1ST MAJOR

Diagnostic Test Schedule and Overview

• Review Details: Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) Review - English Majorship, Diagnostic Test Discussion 1.

• Presenter: Bryce Agdipa, LPT (High-Board Rater, Coach).

• Session Date: May 17, 2026.

• Diagnostic Test Discussion Schedule:

  • May 17: Diagnostic Test 1 Discussion (Coach Bryce) — Questions 1 to 40.

  • May 22: Diagnostic Test 2 Discussion (Coach Bryce) — Questions 41 to 80.

  • May 29: Diagnostic Test 3 Discussion (Coach Bryce) — Questions 81 to 100.

  • May 30: Diagnostic Test 3 Discussion (Coach Nance) — Questions 101 to 120.

  • June 6: Diagnostic Test 4 Discussion (Coach Nance) — Questions 120 to 160.

  • June 13: Diagnostic Test 5 Discussion (Coach Nance) — Questions 161 to 200.

Microlinguistics and Pragmatic Structure

• Structure Identification in Literary Passages:

  • Passage: “Naw, Jem. I think that there is just one kind of folks. Folks.” (To Kill a Mockingbird)

  • Core Question: What simplistic structure is exhibited in this passage?

  • Options: a. Syntax, b. Semantics, c. Morphology, d. Pragmatics

  • Correct Answer: d. Pragmatics

  • Analysis: Pragmatically, this utterance functions as an assertive/representative speech act expressing the speaker's core belief about human nature within discourse context.

• Hierarchy of Microlinguistic Branches:

  • Phonetics: Analysis of raw speech sounds.

  • Phonology: Organization of sounds into phonemes.

  • Morphology: Formation of words from morphemes.

  • Syntax: Structure of phrases and sentences (e.g., Subject-Verb-Object pattern).

  • Semantics: Literal meaning of phrases and sentences.

  • Pragmatics: Contextual meaning in discourse and speech interactions.

Morphology and Morpheme Classification

• Morpheme Quantification in Complex Words:

  • Word: “antisocial”

  • Morpheme Count: 3 morphemes

  • Breakdown:

  1. anti- (prefix / bound morpheme)

  2. soci (bound base / lexical root)

  3. -al (suffix / derivational bound morpheme)

• Classification Matrix of English Morphemes:

  • Free Morphemes:

  • Open-Class (Content / Lexical Words):

    • Nouns (e.g., girl)

    • Verbs (e.g., love)

    • Adjectives (e.g., pretty, slow)

    • Adverbs (e.g., away, fast)

  • Closed-Class (Function / Grammatical Words):

    • Conjunctions (e.g., and, or)

    • Prepositions (e.g., in, at, from)

    • Pronouns (e.g., she, they)

    • Articles (e.g., the, a, an)

    • Auxiliary verbs (e.g., is, are)

    • Demonstratives (e.g., this, that)

    • Comparatives (e.g., more, less)

    • Quantifiers (e.g., all, some)

  • Bound Morphemes:

  • Affixes:

    • Derivational Bound: Prefixes (pre-, un-, dis-, re-); Suffixes (-ness, -ist, -ment, -ful).

    • Inflectional Bound: Suffixes (-ing, -er, -s, -est, -'s, -ed, -en).

  • Bases: Bound bases (e.g., -ceive, -mit, -ject).

  • Cranberry Morphemes: Unique bound bases appearing in only one word (e.g., cran- in cranberry).

  • Contracted Forms: Shortened attachments (e.g., 'd, 're, 've, 'll).

• Form Classes vs. Structure Classes:

  • Form / Lexical Classes (Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb):

  • Open sets.

  • Inflect and change form.

  • Undergo functional shift.

  • Occur independently of structure words.

  • Structure / Grammatical Classes (Conjunction, Preposition, Interjection, Pronoun, Determiner, Auxiliary Verb):

  • Closed sets.

  • Do not change form or undergo functional shift.

  • Occur strictly alongside form class words.

• Structural Types of Affixes:

  • Prefix: Front attachment (e.g., $un + happy \rightarrow unhappy$).

  • Suffix: Back attachment (e.g., $teach + -er \rightarrow teacher$).

  • Infix: Internal insertion (e.g., $unbloodybelievable$).

  • Circumfix: Simultaneous front and back attachment (e.g., $en + light + -en \rightarrow enlighten$).

• Analysis of Morphemic Structures:

  • careful: 2 Morphemes | Free Morpheme: care | Bound Morpheme: -ful

  • reinvestment: 3 Morphemes | Free Morpheme: invest | Bound Morphemes: re-, -ment

  • mislead: 2 Morphemes | Free Morpheme: lead | Bound Morpheme: mis-

  • butterfly: 1 Morpheme | Free Morpheme: butterfly (single compound lexical unit) | Bound Morpheme: None

Branches of Linguistics

• Applied Linguistics as Educational Basis:

  • Core Question: What branch of linguistics serves as a basis for language learning and teaching?

  • Options: a. Descriptive linguistics, b. General linguistics, c. Theoretical linguistics, d. Applied linguistics

  • Correct Answer: d. Applied linguistics

• Taxonomy of Macrolinguistics:

  • Inter-Disciplinary Subfields:

  • Sociolinguistics: Examines how language varies across social groups, age, culture, and situational contexts.

  • Psycholinguistics: Investigates psychological and neurological mechanisms enabling humans to acquire, use, and comprehend language.

  • Neurolinguistics: Analyzes brain structures and neural processing involved in language comprehension and production.

  • Stylistics: Analyzes style and literary language choices in text or speech through formal linguistic tools.

  • Cognitive Linguistics: Explores conceptual connections between language structures and human thought processes.

  • Geographical Linguistics: Studies regional variations, spatial distributions, and dialectal geography.

  • Computational Linguistics: Applies computational methods and algorithms to process and analyze natural language.

  • Intra-Disciplinary Subfields:

  • Applied Linguistics: Employs linguistic theories to solve real-world problems, such as language teaching and policy.

  • Theoretical Linguistics: Constructs formal models and framework theories to explain core principles governing language systems.

  • Historical Linguistics: Studies diachronic language development, sound changes, evolution, and genetic relationships.

  • Descriptive Linguistics: Documents and describes actual language usage and structural patterns synchronically.

  • Comparative Linguistics: Compares structural features across two or more languages to identify genetic affiliation and typological variations.

Core Properties of Human Language

• Properties of Human Language Systems (Yule's Five Key Features):

  • Core Question: The absence of a natural relationship between a speech sound/symbol and its meaning is referred to as _____.

  • Options: a. Arbitrariness, b. Recursiveness, c. Displacement, d. Transference

  • Correct Answer: a. Arbitrariness

  • Detailed Definitions of Key Features:

  1. Displacement: The capacity to communicate about events, objects, or concepts removed from the immediate time and place ("here and now").

  2. Arbitrariness: The absence of an inherent or logical connection between a linguistic sign (word/sound) and its real-world referent.

  3. Productivity: The ability to construct infinite novel sentences and expressions from a finite set of structural rules.

  4. Cultural Transmission: Language acquisition occurs through social exposure and learning within a speech community rather than genetic inheritance.

  5. Duality (Duality of Patterning): Language functions on two levels simultaneously—meaningless discrete sounds (phonemes) combine to form meaningful units (morphemes/words).

English Verb Tenses, Aspects, and Time Structures

• Tense Choice in Time-Span Expressions:

  • Core Item: “The last 50 years of the ASEAN ____ that as a whole the Association is greater than the sum of its parts.”

  • Options: a. has proven, b. have proven, c. had proven, d. prove

  • Correct Answer: b. have proven

  • Rationale: Plural temporal subject ("The last 50 years") requires the plural present perfect auxiliary verb have proven to signal a past action extending into and maintaining relevance in the present.

• Formulas and Definitions of Tenses:

  • Present Perfect Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{has / have} + \text{past participle}$

  • Definition: Past action with present result or continuing relevance.

  • Example: "She has eaten breakfast already." ### Diagnostic Test Schedule and Overview - **LEPT Review Overview**: Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (LEPT) Review for English Majorship, covering Diagnostic Test discussions lead by Bryce Agdipa, LPT and Coach Nance. - **Diagnostic Test 1 (May 17)**: Questions 1 to 40 (Coach Bryce). - **Diagnostic Test 2 (May 22)**: Questions 41 to 80 (Coach Bryce). - **Diagnostic Test 3 (May 29)**: Questions 81 to 100 (Coach Bryce). - **Diagnostic Test 3 (May 30)**: Questions 101 to 120 (Coach Nance). - **Diagnostic Test 4 (June 6)**: Questions 120 to 160 (Coach Nance). - **Diagnostic Test 5 (June 13)**: Questions 161 to 200 (Coach Nance). ### Microlinguistics and Pragmatic Structure - **Phonetics**: Study and physical analysis of raw speech sounds. - **Phonology**: Organization and structural patterning of sounds into phonemes. - **Morphology**: Structural formation of words from morphemes. - **Syntax**: Arrangement of words and phrases into structural sentence patterns (e.g., Subject-Verb-Object pattern). - **Semantics**: Literal meaning of words, phrases, and sentences. - **Pragmatics**: Contextual and functional meaning in discourse and speech interaction (e.g., assertive/representative speech act in *To Kill a Mockingbird*). ### Morphology and Morpheme Classification - **Morpheme**: The smallest indivisible grammatical unit of meaning in language. - **Free Morphemes**: Independent morphemes capable of standing alone as complete words. - **Open-Class (Lexical / Content Words)**: Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; open sets that change form and undergo functional shift. - **Closed-Class (Grammatical / Function Words)**: Conjunctions, prepositions, pronouns, articles, auxiliary verbs, demonstratives, comparatives, and quantifiers; closed sets that maintain fixed forms. - **Bound Morphemes**: Dependent morphemes requiring attachment to host morphemes or bases. - **Derivational Bound**: Affixes that form new lexical words or alter word class/meaning (e.g., prefixes `un-`, `re-`; suffixes `-ness`, `-ment`). - **Inflectional Bound**: Grammatical suffixes that modify tense, number, or case without changing word class (e.g., `-ing`, `-er`, `-s`, `-est`, `-'s`, `-ed`, `-en`). - **Bound Bases / Lexical Bound Morphemes**: Root morphemes conveying core lexical meaning that cannot stand independently as standalone words (e.g., `-vert` in *invert*, *covert*, *revert*, *subvert*, *divert*; `-ceive`, `-mit`, `-ject`). - **Cranberry Morphemes**: Unique bound bases appearing in only a single specific word (e.g., `cran-` in *cranberry*). - **Contracted Forms**: Shortened attachments using apostrophes (e.g., `'d`, `'re`, `'ve`, `'ll`). - **Structural Affix Types**: - **Prefix**: Attachment at the front (e.g., $un + happy \rightarrow unhappy$). - **Suffix**: Attachment at the back (e.g., $teach + -er \rightarrow teacher$). - **Infix**: Insertion inside a word (e.g., $unbloodybelievable$). - **Circumfix**: Simultaneous attachment to both front and back (e.g., $en + light + -en \rightarrow enlighten$). - **Suffix Suffix Meaning Matrix**: - **`-ment`**: Action/process, product/result, or state/condition (e.g., *embarrassment*, *government*, *enhancement*). - **`-ship` / `-hood`**: Expresses relationship, state, or status. - **`-er` / `-or`**: Expresses means or agent. - **`-ion`**: Expresses product or result. ### Branches of Linguistics - **Applied Linguistics**: Intra-disciplinary subfield using linguistic theories to solve practical issues such as language teaching and learning. - **Theoretical Linguistics**: Subfield constructing formal models and framework theories explaining core language principles. - **Historical Linguistics**: Diachronic study of language evolution, sound changes, and ancestral relationships. - **Descriptive Linguistics**: Synchronic structural description of actual language usage across contexts. - **Comparative Linguistics**: Structural comparison across multiple languages to identify genetic links and typological patterns. - **Sociolinguistics**: Inter-disciplinary subfield studying how language varies across social groups, age, culture, and situational contexts. - **Psycholinguistics**: Inter-disciplinary subfield investigating psychological and cognitive mechanisms enabling language processing and acquisition. - **Neurolinguistics**: Analysis of neural brain structures governing language processing. - **Stylistics**: Analysis of literary style and choice of language tools in text/speech. - **Cognitive Linguistics**: Conceptual connections between human thought processes and linguistic structures. - **Geographical Linguistics**: Regional dialect variations and spatial distribution. - **Computational Linguistics**: Application of computational methods and algorithms to process natural language. ### Core Properties of Human Language - **Arbitrariness**: The absence of an inherent or natural connection between a linguistic sound/symbol and its real-world referent. - **Displacement**: The capacity to communicate about concepts, objects, or events distant in time and place ("here and now"). - **Productivity**: The ability to construct infinite novel sentences using a finite set of structural rules. - **Cultural Transmission**: Process where language is acquired socially through speech community exposure rather than genetic inheritance. - **Duality (Duality of Patterning)**: Language operating on two levels simultaneously: meaningless discrete sounds (phonemes) combining into meaningful units (morphemes/words). ### English Verb Tenses, Aspects, and Time Structures - **Present Perfect Tense**: Past action with present result or continuing relevance ($\text{has / have} + \text{past participle}$). - **Past Perfect Tense**: Completed past action occurring prior to another past action ($\text{had} + \text{past participle}$). - **Future Perfect Tense**: Action completed prior to a designated future moment ($\text{will} + \text{have} + \text{past participle}$). - **Simple Present Tense**: Expresses habitual routines, general truths, or facts ($\text{verb}$ or $\text{verb} + \text{-s/-es}$). - **Simple Past Tense**: Action completed at a definite past time ($\text{verb} + \text{-ed}$ or irregular form). - **Simple Future Tense**: Future plans, promises, or predictions ($\text{will} + \text{verb}$). - **Present Continuous Tense**: Activity happening right now ($\text{am / is / are} + \text{present participle}$). - **Past Continuous Tense**: Ongoing activity at a specific past moment ($\text{was / were} + \text{present participle}$). - **Future Continuous Tense**: Action actively in progress at a future moment ($\text{will} + \text{be} + \text{present participle}$). - **Present Perfect Continuous Tense**: Action starting in the past and continuing continuously up to the present ($\text{has / have} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}$). - **Past Perfect Continuous Tense**: Duration of an action continuing up to another point in the past ($\text{had} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}$). - **Future Perfect Continuous Tense**: Duration of an ongoing action calculated up to a designated future time ($\text{will} + \text{have} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}$). ### Grammar, Syntax, and Sentence Structure - **Question Tags**: Mini-questions attached to statements seeking confirmation (Positive statement + Negative tag; Negative statement + Positive tag). - **Operator Verb**: Auxiliary verb carrying negation (`not`), inverting with the subject in yes/no questions, and appearing in tag questions. - **Subject-Verb Agreement**: Plural subjects require plural verbs (e.g., *two scenes that contain...*). - **Noun Number Agreement**: Constructions such as *neither of the* require a plural noun (e.g., *Neither of the students...*). - **Predicate Nominative**: A noun or pronoun following a linking verb renaming or identifying the subject (e.g., *Her neighbor is my cousin*). - **Predicate Adjective**: An adjective following a linking verb describing the subject (e.g., *James is intelligent*). - **Conjunction Types**: - **Coordinating**: Join equal elements (FANBOYS: *for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so*). - **Subordinating**: Join subordinate clauses to main clauses (e.g., *because, although, until*). - **Correlative**: Paired conjunctions joining equal elements (e.g., *either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also*). - **Conjunctive Adverbs**: Transition words connecting independent clauses or sentences (e.g., *however, therefore, consequently*). - **Markedness**: - **Unmarked Form**: Basic regular structural form (e.g., past tense ending in `-ed` like *weighed*; regular plural *cars*). - **Marked Form**: Form carrying noticeability or irregular morphological features (e.g., irregular past *wrote*, irregular plural *children*). - **Pronoun Types**: - **Reflexive Pronoun**: Indicates the subject acts upon itself (e.g., *I gave myself a gift*). - **Intensive Pronoun**: Refers to a noun/pronoun solely to emphasize it (e.g., *Sarah opened it herself*). - **Order of Adjectives (OSASCOMP)**: - Determiner/Quantity $\rightarrow$ Opinion $\rightarrow$ Size $\rightarrow$ Age $\rightarrow$ Shape $\rightarrow$ Colour $\rightarrow$ Origin $\rightarrow$ Material $\rightarrow$ Purpose $\rightarrow$ Noun (e.g., *a beautiful red skirt dress*). - **Possessives Rules**: - Singular nouns add `'s` (e.g., *Michael's*). - Regular plurals ending in `s` add apostrophe only (e.g., *shoppers' paradise*). - Irregular plurals not ending in `s` add `'s` (e.g., *women's rights*). - **Preposition vs Particle vs Adverb**: - **Preposition**: Precedes noun phrases indicating spatial/temporal relations (e.g., *by the door*). - **Adverb**: Modifies verbs/actions (e.g., *work well*, *flew by*). - **Particle**: Forms phrasal verbs, allowing object movement (e.g., *turn out the lights / turn the lights out*). - **Syntactic Structures**: - **Predication**: Subject + predicate. - **Complementation**: Verb + complement. - **Modification**: Head word + modifier. - **Coordination**: Equal structural units joined together. - **Syntactic Atom vs Morphological Object**: - **Syntactic Atom**: Basic indivisible structural unit in syntax. - **Morphological Object**: Word built from stems and affixes. ### Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, and Policy - **Interlanguage**: Evolving target language system used by L2 learners containing combined features of L1 and L2. - **Pidgin**: Simplified contact language created for trade among speakers without a shared language; has no native speakers. - **Creole**: Syntactically rich, complete language evolved from a pidgin that becomes a community's native first language. - **Dialect**: Regional or social variation of a language sharing core grammar but differing in accent and vocabulary. - **Language and Culture Relationship**: Symbiotic and interdependent; each embodies, constructs, and sustains the other. - **Multilingual Functional Abilities**: - **Incipient**: Beginner acquiring an additional language with basic understanding but little/no speaking ability. - **Receptive/Passive**: Can comprehend another language but cannot speak it. - **Productive**: Can comprehend and actively speak another language. - **Krashen's Five Hypotheses**: - **Acquisition-Learning**: Subconscious acquisition vs explicit formal learning. - **Monitor**: Conscious editing mechanism used by learners. - **Natural Order**: Predictable sequence in acquiring grammatical morphemes. - **Comprehensible Input ($i+1$)**: Input structured just beyond the learner's current competence level. - **Affective Filter**: Emotional variables (motivation, anxiety) affecting input processing (optimal: low filter, high motivation, low anxiety). - **Language Policy Components (Spolsky)**: - **Language Practice**: Actual language choices and varieties used by speakers. - **Language Beliefs (Ideology)**: Attitudes and values assigned to language varieties. - **Language Management (Planning)**: Explicit policy efforts by authorities to modify language practices or beliefs. - **BICS vs CALP**: - **BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)**: Conversational fluency developed in $1-2$ years. - **CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)**: Academic language proficiency requiring $5-7$ years. - **Hypothesis Testing**: Strategy where L2 learners test formulated language rules with competent speakers and adjust based on feedback. ### Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Systems - **Phoneme vs Allophone**: - **Phoneme**: Core sound unit; changing a phoneme changes both meaning and pronunciation. - **Allophone**: Phonetic variant of a phoneme; changing an allophone alters pronunciation without changing word meaning (e.g., aspirated $[p^h]$ vs. unaspirated $[p]$). - **Allomorph**: Contextual variant form of a single morpheme (e.g., plural `{-s}` realized as `/s/`, `/z/`, or `/ɪz/`). - **Place of Articulation**: - **Bilabial**: Both lips (`/p/, /b/, /m/, /w/`). - **Labiodental**: Lower lip and upper teeth (`/f/, /v/`). - **Interdental**: Tongue between teeth (`/θ/, /ð/`). - **Alveolar**: Tongue tip at alveolar ridge (`/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/`). - **Palatal**: Tongue at hard palate (`/j/`). - **Palato-Alveolar**: Behind alveolar ridge (`/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/`). - **Velar**: Tongue at soft palate (`/k/, /g/, /ŋ/`). - **Glottal**: Vocal folds (`/h/`). - **Manner of Articulation**: - **Plosives / Stops**: Complete airflow blockage followed by release (`/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/`). - **Fricatives**: Continuous friction sound (`/f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/`). - **Affricates**: Stop releasing into a fricative (`/tʃ/, /dʒ/`). - **Nasals**: Airflow directed through nasal cavity (`/m/, /n/, /ŋ/`). - **Liquids**: Smooth airflow around tongue (`/l/, /r/`). - **Glides**: Semi-vowel transitions (`/w/, /j/`). - **Clitics**: Unstressed word fragments attached to nearby host words (Proclitics attach at start, e.g., `'twas`; Enclitics attach at end, e.g., `this'll`). ### Discourse, Pragmatics, and Speech Acts - **Gricean Conversational Maxims**: - **Maxim of Quantity**: Be as informative as required—neither too much nor too little. - **Maxim of Quality**: Be truthful and accurate. - **Maxim of Relation**: Be relevant to the context. - **Maxim of Manner**: Be clear, brief, and orderly. - **Sense Properties**: - **Analytic Sentence**: Statement necessarily true by definition (e.g., *All bachelors are unmarried*). - **Contradictory Sentence**: Statement necessarily false by definition. - **Synthetic Sentence**: Statement whose truth value depends on real-world facts (e.g., *Earth is a habitable planet in the Solar System*). - **Functions of Language (Jakobson)**: - **Conative**: Focused on recipient to persuade or influence action. - **Emotive**: Expresses sender's emotional state. - **Poetic**: Focused on aesthetic message structure. - **Metalingual**: Focused on linguistic code itself. - **Phatic**: Maintains channel contact. - **Cognitive / Referential**: Conveys contextual information. - **Searle's Illocutionary Speech Acts**: - **Declarative**: Changes real-world reality upon utterance (e.g., *"I now pronounce you husband and wife"*). - **Representative**: States or describes speaker's belief/fact. - **Commissive**: Commits speaker to future action. - **Directive**: Requests or commands recipient action. - **Expressive**: Communicates emotional state or feeling.

  • Past Perfect Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{had} + \text{past participle}$

  • Definition: Completed past action occurring before another past action ("past of the past").

  • Example: "She had eaten breakfast before her mom woke up."          

    

  • Future Perfect Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{will} + \text{have} + \text{past participle}$ OR $\text{am / is / are} + \text{going to} + \text{have} + \text{past participle}$

  • Definition: Action that will be completed prior to a designated future moment.

  • Example: "She will have eaten breakfast by 8 a.m."          

    

  • Simple Past Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{verb} + \text{-ed}$ (or irregular past form)

  • Definition: Action completed at a definite past time.

  • Simple Present Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{verb}$ OR $\text{verb} + \text{-s/-es}$ (third-person singular)

  • Definition: Expresses habitual actions, general truths, routines, or facts.

  • Simple Future Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{will} + \text{verb}$ OR $\text{am / is / are} + \text{going to} + \text{verb}$

  • Definition: Expresses future decisions, promises, or predictions.          

    

  • Past Continuous Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{was / were} + \text{present participle}$

  • Definition: Ongoing activity occurring at a specific moment in the past.

  • Present Continuous Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{am / is / are} + \text{present participle}$

  • Definition: Activity happening right now in the present.          

    

  • Future Continuous Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{will} + \text{be} + \text{present participle}$ OR $\text{am / is / are} + \text{going to} + \text{be} + \text{present participle}$

  • Definition: Action that will be actively in progress at a specific future time.          

    

  • Past Perfect Continuous Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{had} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}$

  • Definition: Extended action that continued up until another point or event in the past.          

    

  • Present Perfect Continuous Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{has / have} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}$

  • Definition: Action started in the past that has continued continuously up to or into the present.          

    

  • Future Perfect Continuous Tense:

  • Formula: $\text{will} + \text{have} + \text{been} + \text{present participle}$

  • Definition: Shows duration of an ongoing action calculated up to a designated future time.

Question Tags and Grammar Rules

• Structure of Question Tags:

  • Core Item: “You gave me computer-data, _____ you?”

  • Options: A. didn't, B. was, C. did, D. weren't

  • Correct Answer: A. didn't

  • Question Tag Rules:

  • A question tag is a mini-question placed at the end of a statement to seek agreement or confirmation.

  • Positive Statement + Negative Question Tag:

    • Example: "You are a student, aren't you?"

    • Example: "You gave me computer-data, didn't you?"

  • Negative Statement + Positive Question Tag:

    • Example: "Mary isn't a teacher, is she?"

  • A subject pronoun matching the gender/number of the subject noun follows the auxiliary verb or form of To Be.

• Operator Verbs:

  • Core Question: All of the following contain operator verbs EXCEPT ______.

  • Options:

    • a. My father approves your marriage proposal.

    • b. Will your father approve my marriage proposal?

    • c. My father won’t approve your marriage proposal.

    • d. Your father will approve my marriage proposal, won’t he?

  • Correct Answer: a. My father approves your marriage proposal.

  • Operator Verb Operational Criteria:

  1. Carries the negative particle (not / n't).

  2. Moves before the subject noun phrase during subject-auxiliary inversion (yes/no questions).

  3. Appears in tag questions.

  • Sentence a contains only a lexical main verb ("approves") without an auxiliary operator verb.

Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Systems

• Allophones and Phonemic Variants:

  • Core Question: Which allophones are variants of the same phonemes?

  • Options: A. chick, touch; B. pin, spin; C. fuss, stuff; D. fact, phase

  • Correct Answer: B. pin, spin

  • Phonetic Breakdown: In /pɪn/ ($[p^hɪn]$), the phoneme /p/ is aspirated; in /spɪn/ ($[spɪn]$), the phoneme /p/ is unaspirated. Both sounds represent contextual phonetic realizations of the single underlying phoneme /p/.

  • Etymology: The Greek root allo- means "other" or

Grammar, Syntax, and Sentence Structure

• Question Tags: Mini-questions attached to statements seeking confirmation (Positive statement + Negative tag; Negative statement + Positive tag).

• Operator Verb: Auxiliary verb carrying negation (not), inverting with the subject in yes/no questions, and appearing in tag questions.

• Subject-Verb Agreement: Plural subjects require plural verbs (e.g., two scenes that contain…).

• Noun Number Agreement: Constructions such as neither of the require a plural noun (e.g., Neither of the students…).

• Predicate Nominative: A noun or pronoun following a linking verb renaming or identifying the subject (e.g., Her neighbor is my cousin).

• Predicate Adjective: An adjective following a linking verb describing the subject (e.g., James is intelligent).

• Conjunction Types:

  • Coordinating: Join equal elements (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

  • Subordinating: Join subordinate clauses to main clauses (e.g., because, although, until).

  • Correlative: Paired conjunctions joining equal elements (e.g., either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also).

  • Conjunctive Adverbs: Transition words connecting independent clauses or sentences (e.g., however, therefore, consequently).

• Markedness:

  • Unmarked Form: Basic regular structural form (e.g., past tense ending in -ed like weighed; regular plural cars).

  • Marked Form: Form carrying noticeability or irregular morphological features (e.g., irregular past wrote, irregular plural children).

• Pronoun Types:

  • Reflexive Pronoun: Indicates the subject acts upon itself (e.g., I gave myself a gift).

  • Intensive Pronoun: Refers to a noun/pronoun solely to emphasize it (e.g., Sarah opened it herself).

• Order of Adjectives (OSASCOMP):

  • Determiner/Quantity →→ Opinion →→ Size →→ Age →→ Shape →→ Colour →→ Origin →→ Material →→ Purpose →→ Noun (e.g., a beautiful red skirt dress).

• Possessives Rules:

  • Singular nouns add 's (e.g., Michael's).

  • Regular plurals ending in s add apostrophe only (e.g., shoppers' paradise).

  • Irregular plurals not ending in s add 's (e.g., women's rights).

• Preposition vs Particle vs Adverb:

  • Preposition: Precedes noun phrases indicating spatial/temporal relations (e.g., by the door).

  • Adverb: Modifies verbs/actions (e.g., work well, flew by).

  • Particle: Forms phrasal verbs, allowing object movement (e.g., turn out the lights / turn the lights out).

• Syntactic Structures:

  • Predication: Subject + predicate.

  • Complementation: Verb + complement.

  • Modification: Head word + modifier.

  • Coordination: Equal structural units joined together.

• Syntactic Atom vs Morphological Object:

  • Syntactic Atom: Basic indivisible structural unit in syntax.

  • Morphological Object: Word built from stems and affixes.

Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, and Policy

• Interlanguage: Evolving target language system used by L2 learners containing combined features of L1 and L2.

• Pidgin: Simplified contact language created for trade among speakers without a shared language; has no native speakers.

• Creole: Syntactically rich, complete language evolved from a pidgin that becomes a community's native first language.

• Dialect: Regional or social variation of a language sharing core grammar but differing in accent and vocabulary.

• Language and Culture Relationship: Symbiotic and interdependent; each embodies, constructs, and sustains the other.

• Multilingual Functional Abilities:

  • Incipient: Beginner acquiring an additional language with basic understanding but little/no speaking ability.

  • Receptive/Passive: Can comprehend another language but cannot speak it.

  • Productive: Can comprehend and actively speak another language.

• Krashen's Five Hypotheses:

  • Acquisition-Learning: Subconscious acquisition vs explicit formal learning.

  • Monitor: Conscious editing mechanism used by learners.

  • Natural Order: Predictable sequence in acquiring grammatical morphemes.

  • Comprehensible Input (i+1i+1): Input structured just beyond the learner's current competence level.

  • Affective Filter: Emotional variables (motivation, anxiety) affecting input processing (optimal: low filter, high motivation, low anxiety).

• Language Policy Components (Spolsky):

  • Language Practice: Actual language choices and varieties used by speakers.

  • Language Beliefs (Ideology): Attitudes and values assigned to language varieties.

  • Language Management (Planning): Explicit policy efforts by authorities to modify language practices or beliefs.

• BICS vs CALP:

  • BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills): Conversational fluency developed in 1−21−2 years.

  • CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency): Academic language proficiency requiring 5−75−7 years.

• Hypothesis Testing: Strategy where L2 learners test formulated language rules with competent speakers and adjust based on feedback.

Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Systems

• Phoneme vs Allophone:

  • Phoneme: Core sound unit; changing a phoneme changes both meaning and pronunciation.

  • Allophone: Phonetic variant of a phoneme; changing an allophone alters pronunciation without changing word meaning (e.g., aspirated [ph][ph] vs. unaspirated [p][p]).

• Allomorph: Contextual variant form of a single morpheme (e.g., plural {-s} realized as /s/, /z/, or /ɪz/).

• Place of Articulation:

  • Bilabial: Both lips (/p/, /b/, /m/, /w/).

  • Labiodental: Lower lip and upper teeth (/f/, /v/).

  • Interdental: Tongue between teeth (/θ/, /ð/).

  • Alveolar: Tongue tip at alveolar ridge (/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/).

  • Palatal: Tongue at hard palate (/j/).

  • Palato-Alveolar: Behind alveolar ridge (/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/).

  • Velar: Tongue at soft palate (/k/, /g/, /ŋ/).

  • Glottal: Vocal folds (/h/).

• Manner of Articulation:

  • Plosives / Stops: Complete airflow blockage followed by release (/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/).

  • Fricatives: Continuous friction sound (/f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /h/).

  • Affricates: Stop releasing into a fricative (/tʃ/, /dʒ/).

  • Nasals: Airflow directed through nasal cavity (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/).

  • Liquids: Smooth airflow around tongue (/l/, /r/).

  • Glides: Semi-vowel transitions (/w/, /j/).

• Clitics: Unstressed word fragments attached to nearby host words (Proclitics attach at start, e.g., 'twas; Enclitics attach at end, e.g., this'll).

Discourse, Pragmatics, and Speech Acts

• Gricean Conversational Maxims:

  • Maxim of Quantity: Be as informative as required—neither too much nor too little.

  • Maxim of Quality: Be truthful and accurate.

  • Maxim of Relation: Be relevant to the context.

  • Maxim of Manner: Be clear, brief, and orderly.

• Sense Properties:

  • Analytic Sentence: Statement necessarily true by definition (e.g., All bachelors are unmarried).

  • Contradictory Sentence: Statement necessarily false by definition.

  • Synthetic Sentence: Statement whose truth value depends on real-world facts (e.g., Earth is a habitable planet in the Solar System).

• Functions of Language (Jakobson):

  • Conative: Focused on recipient to persuade or influence action.

  • Emotive: Expresses sender's emotional state.

  • Poetic: Focused on aesthetic message structure.

  • Metalingual: Focused on linguistic code itself.

  • Phatic: Maintains channel contact.

  • Cognitive / Referential: Conveys contextual information.

• Searle's Illocutionary Speech Acts:

  • Declarative: Changes real-world reality upon utterance (e.g., "I now pronounce you husband and wife").

  • Representative: States or describes speaker's belief/fact.

  • Commissive: Commits speaker to future action.

  • Directive: Requests or commands recipient action.

  • Expressive: Communicates emotional state or feeling.