Language Awareness

Scott Thornbury
(2007 Compilation)

language awareness linguistics

Language awareness is a teachers or learners explicit
knowledge about language, often gained through language
analysis. It includes not only knowledge of the systems of the
subject language, such as its grammar and phonology, but also
knowledge of its social and cultural role. Language awareness of
English, for example, includes knowing how its standard and nonstandard forms differ, and how different registers of English are
used in different contexts. Language awareness for teachers can
also extend to knowledge about the language (or languages) of
their learners. Language awareness helps inform the design and
choice of materials, syllabuses, classroom teaching methods, and
tests. It is also a professional responsibility of language teachers:
the minimum expectation of most learners is that their teacher will
know something about the language that they are being taught.
Scott Thornbury An A-Z of ELT (Macmillan, 2006)

While appreciating the need for training in linguistics,

I argue that the knowledge teachers need is not
that of theoretical linguistics, prescriptive grammar,
and formal accuracy, but a knowledge that starts from
everything they already know about language, that
connects this knowledge to all that their students
already know about language, and then builds bridges
to deeper understandings of the uses and processes
of language in personal, social, academic, and
professional contexts.
van Lier, L. 2002. An ecological-semiotic perspective
on language and linguistics. In Kramsch,. C. (ed.)
Language Acquisition and Language Socialization:
Ecological Perspectives. London: Continuum.

Have you forgotten the way to my hut?

Every evening I wait for the sound of your footsteps,
But you do not appear.

I expected to see only pink blossoms

but a gentle spring snow has fallen
and the cherry trees are wearing a white coat.

There is good evidence to suggest that forcing learners

to speak before they are ready may interfere with the
mental processes involved in restructuring (or reorganizing) their internal mental grammar. For this
reason, many of the activities you will find in the
Consolidation stage [of Teaching Grammar Creatively]
are not speaking activities but simply understanding
tasks.. These kinds of activities are sometimes
called grammar interpretation tasks, because they
require the learners to interpret the grammar item
rather than simply produce it. Such activities involve
what researchers call input processing (as opposed to
output processing).
Gerngross, Puchta, Thornbury, Teaching Grammar Creatively, Rum
2006 Helbling Languages

Hi, Joe. How are you? Great holiday! We've been to the Louvre, and the
Eiffel Tower, but we haven't been to Versailles yet. We'll phone you back.
Bye.
Joe, it's Barry. Fantastic holiday! We went everywhere - the Colosseum, St
Peters, Hadrian's Villa - and we had great Italian food. Speak to you soon.
Bye.
Hi, Joe, Cathy here. How was your holiday? I went sightseeing and
shopping and spent a fortune. Didn't have time to see Big Ben! But I bought
you a fab T-shirt. Bye.
Joe, baby! Donald speaking. Amazing holiday. Taj Mahal, Rajahstan. I've
travelled thousands of miles, all by train. Third class. And I've met some
really interesting people. I've even seen a tiger! I have to go...
Hello, Joe. It's six o'clock Tuesday evening. Just phoning to tell you about
my trip. I had a great time. I climbed to the top of Ayers' Rock, can you
believe it! And I went surfing at Bondi Beach. But I never made it to Cairns.
I have some great photos to show you. Well, speak to you soon. Bye.

1. What animal chases cats?

dogs
mice
2. What fish is eaten by octopus?
shrimps
sharks
3. What causes forest fires?
lightning
erosion
4. What is caused by car accidents?
drinking
injuries

Are these sentences true or false?

In Britain...
1. You have to vote when you are 18.
2. You don't have to marry until you are 16.
3. You don't have to do military service.
4. You don't have to go into a pub until you are 14.
5. You can buy cigarettes once you turn 16.
6. You shouldn't smoke.
7. You can't buy a pet yourself until you are 12.
8. You can drive when you are 17, but you should have a
licence.
9. You should see a dentist regularly.
10. You have to start your education by the time you are 5.

Arthur Miller was born in New York in 1915, and died in 2005.
David Mamet was born in Illinois in 1947.
He lived most of his life in New York
He has lived mostly in New York.
He has worked as an actor, director, and writer.
He worked as a writer and director, but never acted.
He wrote many plays and screenplays.
He has written many plays and screenplays.
He also wrote two travel books.
He has also taught drama.
He has been married twice, and has three children.
He was married twice once to the film star Marilyn Monroe..

discourse analysis discourse

genre linguistics

Discourse is any connected piece of speaking or

writing (like this). Discourse analysis is principally
the study of how such stretches of language
achieve both cohesion and coherence. Whereas
traditional grammar is concerned only with
sentences and their components, discourse
analysis seeks to identify patterns and regularities
of language beyond the sentence.

A genre is any type of spoken or written discourse

which is used and recognized by members of a
particular culture or sub-culture. As a genre becomes
established, it acquires a conventionalised structure
and often a characteristic vocabulary and grammar.
Examples of written genres are news reports, academic
papers, and magazine horoscopes. Spoken genres
include sports commentaries, answerphone messages,
and business presentations.

(An A-Z of ELT)

(An A-Z of ELT)

1. Mind the gap. I went to an Indian restaurant with my family to

celebrate my brothers GCSE results. When we sat down, I noticed some
really fit boys sitting at the other side of the room. I tried to look cool all
night and it seemed to be working. But when I was about to get up to
leave, I slid along the bench towards the end of the table and fell into a
gap between two seats. I tried to get up but Id got totally stuck! The
waiters came rushing over to pull me out and everyone was staring. The fit
lads were crying with laughter. Ill never go back there again! Sneaks
number one fan, Kent
2. Dinner disaster. My family and I went for a meal. On the table next to
us was this fit boy. I couldnt keep my eyes off him. When my food came,
I was really hungry so I stuffed a huge bit into my mouth. But it was so
hot, it burned my tongue and I had to spit it out. The lad was looking over
right at that very moment. I couldnt look him in the eye again after that.
Fenella, London.
3. Gone off the boil. I popped over to the local chemist to pick up some
stuff for my nan. When I looked at the list, I realised she wanted me to buy
some cream for her boils. I was just paying for it when my crush walked
into the shop. How embarrassing? I havent spoken to him since. Mizz
fan, Scotland

Macrostructure:

4. Pyjama palaver. I went to the supermarket with my dad

recently, but I couldnt be bothered to get dressed up
properly. So I put my long coat on to cover up my Winniethe-Pooh PJs. By the time we got to the till, I was feeling
really hot, so I took off my jacket. Id totally forgotten what I
was wearing underneath. The shop assistant couldnt stop
laughing. Im never going back there again. Chloe, London.

an orientation the general circumstances of the event ,

including the setting, purpose, and participants;
a recount one or more events leading up to
the complication the embarrassing event, witnessed by a
third party (typically an attractive male);
evaluation how the speaker evaluates the event and its
effect on subsequent behaviour.

Generic linguistic features

orientation:
past tense verbs of movement (went, popped over);
purpose expressed either by for (for a meal) or to (to celebrate... to pick up
some stuff);
preposition phrases (in texts 1 and 2): at the other side of the room, On the
table next to us.

complication:
contrastive linker (in texts 1 and 2): But when I was about
to get up..., But it was so hot,
intensifying adverbs: totally stuck; so hot; right at that
very moment; just paying for it...
past continuous to provide circumstantial information
surrounding event: I was just paying for it; everyone was
staring; The lad was looking over...

recount:
verbs of mental processes (realised) or of perception (noticed, couldnt
keep my eyes off; looked at...)
past simple verbs: sat down; slid; stuffed; looked... etc
time clauses beginning with when: When we sat down; When my food
came; When I looked at the list...

evaluation
negative verb phrases: never go back; couldnt look him in
the eye; havent spoken
time adverbials: again; after that; since

Books about language by Scott Thornbury:

About Language: Tasks for Teachers of English. Cambridge University Press, 1997
How to Teach Grammar. Longman, 1999 (winner of Ben Warren Trust Prize, 2000).
Uncovering Grammar. Macmillan Heinemann, 2001 (winner of Ben Warren Trust Prize,
2002).
How to Teach Vocabulary. Longman, 2002.
Natural Grammar. Oxford University Press. 2004. (winner of British Council ELT
Innovations award, 2004)
Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis. Macmillan.2005.
How to Teach Speaking. Longman. 2005.
Grammar. Teachers Resource Book Series. Oxford University Press. 2006 (Special
mention, English Union Prize, 2006)
Teaching Grammar Creatively (with Gnter Gerngross and Herbert Puchta). Helbling.
2006.
An A-Z of ELT. Macmillan. (2006).
Conversation: From description to pedagogy. Cambridge University Press (with Diana
Slade, 2006).
The CELTA Course. Cambridge University Press (with Peter Watkins; 2007)