1. BIL3023 - Linguistics For Esl Teachers
ASSIGNMENT 2
REPORT ON SELECTED TOPIC
( TOPIC : 4 – SEMANTICS )
GROUP
UPSI 01
MATRIKS NO
D20102040807 / 801204-14-5448
NAME / CONTACT NO
NURHAFIZAH BINTI AJLAN
0197166070
LECTURER
DR. AINON BINTI OMAR

2. INTRODUCTION
Semantics is a language to interpret the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. In
sense of linguistic function, semantics is a study of meaning of words. It also a study of
the systematic ways of the structures of the language in words and sentences
( Finegan 2008: 173 )
REFLECTION
By reading this unit from the module given, I really attracted to highlight unit 4 that is
Semantics which is very useful to all the English Language teachers including me, to
implement it in teaching English as a Second Language at schools.
Based on what I have read, there are three types of meaning. There are linguistic,
social and affective.
i- Linguistic meaning can be categorized into two that is referential and sense.
Referential meaning happens when the meaning of words or sentences is referred to
the actual person or objects, situation or events too.
For example : Maya is drawing in the living room. This sentence is showing that a
person or a girl named Maya, is drawing ( action that took place at that time ), and in the
living room is showing the place where the girls ( Maya ) is doing her action ( drawing ).
Some more example is : The women are talking each other at the bus stop.
The women ( the actual person ) who have been doing the action ( talking ) to each
other ( to whom that they are talking ), and the place where do they are talking to ( at
the bus stop ).
Based on the two examples given, it is showing that referential meaning is clear as the
referents are real objects/person and the events they refer to.

3. But, in certain cases or situation, the referential meaning can be insufficient because
they cannot explain how the sentences represent what they mean.
For example : Anuar Zain is a singer……..Anuar Zain is Anuar Zain…
This is insufficient because both of the sentences may not identical and may not refer to
the same person. It could be the other people with the same name as mentioned above.
ii- Social meaning
Sentences which are produced or uttered also showing who are the speakers. For
example , the use of this sentence : We leave now lah, Come on, ma..Hey, bro!.
By listening to the first and the second sentence, we know that it is uttered by some
people with the specific ethnicity such as Malays, Chinese or even though Indians ( in
Malaysia ).
For the third sentence, it is commonly used and uttered by youngsters to communicate
with their colleagues among themselves with the same range of age.
I used to have this kind of experience when I was teaching in an urban school in SK St
Xavier, Pulau Tikus, Penang. 90% of the pupils come from educated and modern
families and they always uttered some sort of sentences such as…..Relax, bro…What’s
up dude and so on…They use these kind of sentences in their daily communication
among themselves which are accepted as the sentences carry their meaning.
Iii – Affective meaning
Sentences can also give or lead to affective meaning which give the different impact.
For example : i- Sharifah who teaches the lower class gives a good teaching to
her pupils….ii- Sharifah who teaches the lower class makes her pupils failed in
the exam.

4. The two sentences convey the different meaning. The first and the second sentences
are telling to us about the same teacher, Sharifah. However, the first sentence carries a
good and effective teacher rather compare to the second sentence which carries an
ineffective teacher.
Another example is : Sara is a soft spoken woman….Sara is a fierce woman….
These two sentences are telling about the same person, that is Sara. But, the different
is, the first sentence is conveying a positive character that is soft spoken but in contrast,
the second sentence is telling the negative character of Sara that is fierce woman.
Rather than linguistic, social and affective meaning, the meaning of sentences can be
conveyed by denotative and connotative. Denotative carries the meaning as presented
in the dictionary but on the other hand, connotative carries refers to association of the
other words to get the meaning.
For example : the word blind in two types of sentences.
i- I’m going to Kuala Lumpur to have a blind date
ii- The blind man is crossing the road.
The first sentence is describing that the person is going to Kuala Lumpur to meet
somebody for the first time meeting. However, the second sentence is telling that a blind
man ( a man who cannot see ) is crossing the road. The use of word blind itself is
showing where the connotative meaning take place.
Next is, Lexical Semantics. It can be conveyed when the words are analyzed by its
relationship to the other words. Sometimes, we can identify the words by looking at the
same characterization of the words.
For example : i- jump, sleep, throw, sick

5. By referring to the above samples, the word jump, sleep and throw are showing that
they are under the same category that is verbs, but not the word sick as it is an
adjective.
Another sub topic that attracted me is Ambiguity. It is refers to a knowledge where the
the users use their semantic knowledge to convey the meaning. It also informs the
users whether the words or phrases have more than one meaning.
For example :The man hit the burglar with a sharp object.
The sentence above carries two meaning. The first one is telling that the man hit the
burglar by using a sharp object ( action ). However, it can be understood on the other
way. The second meaning is telling that the man hit a burglar who is carrying a sharp
object with him. ( noun )
By referring to the above example, it shows where the ambiguity occurs. The sentence
is considered as ambiguous as it has two different meaning. In fact, ambiguity should be
avoided to be done as to avoid any misinterpretation or miscommunication towards the
meaning of the sentences or phrases uttered by the language users.
CONCLUSION
There are many types of meaning of words or sentences. There are linguistic, social,
affective, denotative, connotative, ambiguity and so on. Each of the meaning carries
their own characters of definition. The most important thing is, we have to know the
actual meaning conveyed by the sentences or phrases uttered by the users by looking
at all aspects such as the socialization, characterization, regional, races, ethnicity as
well as the background of the language users.
REFERENCE
Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri, Nor Azmi Mostafa, 2013: LINGUISTICS FOR ESL
TEACHERS. FAKULTI BAHASA DAN KOMUNIKASI. UPSI.

6. ASSIGNMENT 1
ARTICLE REVIEW
( PREPOSITIONS )
GROUP
UPSI 01
MATRIKS NO
D20102040807 / 801204-14-5448
NAME / CONTACT NO
NURHAFIZAH BINTI AJLAN
0197166070
LECTURER
DR. AINON BINTI OMAR

7. ARTICLE
Rules for Prepositions
Prepositions are relationship words. They give clues and guidance regarding how the
remainder of the sentence fits together. There are several important rules when using
prepositions in the context of a sentence. These rules relate to how prepositions can be
used, which prepositions can be used when, and where prepositions have to go in the
sentence.
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What is a Preposition?
A preposition is a word that explains the time, space or logical relationship between the
other parts of the sentence. In other words, it links all the other words together, so the
reader can understand how the pieces of the sentence fit.
There are hundreds of prepositions in the English language. One easy way to remember
prepositions is that they are words that tell you everywhere a bunny can run; for example,
a bunny can run
• up
• down
• near
• far
• by

8. • at
• around
• close
• always
All of these words, and many more, are prepositions.
Preposition Rules
There are 2 major rules when it comes to the use of prepositions.
1. The first major rule deals with preposition choice. Certain prepositions must
follow certain words, and the correct preposition must be used to make relationships
between words in the sentences clear.
2. The second major rule deals with the prepositions place in the sentence.
Prepositions must be followed by nouns, and prepositions can only go on the end of the
sentence in certain situations.
Preposition Choice
Determining the correct preposition to use can be a tricky proposition. This can be
especially difficult when dealing with idioms- expressions in the English language that
require the use of a certain word, simply because that is the word we have chosen to use.
Idiomatic expressions are expressions you just have to memorize, and when errors are
made, they are almost always preposition errors.
Here are some examples of idioms, along with the correct prepositions:
• Able to

9. • Capable of
• Preoccupied with
• Concerned by
• Prohibited from
Each of the italicized words are the only acceptable prepositions to follow these words. It
would not be grammatically correct to say "able with" or "capable to"
Prepositions In the Context of Sentences
Prepositions must always be followed by a noun or pronoun. That noun is called
the object of the preposition. A verb can't be the object of a preposition.
• The bone was for the dog. This is correct- the preposition for is followed by the
noun "dog."
• The bone was for walked. This is not correct. The preposition for is followed by a
verb "walked." Walked can't be the object of a preposition.
This rule may seem confusing at first, because you may have seen words that look like
verbs following the preposition to in sentences; for example:
• I like to ski or These boots are for skiing.
However, in these examples, the ski and skiing are not actually acting as verbs.
• In the first example, to ski is part of the infinitive. An infinitive is NOT a verb. An
infinitive occurs when a verb is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. Here, "to ski" is a
THING that the person likes doing, not an action that they are doing. It is a verbal noun.
• In the second example, skiing is a gerund. Like an infinitive, a gerund is NOT a
verb, but is instead a noun, adjective or adverb. Here, "skiing" is a thing that the boots
are for. No one in this sentence is doing the action of skiing.
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Using Prepositions at the End of Sentences
Because prepositions must be followed by a noun and have an object, they usually can't
be used at the end of a sentence. For example, it is not correct to say:
• The table is where I put my books on.
However, there are certain circumstances where it is acceptable to end a sentence with a
preposition. These exceptions exist where the preposition is not extraneous. In other
words, the preposition needs to be there, and if it wasn't, the meaning of the sentence
would change.
In the above example, "The table is where I put my books on." the use of the preposition
"on" isn't necessary. We could take the "on" out of the sentence and the meaning would
be the same. So, the use of the preposition was extraneous or unnecessary and we don't
need it.
However, here is an example where it is perfectly acceptable to use a preposition to end a
sentence:
• "I turned the TV on."
If you removed the "on" from the end of this sentence, it would change the meaning.
Instead of switching on the set, you would be saying that you turned the TV itself.
Retrieved from : http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/prepositions/rules-for-
prepositions.html

11. This article is telling about the definition and rules of prepositions. Prepositions are
relationship of words which is giving clues of the sentence to fit together. To have a
good sentence structure, several rules need to be followed such as :how prepositions
can be used, which prepositions can be used and where prepositions are going to be
used. According to this article, a preposition is a word that explains time, space, or
logical relationship between the other sentences. The key word here is, it links all the
words together so that the sentences can be understood clearly. In order to remember
the examples of prepositions, one formula has been created, that is words that can tell
you where a bunny can run. There are : up, down, near, far, by, at, around, close and
always. And, the use of these words depend on the contexts or sentences especially
the rules of prepositions itself.
There are two main rules of prepositions. The first one is choice of the prepositions. The
correct choice of prepositions is needed to get the correct sentences. It must be
followed by certain correct words.
For example : the choice of the word over ( preposition ) . He jumped over the fence.
In this sentence or context, the use of the word fence is mostly related to the suitable
preposition such as over in order to tell the place where the person jumped.
The second major rule is the place of the prepositions which is must be followed by
nouns and can be go on at the end of the sentence in certain situations.
For example : The table is where I put my books on…In this sentence, it is showing
that the use of the word on ( preposition ) is used at the end of the sentence. On is an
example of preposition to indicate the location of the books ( referring to the above
sentence / context ).
Second example is : The bone was for the dog… This sentence is telling that the
preposition ( for ) is followed by the noun ( dog ). It is not similar with the other situation
or sentence like : The bone was for walked…This is incorrect because preposition

12. ( for ) cannot be followed by a verb as the verb ( walked ) cannot be the object of a
preposition.
Based on my experience, most of the pupils are able to cover the basic prepositions
such as on, in, under, at, across, over, through, near, next to and between. Most of
them are referring to prepositions of location.
Generally, there are many types of prepositions. There are prepositions of location,
prepositions of place, prepositions of time, and prepositions of movement .
Prepositions of location describes or indicates the actual or specific location of places
such as : The market is opposite the school.
In this context, the word opposite is followed by a noun ( school ).
Prepositions of place describes the specific place depending on the use of the
prepositions itself. For example : We use the word at for specific address ( The girl lives
at No. 22, Jalan Garuda, Johor Bahru ).
But, we use on to designate names of streets or roads such as : Her house is on
Petaling Street.
It is different with the other preposition, we use in for the names of land areas such as
They are staying in a rural area.:
The next one is prepositions of time which is referring to time or duration. There are
three samples of prepositions of time such as at, on and in.
For example : The train is due at 12.30pm – to designate the specific time.
The bus arrived at 10am – to designate specific time
My sister will be coming on next Monday. – to designate days and dates.
He likes to jog in the evening. – to designate the nonspecific times.

13. As for prepositions of place, we use between with two or more people or things that we
see as individual or separate, and we use among when we see the people or things as
part of a group or mass. But, among is only used with three or more people or things.
Examples :Aina is standing between Ahmad and Razak.
Ahmad Aina Razak
Next is, prepositions of movement which describes the positions or movement of the
objects or people.
For example :to – is used to express movement toward a place.
They are driving to the office together.
She’s going to the clinic to get some treatment.
For example : toward – to express movement too.
We are walking toward the big house.

14. To indicate the positions of the objects or people, we use some words such as across
and over.
Examples : Mak Bedah lives in the house across the river.
Once she was over the border, she knew that she would be safe.
Graphic Organizer of Prepositions ( Summary )
C
PREPOSITIONSPREPOSITIONS
RULES
Choice of
prepositions
Place of the
prepositions
RULES
Choice of
prepositions
Place of the
prepositions
TYPES OF
PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions of location
Prepostions of place /
movement
Prepositions of time
TYPES OF
PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions of location
Prepostions of place /
movement
Prepositions of time

15. CONCLUSION
Prepositions are important to link the nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in
constructing sentences. This is to make sure that the sentences are well organized and
constructed to avoid the ambiguity or confusion when the readers read the sentences.
References
H. Martin: Advanced Grammar in Use. Cambridge University Press.UK.