ENG1502
EXAM
PACK 2023
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SECTION A
Question 1
Language as a semiotic system “… is thought of as a system where the individual
elements – signs – take their overall meaning from how they are combined with other
elements” (Carter & Goddard, 2016, p. 45). Bearing this quotation in mind, study TEXT
A before you answer the questions that follow.
You may also refer to Table 1 (Aspects of language) which is attached but can also be
found on page 8 of Tutorial Letter 501.
TEXT A
What will 2021 bring? Never before have we started a new year with so many
questions, to which there are so little answers (or are there)?
A friend gave my 10-year-old grandson a little round grey object as a birthday
present recently, and I just could not figure out what it was, or why he was so excited
about it than the new swimming trunk decorated with huge and colourful toucans
that I gave him.
It turned out to be a mini smart speaker, or more precisely, an Artificial
intelligence voice-controlled assistant called a Google Home Speaker, apparently
designed to control the home by voice command, leaving your hands free to do other
things. After a swift little DIY procedure requiring a small screwdriver, he connected
another small device between the speaker and his bedside lamp . . .
After my bewildered questions . . . , he informed me that this little critter can
communicate with Google and is activated by him saying, “Hey Google”. He can
then ask Google whatever he wants to know.
Source: Celliers, A. (2021). The Gardener. (p.96)
1.1 The words in the sub-title of TEXT A: Never before have we started a new year with
so many questions, to which there are so little answers (or are there?) could be
arranged in a different way while maintaining the same meaning of the sentence.
Rearrange the order of the words in this sub-title without changing the meaning. The
re-arranged sentence must be grammatically correct.
(2 marks)
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1.2 Which language aspect has helped you to re-arrange the words in 1.1?
(1 mark)
1.3. In your own words, explain the language aspect you used in 1.1?
(2 marks)
1.4 Construct two different sentences using the same words from the original sentence.
The words in the new sentences must be arranged differently from the original
sentence. The sentences must be grammatically correct.
(4 marks)
1.5 Refer to TEXT A. The bolded words, each consist of two words conjoined into one.
(i) Screwdriver, (ii) lampside
1.5.1 Identify the two words that make up each word in (i) and (ii). (4 marks)
1.5.2 Using Table 1 explain the language aspect that assisted you to answer 1.5.1.
(2 marks)
TABLE 1
Language Meaning
concept
Phonetics The study of speech sounds.
Phonology The study of the sound patterning system.
Lexis The study of the actual words a writer or speaker chooses to use.
(vocabulary)
Morphology The study of how words are formed.
Syntax The study of how words combine to form sentences and the rules that
govern the formations.
Orthography Writing systems
Semantics The study of meaning and how meaning is made and understood.
Pragmatics The study of the use of language in communication – i.e. sentences as
used in contexts and situations.
Discourse The study of how language is organized beyond the sentence, i.e. in
larger texts.
[15 Marks]
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Question 2
Read TEXT B the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
TEXT B
“Look at you!” my uncle continued excitedly, “the Mother city has bathed you. You
have gained complexion by spending all that time with the ngamlas and dushis.
Yeah, you look handsome, my laaitie. All the girls ekasi will be yours.”
After twenty-seven gruelling hours trapped inside the crammed third-class carriage
of the Shosholoza Meyl, I was exhausted and couldn’t say anything. All I could do
was smile.
“Come on, meet my bra’s,” he pointed at his friends with his left crutch. “You know
PP and Dilika already, but meet Zero here,” he said, pointing at the third guy with
widely spaced teeth. “He lives in our back yard. He has erected a zozo there. It’s
been about three months now. He’s a very nice guy.”
Source: Mhlongo Niq, After tears. Athens: Ohio Publishing Press, p5-6
2.1 Identify the non-standard functional speech variety used in the above
conversation. (1 mark)
2. 2 Find FOUR words from the conversation to support the answer you gave in 2.1. In
your response, write a sentence in which the word(s) you have identified occur(s) and
underline the word/s. (4 marks)
2.3 Write a short paragraph, or a conversation of not more than five sentences, in which
you use a non-standard variety. Identify TWO non-standard words in your
paragraph/conversation and give the standard form of the words.
(4 marks)
2.4 Many varieties of the English language use different linguistic variations in order to
communicate a message from one speaker to another. These include:
• Euphemisms
• Slang
• Jargon
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