UGC-NET (NTA) LINGUISTICS, JANUARY-2025

Total Questions: 100

91. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions based on it:

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) refers both to the study of individuals and groups who are learning a language subsequent to learning their first one as young children, and to the process of learning that language. The additional language is called a second language (L2), even though it may actually be the third, fourth, or tenth to be acquired.
The scope of SLA includes informal L2 learning that takes place in naturalistic contexts, forma: L2 learning that takes place in classrooms, and L2 learning that involves a mixture of these settings and circumstances. SLA has emerged as a field of study primarily from within linguistics, psychology (and their subfields of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and social psychology). The following distinctions are commonly made in literature:
• A 'Second language' is typically an official or societally dominant language needed for education, employment, and other basic purposes. It is often acquired by minority group members or immigrants who speak another language natively. In this more restricted sense, the term is contrasted with other terms such as the one's mentioned below.
• A 'foreign language' is one that is not generally used in the learner's immediate social context but which might be used for future travel or other cross-cultural communication situations.
• A 'library language' is one which functions primarily as a tool for further learning through reading, especially when such books or journals are not commonly published in the learner's native tongue.
• An 'Auxiliary language' is one which learners need to know for some official functions in their immediate political setting, or will need for purposes of wider communication, although their first language serves most other needs in their lives. Other restricted or highly specialised functions for 'second' languages are designated 'language for specific purposes' (such as French for Hotel Management, English for Aviation Technology, Spanish for Agriculture, and a host of others), and the learning of these typically focuses only on a narrow set of occupation - specific uses and functions.
Match the List-I with List-II.

List-IList-II
A. Language used in official functions or wider communication in a political setting.I. Second language
B. A language learned for reading and further education when resources aren’t available in the native language.II. Foreign language
C. A societally dominant language needed for purposes like education and employment.III. Library language
D. A language learned for future travel or cross-cultural communication.IV. Auxiliary language

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: 4. A-IV, B-III, C-I, D-II
Solution:

A. (Language used in official functions or wider communication in a political setting) - IV: Auxiliary language → An auxiliary language is needed for official functions or wider communication beyond the native language.
B. (A language learned for reading and further education when resources aren't available in the native language) - III: Library language → A library language is used mainly for academic purposes and reading.
C. (A societally dominant language needed for purposes like education and employment) - I: Second language → A second language is an officially or socially dominant language used for employment, education, and daily communication.
D. (A language learned for future travel or cross-cultural communication) - II: Foreign language → A foreign language is not commonly used in the learner's social environment, but it may be useful for travel and cross-cultural communication.

92. A. A second language (L2) is always the second language learned after the native language.

B. Second language acquisition (SLA) includes both formal and informal learning of a language beyond the first language.
C. A foreign language is not typically used in the learner's immediate social context but might be used for future travel.
D. Second language acquisition (SLA) focuses exclusively on the psychological aspects of language learning.
E. A library language is primarily learned as a tool for further learning through reading.
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: 1. B, C, E Only
Solution:

B. (Second language acquisition (SLA) includes both formal and informal learning of a language beyond the first language) → Correct, as SLA encompasses both naturalistic (informal) and classroom-based (formal) learning.
C. (A foreign language is not typically used in the learner's immediate social context but might be used for future travel) → Correct, as foreign languages are learned for cross-cultural purposes rather than for daily communication.
E. (A library language is primarily learned as a tool for further learning through reading) → Correct, as library languages are used for academic and research purposes rather than for daily communication.
(A) is incorrect because L2 can be a third, fourth, or later language.
(D) is incorrect because SLA is not limited to psychological aspects:; it includes sociolinguistic and linguistic elements as well.

93. Which of the following best describes the term 'auxiliary language' as used in the passage?

Correct Answer: 3. A language used for official functions or wider communication within a political setting.
Solution:

An auxiliary language is a language used for official purposes or wider communication within a political setting.
Example: Hindi in India, French in parts of Africa, or Swahili in East Africa used for administration and trade while native languages are spoken at home.
• Option 1 is incorrect because a library language is used for academic purposes, not political settings.
• Option 2 is incorrect because language for specific purposes (e.g., English for Aviation) is different from an auxiliary language.
• Option 4 is incorrect because foreign languages are not used for official functions within the same political region.

94. What is the primary distinction between 'second language' and a 'foreign language as described in the passage?

Correct Answer: 2. A 'second language' is typically needed for immediate societal purposes while a 'Foreign language' is primarily for future travel or cross-cultural communication.
Solution:

A second language (L2) is learned for daily life, education, or employment in a multilingual society.
A foreign language is not needed for daily life but may be useful for travel or cross-cultural communication.
• Option 1 is incorrect because both second and foreign languages can be learned in classrooms.
• Option 3 is incorrect because both second and foreign languages can be learned in natural or formal settings.
• Option 4 is incorrect because L2 is not always the third or fourth language learned.

95. A. A second language is often acquired by immigrants or minority members who need it for education or employment.

B. A foreign, language might be learned for cross-cultural communication in the future.
C. Second language acquisition (SLA) includes only formal classroom-based learning of a second language.
D. Second-language acquisition (SLA) encompasses both naturalistic and classroom-based learning contexts.
E. A library language is typically used for oral-communication rather than for reading or academic purposes.
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: 2. A, B, D Only
Solution:

A. (A second language is often acquired by immigrants or minority members who need it for education or employment) → Correct, as immigrants and minority speakers learn the dominant language for survival and integration.
B. (A foreign language might be learned for cross-cultural communication in the future) → Correct, as foreign languages are learned for global communication rather than for daily use.
D. (Second-language acquisition (SLA) encompasses both naturalistic and classroom-based learning contexts) → Correct, as SLA includes both informal and formal learning settings.
(C) is incorrect because SLA is not limited to classroom learning; it also includes naturalistic acquisition.
(E) is incorrect because a library language is primarily used for reading, not oral communication.

96. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions based on it:

The problems of Ogden and Richards's and Bloomfield's approaches to meaning arise mainly from the determination to explain semantics in terms of other scientific disciplines. One may argue that much of the apparent ambiguity of the term meaning, which bothered Ogden and Richards, has the same source.
Certainly most of the twenty-two definitions given by them are the authors' wording of technical definitions of philosophers, psychologists, philologists, literary critics, and other specialists; and much of the conflict between these definitions is explicable in terms of each specialist's need or desire to tailor the study of meaning to the requirements of his own field. So a philosopher may define meaning, for his purposes, in terms of truth and falsehood; a behaviorist psychologist in terms of stimulus and response; a literary critic in terms of the reader's response: and so on. Naturally enough, their definitions, springing from diverse frames of reference, will have little in common.
While admitting the study in related fields could provide insight for the student of semantics, many people will wonder why semantics need be considered dependent, in this way, on extrinsic considerations. In fact, as soon as we start to treat semantics as deserving its own frame of reference instead of having to borrow one from elsewhere, we dispel many of the difficulties that have beset its development in the past fifty years. An autonomous discipline begins not with answers, but with questions. We might say that the whole point of setting up a theory of semantics is to provide a 'definition' of meaning - that is, a systematic account of the nature of meaning.
To demand a definition of meaning before we started discussing the subject would simply be to insist on treating certain other concepts, e.g. stimulus and response, as in some sense more basic and more important. A physicist does not have to define notions like 'time', 'heat', 'colour' 'atom' before he starts investigating their properties. Rather, definitions, if they are needed, emerge from the study itself.
Which of the followings are true in connection with semantics?
A. A philosopher defines meaning in terms of truth and falsehood
B. A literary critic distinguishes meaning in terms of his own learning and experience
C. A behaviorist psychologist mostly takes into account stimulus and response while defining meaning
D. An autonomous discipline is the one that mostly begins with giving answer of certain questions
Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Correct Answer: 3. A and C Only
Solution:

A. (A philosopher defines meaning in terms of truth and falsehood) → Correct. The passage states that a philosopher defines meaning based on truth and falsehood.
C. (A behaviourist psychologist mostly takes into account stimulus and response while defining meaning) → Correct. The passage mentions that behaviourist psychologists explain meaning in terms of stimulus and response.
(B) is incorrect because the passage states that literary critics define meaning in terms of reader response, not necessarily their own learning and experience.
(D) is incorrect because an autonomous discipline begins with questions, not answers.

97. On what does the set of twenty two definitions by Ogden and Richards focus?

Correct Answer: 3. Technical definition to various disciplines
Solution:

The passage states that Ogden and Richards provided twenty-two definitions of meaning, each representing a different discipline's technical definition.
Their definitions are based on perspectives of different fields like philosophy, psychology, and literary criticism. Therefore, their focus is on the technical definitions used in various disciplines, not specifically on science or semantics alone.

98. Why does a physicist not waste time in defining various notions?

Correct Answer: 2. Because studies generally end-up in framing a definition
Solution:

The passage mentions that a physicist does not define fundamental notions (like time, heat, or color) before studying them but rather allows definitions to emerge from research.
Similarly, in semantics, meaning should be investigated first, and definitions should develop as a result of study, rather than being predefined.

99. How can one avoid many of the problems related to the progress of semantics in the past five decades?

Correct Answer: 4. By treating semantics as having a separate and distinct frame of reference
Solution:

The passage suggests that many problems in semantics arise from its dependence on other fields.
To resolve these issues, semantics should be treated as an independent field with its own distinct theoretical framework.
This means not borrowing definitions from philosophy, psychology, or other sciences, but developing its own systematic approach.

100. Which one of the followings is true about setting up a theory of semantics?

Correct Answer: 4. It defines meaning but does not fossilize it.
Solution:

The passage argues that a theory of semantics provides a definition of meaning but does not fix it permanently.
This means that definitions evolve as research progresses, instead of being rigid or absolute.
• Option 1 is incorrect because the theory does not provide answers before the questions are asked.
• Option 2 is incorrect because scientific disciplines always work with some underlying assumptions.
• Option 3 is incorrect because meaning varies across disciplines, and semantics does not provide a single universal definition.