street, a television
portrayal, or a portrayal of a Chinese family in a textbook.

Taken together, these wordings and statements, references and themes make up
available discourses for readers/viewers. Of course, how she or he takes up these discourses
and uses them to formulate and articulate a version of the world is contingent on various
contextual and local factors, including those discourses, events and practices made
available in the school. But without this kind of intertextuality, making sense and using
texts would be an extremely uneconomical enterprise. People construct meaning on the

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basis of their prior experiences with language and texts, their available stock of discourse
resources. In this way, many statements are recognised as familiar in form and features.

Discourse, then, consists of recurrent statements and wordings across texts. These
together mark out identifiable systems of meaning and fields of knowledge and belief that
in turn are tied up with ways of knowing, believing, categorising the world and modes of
action.Discourses operate with different degrees of unity and disunity, and at different
levels of specificity. For example, the general category of political discourse has several
distinctive yet affiliated versions, Republican discourse, Democratic discourse and so forth.
The general category of racist discourse also has a range of variations and sub-variations
in different communities, including Anti-Latino, Anti-African-American discourse, etc.

Each discourse, then, is identifiable through wordings, "namings" or
"glossifications" that are specialised to construct meanings for the particular field of
relevant knowledge and belief. However, these lexical resources are not fixed or static,
even when they are codified in the official contexts of formal social institutions like
governments, political parties, and religious organisations. Republican discourse, for
instance, might have certain keywords, including "market economies", "small
government", "family values" and so forth. These meanings are tied up closely with
particular orientations to the world. They are dynamic, changing in accordance with the
demands and needs of the institution or community in question. Furthermore, any political
discourse will also adopt and adapt useful terminology from other, adjacent discourses,
including those of other political parties, popular religious groups, sciences, popular culture
and advertising, and so forth. All texts are indeed multidiscursive: that is, they draw from
a range of discourses, fields of knowledge and voices. In this way, discourses are dynamic
and cross-fertilising, continually relocated and regenerated in everyday texts.

The texts of everyday life, then, do not just randomly or arbitrarily proliferate.
Rather, they are all tied closely to particular social actions and interests in the contexts of
particular social institutions. Just as discourses develop to articulate particular fields of
knowledge and belief, texts develop to serve institutional purposes and projects. They thus
tend to be identifiable as particular text types, or genres. These range from phone
conversations to documentaries, from jokes to scientific essays. Every text is a kind of
institutional speech act -- a social action with language with a particular shape and features,
force, audience and consequences. Genres thus are momentarily stabilised forms of social
action which take what are to some degree regular and predictable, if dynamic and fluid
forms. (Luke A, 1995).

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Global Language Variables
A fully multi-lingual site will need to display all site elements in different

languages, including not just content but also common elements such as navigation menus,
buttons, header and footer images, etc. You can enable a single Template, content, or other
object to support multiple different languages using Language Variables. Language
Variables allow you to create multiple versions of the variable in different lanaguages, all
of which use the same key, but have different values depending on the language. You can
then reference the key from within any element, and dotCMS will automatically return the
appropriate value for the key depending on the user's chosen language.

Adding Language Variables
Adding a New Language Variable
1. To add a new Language Variable (one that does not yet exist in any

Language):
2. Open the Content Search screen.
3. Select Language Variable from the Type field in the left sidebar.
4. Click the actions bottom at the top right or the screen and select Add

New Content.
5. Select the Language you wish to add a value for.
- It is recommended that you always have a version of each Language Variable in
the Default Language, so when creating a new language variable, if you do not
change this property, a version for the Default Language will be created.

6. Enter a value for the Key.
- The Key you use will be the key used to access the Language Variable from within
your content, and will be shared by all Language versions of the same Language
Variable.

7. Add the Value for the currently selected Language.
8. Save and Publish the content.
Adding a Value for New Language to an Existing Language Variable
To add a new Language to an existing Language Variable:
1. Open the Content Search screen.
2. Select Language Variable from the Type field in the left sidbar.

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3. Select the existing Language Variable from the list.
4. Lock the content.
5. Select the new Language you wish to add a value for.
6. Add the Value for the selected Language.
7. Save and Publish the content.
Pulling Language Variables in Content
Automatically Pulling the Appropriate Language
To retrieve the appropriate Language version of a Language Variable dynamically
in content, use the following syntax. This returns the value for the corresponding
language_id set in the current browser session.

Explicitly Pulling a Specific Language
You may specify which Language version of the Language Variable to retrieve by
specifying the language_id of the language as a second parameter. For example, in the code
below, the system has been configured to use language_id=1 for English and
language_id=2 for Spanish:

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Example: Multiple languages in the same widget
The following code pulls multiple language versions of several language variables
at the same time.( Dotcms, 2011).:

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References

Beare K. (2018). Language functions. Using Language Functions to Learn and Teach
English, https://www.thoughtco.com/using-language-functions-to-learn-3888185,
18, 1.

Christiansen, Henning, & Dahl, Veronica. (2005). Meaning in Context. In A. Dey, B.
Kokinov, D. Leake & R. Turner (Eds.), Modeling and Using Context (Vol. 3554,
pp. 97-111): Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Cruse, D. A. (2004). Meaning in language: an introduction to semantics and
pragmatics (2nd ed.). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

Depraetere I. (2019). The Meaning of Context. Meaning in Context and Contextual
Meaning: A Perspective on the Semantics-Pragmatics Interface Applied to Modal
Verbs, 19,2.

Dotcms(2011), Language Variables, Global Language Variables,
https://dotcms.com/docs/latest/global-language-variables#NewVariable

Fortu, Ovidiu, & Moldovan, Dan. (2005). Identification of Textual Contexts. In A. Dey, B.
Kokinov, D. Leake & R. Turner (Eds.), Modeling and Using Context (Vol. 3554,
pp. 169-182):Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Hougue E. (2015). Definition of Language. Components of Language, 15(1), 1.

Lowry L. (2016). Words Together, Combining Words Together: A Big Step in Language
Development, http://www.hanen.org/SiteAssets/Helpful-Info/Articles/Combining-
words-together---printer-friendly.aspx, 16, 1.

Luke A. (1995), Text and discourse, Chapter 1: Text and Discourse in Education: An
Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis, 95(1), 257-347 407-545 547-548.

NHS. (2016). Words Together, Putting two words together,
http://www.resourcesorg.co.uk/assets/pdfs/Putting2wordstogA4.pdf, 16, 1.

Nordquist R. (2020). The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Linguistic Theory. Retrieved from
https://www.thoughtco.com/sapir-whorf-hypothesis-1691924.

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Nouraldeen A. (2015). The meaning of an utterance requires a context.

Meaning and Context-Three Different Perspective, 15(3), 15.
Rhalmi M. (2013). What does context mean?. Meaning and context in language

teaching,https://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/meaning-and-context-in- language-
teaching, 13, 1.

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APPENDICES

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APPENDIX A
Invitation card and poster of the seminar on

Describing language

ที่ อว. ๐๐๐๐๖๔/ พเิ ศษ สาขาภาษาองั กฤษ
วทิ ยาลยั การฝึกหดั ครู
มหาวทิ ยาลยั ราชภฏั พระนคร
แขวงอนุสาวรีย์ เขตบางเขน
กรุงเทพมหานคร ๑๐๒๒๐

๑๐ กมุ ภาพนั ธ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๕

เร่ือง ขอเชิญบุคลากรเป็นวทิ ยากร

เรียน ผอู้ านวยการโรงเรียนสารวทิ ยา

สิ่งที่ส่งมาดว้ ย กาหนดการ จานวน ๑ ชุด

ดว้ ย สาขาวิชาภาษาองั กฤษ วิทยาลยั การฝึกหัดครู มหาวิทยาลยั ราชภฏั พระนคร มีกาหนดจดั งานสัมมนา เรื่อง
Describing Language วนั ที่ ๑๐ กุมภาพนั ธ์ พ.ศ. ๒๕๖๕ เวลา ๑๙.๐๐ - ๒๒.๐๐ น.ณ ห้องประชุมออนไลน์ Zoom
Meeting ID: ๓๔๘ ๒๙๗ ๖๔๖๒ Passcode: ๐๒๘๒๕๕ โดยอบรมใหก้ บั นกั ศึกษาสาขาภาษาองั กฤษ ช้นั ปี ท่ี ๔ จานวน ๕๖
คน เพื่อเตรียมความพร้อมในการฝึกประสบการณว์ ชิ าชีพ

ในการน้ี สาขาวิชาภาษาองั กฤษ วิทยาลยั การฝึกหัดครู มหาวิทยาลยั ราชภฏั พระนคร พิจารณาแลว้ เห็นว่า นายธีร
ศกั ด์ิ แม่นปื น ครูกลุ่มสาระการเรียนรู้ภาษาต่างประเทศ บุคลากรในสังกดั ของท่านเป็นผูม้ ีความรู้และประสบการณ์ที่เหมาะสมสาหรับ
เป็นวิทยากร จึงขอเชิญบุคลากรในสังกดั ของท่าน เป็ นวิทยากรบรรยายให้ความรู้แกผ่ ูเ้ ขา้ ร่วมในเรื่องดงั กล่าว ตามวนั เวลา และสถานที่
ดงั กล่าว

จึงเรียนมาเพื่อโปรดพจิ ารณาดว้ ย จะเป็นพระคณุ ยิง่

ขอแสดงความนบั ถือ

(ดร. ดิเรก พรสีมา)
คณบดี วทิ ยาลยั การฝึกหดั ครู

ผปู้ ระสานงาน นายสุบิณฑ์ เสียดหนองยงุ
โทรศพั ทม์ อื ถอื ๐๙๖-๘๓๗๘๕๙๖

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

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Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

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Appendix B
Teaching Reading: The Seminar on

“Describing Language”
Fourth Year Students English Program, College of Teacher Education,

Phranakhon Rajabhat University
Via: ZOOM program

10th March 2022, Thursday
7.00 p.m.-10.00 p.m.

Bachelor of Education-English Program

Time Activity
7.00 – 7.20 p.m. Welcoming participants and guests by Miss Sirinapa Tianchai, MC
Report by Miss Pattarasuda Pasurat, Group leader
7.20 – 8.20 p.m. Opening remarks by Mr.Thanadchaporn Jualaong, Chairperson
Guest speaker introduction by Miss Siranapa Tianchai, MC
8.20- 8.30 p.m. Presentation and discussion on “Describing Language” by Teacher
8.30 - 9.50 p.m. Tanundawn Uiseng
Refreshments
Presentation on Describing Language:

Meaning of context and the elements of language by Artitaya
Chamram

Types meaning and parts of speech by Taraya lerdsri
Hypothetical meaning and words together by Subin
Siadnongyung
Language functions, text and discourse and language
variables by Pattarasuda Pasurat

9.50- 10.00 p.m. Wrap up, evaluation and closing remarks

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REPORT
THE SEMINAR ON “Describing Language”

BY Pattarasuda Pasurat
ON THURSDAY, 10 March 2022. 07.00 – 09.00 P.M.
____________________________________________________________

Miss Thanatchaporn Jualaong, our chairman of the seminar on “Describing Language”.
A language function refers to what students do with language as they engage with

content and interact with others. Functions represent the active use of language for a
specific purpose. Students use language functions in order to express ideas, communicate
with others, and show understanding of content in an academic setting.

Language forms deal with the internal grammatical structure of words and phrases
as well as the word themselves. When one compares boy and boys, for example, or man
and men, he or she is considering the relationship between different language forms or
structures.

Language is a means of communication consisted of sounds, words, symbols, and
grammar used by the people in a particular country, region, or group. It is a system of
communication based upon words and the combination of words into sentences.
Language is a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length, and constructed
out of a finite set of elements. Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. A
language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group
cooperates. (Hougue, 2015).

In order to prepare fourth year English major students for one year internship at
the school in the coming year, we need to develop our language knowledge to apply with
the students. There are 56 students attend the seminar and we thank Teacher Tanundawn
Uiseng.

For this occasion, may I call upon, Miss Thanadchaporn Jualaong, chairperson of
the seminar on Describing Language; to deliver the opening remarks for our seminar,

please welcome Miss Thanadchaporn Jualaong.

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

OPENING REMARKS
By Miss Pattarasuda Pasurat
Thursday, 10th March 2022. 7.00 P.M. – 10.00 P.M.

Live seminar via Zoom
https://zoom.us/my/suwanpnk?pwd=M3J2QVhmRkpFamJGRmJsY2tpdWpEdz09
____________________________________________________________________
Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng, our guest speaker,
Ladies and gentlemen, My dear fourth year students, English major.

It’s my great honor and pleasure to be invited to open the seminar on Describing
Language today.

Many definitions of language have been proposed. Henry Sweet, an English
phonetician and language scholar, stated: “Language is the expression of ideas by means
of speech-sounds combined into words. Words are combined into sentences, this
combination answering to that of ideas into thoughts.” The American linguists Bernard
Bloch and George L. Trager formulated the following definition: “A language is a system
of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group cooperates.” Any succinct
definition of language makes a number of presuppositions and begs a number of questions.
The first, for example, puts excessive weight on “thought,” and the second uses “arbitrary”
in a specialized, though legitimate, way.

The science of language is known as linguistics. It includes what are generally
distinguished as descriptive linguistics and historical linguistics. Linguistics is now a
highly technical subject; it embraces, both descriptively and historically, such major
divisions as phonetics, grammar (including syntax and morphology), semantics, and
pragmatics, dealing in detail with these various aspects of language.

The world’s language system is undergoing rapid change because of demographic
trends, new technology, and international communication. These changes will affect both
written and spoken communication. English may not be the dominant language of the
future, and the need to be multilingual will be enhanced. Although many languages are
going extinct, new ones are emerging in cities and extended social groups.

We are glad to have Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng with us today to help us prepare
for taking the responsibility in achieving relevant changes. Many thanks to English major
students for organizing the seminar on “Describing Language”.

Now, I would like to declare the official opening of the seminar. Thank you!

(End of the remarks)

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

APPENDIX C

Script of the seminar on Describing
MC SCRIPT

The online seminar on Describing language
Thursday, 10th March 2022. 7.00 P.M. – 10.00 P.M.

Live seminar via Zoom
https://zoom.us/my/suwanpnk?pwd=M3J2QVhmRkpFamJGRmJsY2tpdWpEdz09

Important notes

1. The activities should be arranged in order, welcoming by MC, reporting, opening
remarks, group photo, introducing the speaker and the team, refreshment, thanks
session and closing ceremony by MC

2. Chairperson – Miss Thanadchaporn Jualaong, Mr.Kittiwut Seanglam (report
person)

3. Participants, ........ students, English major (4th year student).

Time Dialogue

Time Time Dialogue

Welcoming Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the seminar on
by Master of “Describing Langauge”.
Ceremony My name is Sirinapa Tianchai, it’s my honor to be your
master of ceremony for today.
07:00 - Introducing This seminar is organized by the Bachelor of Education,
07:20 PM the program English Program, College of Teacher Education,
Phranakhon Rajabhat University.
Before we start, I would like to briefly inform you the
program of the seminar, our seminar will be kicked off at
07.00 P.M. by report, opening remarks, group photo,
guest speaker presentation on Describing Language by
Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng, follow by the presentation
on Describing Language by Miss Artitaya Chamram,
Miss Taraya Lerdsri, Mr.Subin Siadnongyung, and
Miss Pattarasuda Pasurat our main speakers. At the
end, we will have an evaluation and closing remarks.

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

Introducing We would appreciate it if you could kindly turn your
the program camera on during the seminar.

Opening 1. And now, our chairperson has already been with
Ceremony us. Let’s start our program, it’s my great honor to
invite Miss Thanadchaporn jualaong, our
07:00 - chairperson of the seminar on the spotlight.
07:20 PM
2. And next may I invite Miss Pattarasuda

Pasurat, our group representative to report the

organizing of the seminar, please welcome.

3. (Miss Pattarasuda Pasurat, reporting)

(Miss Thanadchaporn jualaong, giving opening
remarks) Thank you for a meaningful opening remark.

07:20 - Introducing After this seminar, we will deliver a token of
08:20 PM guest speaker appreciation to our chairperson’s office. Next, May I

invite our chairperson, organizing team, and our

participants to take photos by screenshot the picture from
the screen, once again please keep your camera on.
Now it’s time to start our seminar, let's begin with the first
session, I’m really excited to meet our guest speaker. It’s

my pleasure to introduce our guest speaker, Teacher

Tanundawn Uiseng.

Guest Speaker Introduction

Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng graduated Bachelor of
Education, English program with first class honor from
College of Teacher Education, Phranakhon Rajabhat
University. Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng took one full
year as an internship student teacher at Satriwitthaya 2
school. Then, he becomes an English Teacher for English
program at foreign languages department, Satriwitthaya
school. He also works as an English language tutor at
Adison Tutor and RTOP Cadet. He enjoys teaching
English as a freelance tutor.

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

Guest May I ask your full attention to Teacher Tanundawn
speaker Uiseng presentation on “Describing Language”, please
presentation
welcome Teacher Tanundawn Uiseng. on spotlight.

Giving Thank you so much for your insightful presentation on
thanks and “Describing Language”, we appreciate your thoughtful
summarizing ideas that can be applied for our student teacher’s life,
include
speaker
presentation (หวั ขอ้ ที่วิทยากร
นาเสนอ).................................................................................

Time Time Dialogue
Let’s take a ten-minute break and we will come back at 8
08.20– Refreshment P.M. Thank you.

08.30 Welcome back to our seminar. It’s time to join the second
session of the seminar. Are you ready to start the seminar?
PM May I invite Miss Pattarasuda Pasurat our main speakers,
to present the theories related to teaching and research
08:30 – Theories papers on Describing Language, please welcome.
We would like to say thank you for spending time with us
09:50 related to today.
I hope the seminar is knowledgeable with insight insight
PM teaching and information that can be applied into practical use to achieve
what you have expected.
research

09:50– papers
Evaluation

10.00 and closing

PM remarks

09:50– Evaluation Thank you once again and don’t forget to scan our QR code
10.00 and closing for evaluation. Have a nice day.
PM
remarks

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

APPENDIX D

Summary of Evaluation of the seminar on Describing language

Live seminar via Zoom

https://zoom.us/my/suwanpnk?pwd=M3J2QVhmRkpFamJGRmJsY2tpdWp
Edz09

Thursday, 10th March 2022. 7.00 P.M. – 10.00 P.M.

General Information Number
Sex:
7
- Male 13
- Female -
- Other
Status: 19
- Students 1
- Teacher

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

Satisfaction forms

Item 5=Most 4=Much 3=Medium 2=Less 1=Least mean SD

1.Preparation prior the 11 6 3 0 0 4.4 0.54
start of the seminar 9 7 4 0 0 4.25 0.59
2. Overall of the 12 6 2 0 0 4.5 0.45
organizing of the 10 9 0 1 0 4.3 1.41
seminar. 9 7 4 0 0 4.25 0.59
3. Convenience of
online registration. 11 6 2 1 0 4.35 0.73
4. The quest speaker is
always ready for the 12 5 3 0 0 4.45 0.55
presentation.
5. The quest speak 10 7 2 0 1 4.25 0.99
provides knowledge and
understanding on the 9 8 3 0 0 4.3 0.51
topic presented 13 6 1 0 0 4.6 0.34
efficiently.
6. The quest speaker’s
skill of presentation
with clear examples to
apply.
7. The quest speaker
shares opportunity to
ask questions and
answer questions.
8. The quest speaker
demonstrates
appropriate activities
during the presentation.
9. The usefulness of
documents and power
point presentation.
10. Benefits gained from
the presentation of this
seminar.

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language

Summary of Evaluation

Topic Satisfaction Level
(Percentage)
1.Preparation prior the start of X S.D. Level
the seminar 4.4 0.54 Very satisfied
2. Overall of the organizing of 4.25 0.59 Very satisfied
the seminar. 4.5 0.45 Very satisfied
3. Convenience of online 4.3 1.41 Very satisfied
registration. 4.25 0.59 Very satisfied
4. The quest speaker is always
ready for the presentation. 4.35 0.73 Very satisfied
5. The quest speak provides
knowledge and understanding 4.45 0.55 Very satisfied
on the topic presented
efficiently. 4.25 0.99 Very satisfied
6. The quest speaker’s skill of
presentation with clear examples 4.3 0.51 Very satisfied
to apply. 4.6 0.34 Very satisfied
7. The quest speaker shares 43.65 6.7 Very satisfied
opportunity to ask questions and
answer questions.
8. The quest speaker
demonstrates appropriate
activities during the
presentation.
9. The usefulness of documents
and power point presentation.
10. Benefits gained from the
presentation of this seminar.
Total

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language
APPENDIX E
Pictures of the seminar on Describing Language

Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language
Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5

Describing Language
Seminar In English Language Teaching Section 1 Group 5