AN INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS AND PRAGMATICS

The term semantics simply means the study of meanings. The study explores how meaning in language is produced or created. Semantics not only concentrates on how words express meaning but also on how words, phrases and sentences come together to make meaning in language. To start with, you will be motivated to focus on the nature and scope of semantics. Hence, here in this unit, you will be introduced to the concept and definition semantics, brief history of semantics, semantics and other disciplines, major concern of semantics, and the different approaches to the study of semantics. 

Semantics has been the subject of discourse for many years for philosophers and other scholars but later was introduced formally in literature in the late 1800’s. Hence, we have philosophical semantics and linguistic semantics among other varieties of semantics. Earlier scholars in philosophical semantics were interested in pointing out the relationship between linguistic expressions and identified phenomena in the external world. In the contemporary world, especially in the United States philosophical semantics has led to the development of semiotics. In some other parts of the world, and especially, France, the term semiology has been favoured. The reliance on logical calculations in issues of meaning has led to the development of logical semantics. However, for your purpose in this course, emphasis is on linguistic semantics, with our interest on the properties of natural languages. You shall see how this study relates to other disciplines. We shall also examine the real issues in linguistic semantics.

Semantics has been identified as a component of linguistics. In its widest sense, linguistics is the scientific study of language. As a field of study, semantics is related to other disciplines. In semantics, we study the meaning of words and also how the meanings of words in a sentence are put together to form sentential meaning. 

Here is the link for e-book : 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OApxmg0_DyniHrEbY9Jyx70yJemlcSPs/view?usp=drivesdk

Advanced Reading Power

Advanced Reading Power 

is divided into four parts. Instead of working on one part at a time, as you would in most books, you should work regularly on all four parts of the book. 

Part 1: Extensive Reading. 

The more you read, the better you read. In Part 1, you will have an opportunity to develop the habit of reading extensively that is, reading many books that you choose for yourself. This will help improve your reading fluency, increase your comprehension and expand your vocabulary. 

Part 2: Vocabulary Building. 

Research has shown that a strong vocabulary is an essential aspect of reading ability. In this part, you will develop strategies for expanding your knowledge of vocabulary, particularly words used often in academic texts. 

Part 3: Comprehension Skills. 

Reading is a complex activity that involves a wide variety of skills. Your ability to understand and remember what you read depends in large part on your ability to apply these skills to your reading. Each unit in Part 3 focuses on an essential reading skill for you to explore and practice. In the Focus on Vocabulary section at the end of each skills unit, you will also have the opportunity to learn some of the academic words from the unit. 

Part 4: Reading Faster.

Reading rate (speed) is a crucial factor in academic performance, but one that is often overlooked. Reading faster allows you to save time on reading assignments. It also makes reading more enjoyable so you are likely to read more, and it leads to better comprehension. In this part of the book, you will work on improving your reading rate.

Here is the link of e-book of Advanced Reading Power : 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O3dpjHpg8a4Tu7g3H9M4S16Apo7r2WjK/view?usp=drivesdk

Audacity

Audacity is software that enables the users to both records and edits audio clips free of cost. The interface of Audacity is simple and very user-friendly. It also offers cross-platform compatibility and supports multiple plugins and libraries for enhanced functionality. It can run smoothly on Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux operating systems. All these features have made Audacity one of the most popular audio editing software available today. The credit to the development of Audacity goes to Dominic Mazzoni and Roger Dannenberg. It was launched on May 28, 2000, as of version 0.8.

Advantages of using Audacity

1. Free to use for your projects.
2. Compatible with multiple operating systems like Windows, Apple, and Linux.
3. A small-sized software package that requires less storage space.
4. It is an open-source platform with a strong community backing constantly striving for enhanced performance.

Why should we use audacity ? 

One of the best things about Audacity is that you can seamlessly work your project files between Windows, Mac or Linux. Audacity is developed to work on deep and detailed audio projects that are longer than an hour in length. It is consistent and stable to preserve under high processor loads and disk usage. Even though Audacity cannot record MIDI, it can still import MIDI files and edit them soon as it is being under development.

It is a very simple procedure to install the Audacity program into your system.

Here is the tutorial to use Audacity

Download here : 

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OFNAvOp5EAyIMN4lC6pJBm7GemGDcwEe/view?usp=drivesdk

Major Concern of Semantics

There are four concerns of semantics, they are:

1)   Naming

Naming as a semantic process derives from the understanding that words are names or labels for things. The major problem with this naming view is only noun and nominal expressions that can be analyzed semantically.

2)   Concept

Concept mediate between the mind constructs and objects in the real world. Saussure’s sign theory and Ogden and  Richards, semantic triangle derives from the conceptual approach to semantics. The approach emphasizes the power of the mind to make images and to associate these images to objects and ideas. Theapproach is highly mentalistic, relying on the ability to associate one thing with another. This ability ofassociation may not yield universal understanding. That explains why language experts developdictionaries to aggregate meaning on a universal basis. Interestingly, the production of dictionaries reliesheavily on denotations and connotations, two major angles to the study of meaning.

3)   Reference and Sense

Reference deals with the relation between the linguistic elements, words, sentences, and the non-linguistic worldof experience. Sense relates to the complex system of relationship that is hold between linguistic elements themselves (mostly the words); it is concerned only with intra-linguistic relation.Sense is closely related to reference. Reference is the relationship between words, the thing, actions, event, and qualities they stand for.

 

The effect stress on student performance

At this time, students become more stressed day by day. The effect of stress on academic performance of students is not very good.  According to National Collage Health Assessments in 2015 by American Collage Health Association, 85.5 percent of students have a feeling of being overwhelmed in the past year (ACHA/NCHA, 2014). Students who can manage their stress tend to have improved ability to grasp and understand what it is that they are learning as well as having higher chances of being able to excel beyond the classroom. Which is consequently, would increase attainment rates and benefit the school themselves. When dealing with stress, students tend to see negative effects; stress decreases sleep quality, stress makes students angry, and stress worsens grades.

First, stress decreases sleep. According to The Anxiety of American (2007), nearly 70 percent of people who stated they have persistent stress have difficulty sleeping. In addition, The National Sleep Foundation (2007) stated that peak performance, however only roughly 15 percent of teens obtain a sufficient amount. It is especially troublesome that one considers that a large percentage of college students are teenagers. Poor sleep can damage effect on learning, concentration, listening, problem solving, and memory, also makes stress management more difficult thus perpetuating the problem.

Second, stress makes students angry. According to The Mayo Clinic (2006), stress amplifies feeling of irritability and anger, which increases the chance for angry outbursts and social with drawl. In addition to the increased possibility of this anger directed at the others students, students who are stressed may be less likely to engage with instructors in a respectful manner and possibly even be resistant to following schools rules. The lack of sleep also can be self-perpetuating, the focus on anger may cause overall work to suffer and result in even more stress than was already present.

Third, stress worsens grades. According to the American College Health Association National College Assessments (2010), stated that more than 25 percent of students claim that stress reduced their grades or hindered their ability to complete a course. Student who are experiencing stress, are likely to be consistently thinking about the adverse situation that they find themselves in. Furthermore, they constantly focused on their failures and weaknesses. It affects their confidence in abilities which hinders them from performing to their highest potential and succeeding in school. In other words, stress makes the grades of students worse than worse. 

In conclusion, stress in life students are a factor that is serious. The need for a serious commitment to improving the overall being students is only going to intensify as time goes. The effects of stress on student’s performance; stress decreases sleep quality, stress makes students angry, and stress worsens grades.