Language: Basic Concepts, Theories & Pedagogy, English in Use – UGC NET – Solved PYQs

1. All except one of the following scholars have come up with models which aim to characterise world Englishes within one conceptual set. Identify the lone exception. (UGC NET June 2013)
(1) Tom McArthur
(2) Noam Chomsky
(3) Braj Kachru
(4) Manfred Gorlach

2. Who among the following linguists proposed the terms, ‘competence’ and ‘performance’? (UGC NET Sep 2020)
(1) Noah Webster
(2) Steven Pinker
(3) Roman Jakobson
(4) Noam Chomsky

3. Which of the following are books by Noam Chomsky? (UGC NET Dec 2021)

(a) Syntactic Structures
(b) Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour
(c) Language and Society
(d) Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
(e) The Pragmatics of Politeness

(1) (a) and (c) only
(2) (b) and (d) only
(3) (c) and (e) only
(4) (d) and (a) only

4. Given below are two statements: (UGC NET Dec 2021)

Statement I: Language is not a reliable tool of communication, says deconstruction, but argues in favour of a theory of sign as a self-sufficient union of signifier and signified.

Statement II: Deconstruction claims that language is non-referential since it refers neither to the things in the world nor to our concepts of things but only to the play of signifiers.

(1) Both statement I and Statement II are correct.
(2) Both Statement I and Statement II are incorrect.
(3) Statement I is correct, but Statement II is incorrect.
(4) Statement I is incorrect, but Statement II is correct.

5. What is the standard format for citing a book as per the requirements of the MLA Handbook Eighth Edition? (UGC NET Dec 2021)
(1) Surname. First name. Title of the Book in italics. Place of Publication: Name of the Publishing House. Year of publication.
(2) Surname. First name in initials (Year of Publication). Title of the Book. Place of Publication. Name of the Publishing House.
(3) Surname. First name. Title of the Book in italics. Name of the Publishing House. Year of publication.
(4) Surname. First name. Title of the Book in italics. Place of Publication: Name of the Publishing House, Year of publication. Print.

6. In the context of ‘nature-nurture’ debate in Linguistics, there is a view that there must be an innate core of abstract knowledge about language form, which pre-specifies a framework for all natural human languages and is currently known as ‘Universal Grammar”. Among the following, who is the linguist proposing this view? (UGC NET Dec 2021)
(1) Claude Levi-Strauss
(2) Noam Chomsky
(3) Roland Barthes
(4) Richard Rorty

7. Saussure delivered his series of lectures on general linguistics, later published after his death as Course in General Linguistics, at the University of (UGC NET June 2023)
(1) Frankfurt
(2) Madrid
(3) Geneva
(4) Rome

8. Noam Chomsky is known for his (UGC NET June 2023)
(1) Generative grammar
(2) Glossematic linguistics
(3) Linguistic determinism
(4) Grammar Translation Method

9. Who among the following argued that children learn language based on behaviorist reinforcement principles by associating words with meaning? (UGC NET June 2023)
(1) Noam Chomsky
(2) F. Skinner
(3) Stephen Krashen
(4) Peter Singer

10. The full form of MLAT is (UGC NET June 2023)
(1) Modern Language Alertness Test
(2) Modern Language Affective Test
(3) Modern Language Aptitude Test
(4) Modern Language Acid Test