Video summary

Lenguaje - Semana 01 - Pre San Marcos Ciclo 2025-I (Nuevo Ciclo)

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

1) Course purpose and structure (Week 01)

  • This video is the first session of a Language course: “Lenguaje - Semana 01 - Pre San Marcos Ciclo 2025-I.”
  • The course is cross-curricular, meaning grammar knowledge is necessary for:
    • writing well,
    • expressing yourself effectively,
    • understanding content from other subjects.
  • It is theoretical and practical, including:
    • class participation through exercises,
    • work using the PPT,
    • a set of 12 practice questions (not all are developed in class because support/academic consultation will cover the rest).
  • The instructor emphasizes organizational advice:
    • manage your schedule and time across subjects,
    • avoid last-minute cramming to reduce stress/anxiety.
  • Planned grammatical focus includes four components:
    • morphological
    • phonological
    • syntactic
    • semantic
  • Normative grammar is also included:
    • written accent rules,
    • uppercase/lowercase usage,
    • punctuation (fundamental to writing).

2) Communication: definition and why “code” matters

  • Communication is defined as a process requiring at least two elements to avoid becoming a monologue.
  • Core requirements:
    • A sender creates a message.
    • A receiver receives/interprets it.
    • Sender and receiver must share a code (otherwise communication fails).
  • Example used:
    • A short greeting/message in Quechua is understandable only to those who share that language code.
  • Communication also exists beyond humans:
    • plants/animals communicate, but human communication is portrayed as more complex.

3) Types of communication: verbal vs non-verbal (and sensory channels)

A) Human communication

  • Non-verbal:
    • visual cues: facial expressions, body movement, traffic lights/signs, colored referee cards (red/yellow), red flag at the beach (danger),
    • auditory: applause, tone/sound-related signals,
    • tactile: handshake; communication via touch,
    • other: Braille (visual-to-touch), chemical communication (pheromones).
  • Verbal:
    • oral: produces sounds (phonemes),
    • written: uses letters/graphemes to represent phonemes (Spanish uses 27 letters for 24 sounds).
    • Examples of written communication:
      • resignation letter,
      • job proof,
      • advertisements/newspaper writing,
      • medical prescriptions.

B) Non-human communication

  • Examples:
    • birds singing, kittens meowing (acoustic),
    • bees’ dance (gestural),
    • skunk urine odor (chemical),
    • visual pigmentation/plumage changes (visual).

4) “Elements of communication” model (the circuit)

The instructor teaches a communication “circuit” with these elements:

  • Sender (encoder / speaker): origin point that encodes the message.
  • Message: information transmitted about something.
  • Code: the shared system enabling message interpretation.
  • Receiver (listener/interpreter): decodes/understands the message.
  • Channel: physical medium through which the message travels.
    • examples: sound waves, internet, whiteboard, printed paper.
  • Reference/topic: what the message is about.
    • example: if the topic is Peru, everything said about Peru forms the message content.
  • Circumstance: the time/place context where communication occurs.
  • Key practical lesson:
    • each element should be recognized because it connects to language functions.

5) Language functions linked to communication elements

The week’s “central backbone” is functions of language, including how to identify which element stands out.

Main functions taught

  1. Representative / Referential / Denotative

    • Purpose: objectively informs about something.
    • Clue: focus on the referent/topic, not the sender’s emotion/opinion.
    • Example contrast:
      • “Peru is a South American multilingual country” (objective)
      • vs. “Andrea is extremely studious…” (expressive because it adds evaluation)

  2. Expressive / Emotive

    • Purpose: conveys the sender’s attitude/opinion/subjectivity.
    • Clue: the sender becomes prominent.

  3. Appellative / Conative

    • Purpose: seeks to influence the receiver’s behavior.
    • Clue: orders/requests/questions addressed to the receiver.
    • Examples:
      • “Juanita, sit in the front.”
      • “Lend me your red pen.”
      • “Have the rates increased?”

  4. Phatic / Contact

    • Purpose: checks or maintains the channel of communication (or starts/extends interaction).
    • Clue: expressions like “Can you hear me?” and “Testing microphone…”
    • Note: some utterances can look like appeals if context is not specified.

  5. Poetic / Aesthetic

    • Purpose: embellishes the message; focuses on style/beauty of expression.
    • Examples:
      • proverbs (“The early bird catches the worm…”),
      • literary rhyme and musicality.

  6. Metalinguistic

    • Purpose: talks about language itself (code/grammar/linguistic concepts).
    • Examples:
      • explaining rules (“vowels ending in -n/-v get an accent”),
      • “What does denotative mean?”
      • discussing linguistic terms (e.g., “determinantes,” “adverb is invariable”).

Identification rule emphasized

  • In exams/practice, a sentence may contain multiple functions, but one stands out.
  • You must:
    • first identify the function,
    • then determine which element stands out (sender, receiver, code, channel, referent/topic, etc.).

6) Language vs tongue vs speech

Key conceptual distinctions:

  • Language: an innate human capacity enabling learning.
    • universal and not limited to a single mother tongue/second language.
  • Tongue (idiom/language system): a specific language recognized socially/politically.
  • Speech: the concrete, physical manifestation of language (sounds), individual and ephemeral.

Additional points:

  • Without language (capacity), no tongue acquisition is possible.
  • Language is:
    • abstract,
    • mental/storage-based,
    • social and historical (products of evolution).
  • Speech is:
    • concrete sound production via the vocal apparatus,
    • influenced by age, social status, gender, education level, and culture.

7) Standard vs dialects (and why “standard” matters)

  • Languages vary; these variations are called dialects.
  • Dialects aren’t insulting; they are real and legitimate varieties shaped by:
    • geography,
    • social factors (including age),
    • and other linguistic levels (phonological, lexical, morphological, syntactic).
  • Classroom stance for exams/class:
    • use the standard dialect (a common denominator).
  • Examples of variation described:
    • phonetic differences (e.g., variants like mosca/mosca/Mojka/Moș),
    • lexical alternatives (corn/maize terms),
    • morphological diminutives (momentito/momentico),
    • syntactic influence (e.g., Quechua verb-final order),
    • possessive structure differences (de mi casa su puerta…).

8) Mini grammar/exam practice: standard dialect correctness

The instructor runs quick correction exercises for what is standard vs not.

  • Non-standard issues mentioned include:
    • incorrect numbering form (ordinal vs fraction; e.g., “12th second position” correction),
    • dequeísmo: improper use of “de que” (standard removes the unnecessary preposition),
    • incorrect preposition use with subject (“the subject should not begin with a preposition”),
    • adverb placement with suffixes (only the last adverb carries “-mente”),
    • wrong word formation/spelling (examples around dentifric/dentifric… corrected toward standard dentífrico / toothpaste).

9) Exercise strategy and self-review

  • The teacher repeatedly recommends:
    • self-evaluate after explanations,
    • review the material in the afternoon,
    • create summaries/concept maps/synoptic charts,
    • practice listening/observing/speaking/writing to reach mastery.
  • She explains that class content is reviewed and evaluated in the next session to prepare for exams.

Methodology / instructions presented (detailed bullet list)

A) How students should approach the course and study

  • Organize time and schedule across all subjects.
  • Avoid last-minute reviewing to prevent stress/anxiety.
  • Dedicate time to language in coordination with other courses (comprehensive preparation for direct admission).
  • Participate in class:
    • raise questions,
    • use microphone when possible,
    • use chat if needed.
  • After class:
    • spend a few minutes reviewing,
    • write summaries in your own words,
    • create concept maps/synoptic charts.

B) How to solve “language function” identification questions (exam-style)

  • Step 1: Identify the function of language in the sentence/utterance.
  • Step 2: Determine which element stands out (sender, receiver, topic/referent, channel, code, etc.).
  • Remember: sentences can contain multiple functions, but one is most prominent (the one to mark in exams).
  • Classification by function:
    • Representative/Referential → objective info about the referent,
    • Expressive/Emotive → sender’s subjectivity,
    • Appellative/Conative → addresses receiver to influence behavior,
    • Phatic/Contact → checks/maintains channel or starts/extends interaction,
    • Poetic/Aesthetic → beautification/style,
    • Metalinguistic → talking about language itself (grammar/linguistic concepts).

C) How to distinguish communication type in examples (verbal/non-verbal; human/non-human)

  • Decide first: human or non-human?
  • Then:
    • If human, decide between verbal (oral/written) or non-verbal.
    • For verbal:
      • oral → sounds/phonemes,
      • written → letters/graphemes.
    • For non-verbal:
      • identify sensory channel (visual, auditory, tactile, chemical, etc.).

Speakers / sources featured

  • Professor Elva Herrera (main instructor; linguist and educator; teaches Quechua/Andean linguistics).
  • Students referenced in examples (e.g., “Andrea,” “Juanita,” “Luis,” “Daniela,” “Ana,” “Daniel,” “Leticia,” “Rosita,” “Karina,” “José”)—used as characters/examples.
  • Academic consultation partners / colleagues (mentioned as developers of the remaining practice questions; not individually named).

Original video