Unit 01 - Inglés Primaria

TEMA 1.
LA LENGUA COMO COMUNICACIÓN: LENGUA-

JE ORAL Y LENGUAJE ESCRITO. FACTORES QUE
DEFINEN UNA SITUACIÓN COMUNICATIVA: EMI-
SOR, RECEPTOR, FUNCIONALIDAD Y CONTEXTO
UNIT 1.
LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION. ORAL AND
WRITTEN LANGUAGE. FACTORS THAT DEFINE A
COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION. FUNCTIONALITY.
THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO FLT
UNIT 1. Language as communication. Oral and written language. Factors that define a communicative situation. Functionality. The communicative approach to FLT
CONTENTS
0. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................3
1. Language as communication .........................................................................................................4
1.1. Communication and language............................................. ¡Error! Marcador no definido.
1.2. Communication theories ....................................................................................................6
2. Oral and written language ..............................................................................................................7
2.1. Historical background ........................................................................................................7
2.2. Differences between oral and written language..................................................................8
2.3. Characteristics of oral language .........................................................................................9
2.3.1. Methodological principles of oral language................................................................9
2.3.2. Main forms and techniques of oral communication....................................................9
2.3.3. Assessment of oral language ....................................................................................9
2.4. Characteristics of written language ..................................................................................10
2.4.1. Methodology of written language ............................................................................10
2.4.2. Assessment of written language .............................................................................10
2.5. Pedagogical implications..................................................................................................10
3. Factors that define a communicative situation..............................................................................11
3.1. Addresser, addressee ......................................................................................................11
3.2. The context ......................................................................................................................12
3.3. Purpose ...........................................................................................................................12
3.4. Topic ................................................................................................................................13
3.5. Medium/ channel..............................................................................................................13
3.6. Code ................................................................................................................................13
3.7. Register ...........................................................................................................................14
4. Functionality.................................................................................................................................15
4.1. Jakobson's model ............................................................................................................15
4.2. Halliday's model ...............................................................................................................16
5. The Communicative Approach to FLT ..........................................................................................17
5.1. Background......................................................................................................................17
5.2. Communicative competence ............................................................................................17
5.3. Communicative activities..................................................................................................18
6. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................19
7. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................20
0. INTRODUCTION
Language is an essential and characteristic part of being human. We spend an immense
amount of time speaking, listening, reading and writing. Children all over the world begin to speak
roughly at the same age and follow the same learning pattern. All languages have a similar basic
structure and they are used to transmit our ideas, thoughts and feelings. The ability we have to un-
derstand each other and the society we live in is what differentiates us from animals.
Linguistics as a science was initiated in 1916 with the ―Cours de linguistique génerale‖ by Saus-
sure. This author tries to define ―langue and parole‖:
A sign is the basic unit of language (a given language at a given time). Every langue is a com-
plete system of signs. Parole (the speech of an individual) is an external manifestation of langue.
Saussure's work is considered a starting point of structuralism. While Saussure had great
influence in Europe, Bloomfield developed his own version of structural linguistics in America. On the
other hand, the Prague School of linguistics (Roman Jakobson) was very influential, although their
main concern was phonemics (the branch of linguistics which deals with the study of the phonemes of
a language).
Edward Sapir was another American anthropologist-linguist (anthropology consists of the study
of humankind), a leader in American structural linguistics and one of the creators of what we now cal)
the Sapir-Worf hypothesis. This hypothesis is based on the idea that language influences the ways
people think.
A different view on linguistics is given by Chomsky. His works on generative linguistics contrib-
uted to the decline of behaviourism and led to the advance of cognitive sciences. The theory of his
original transformational grammar states that utterances (sequences of words) correspond to abstract
surface structures, which in turn correspond to even more abstract deep structures. The creation and
interpretation of utterances are governed by transformational rules, phrase structure rules and struc-
tural principles. Every human being has an innate capability to structure his/her utterances. In gen-
eral, his approach is motivated by the fact that children learn languages at an incredible pace.
Communication between humans is an extremely complex phenomenon, with many variables -
the participant, context, purpose and channel are some of the factors that are present in a communi-
cative act. Whenever communication takes place, there is a speaker (or writer) and a listener (or
reader) who has a communicative purpose: having a conversation, giving information, greeting some-
one, etc.; and they will use a medium (channel) for doing so: a letter, face to face, telephone, and so
on.
Learning a second language is complicated, too. Second language students have to learn a
new system of signs to transmit a message. Since the 1970s, the belief that language is a means of
communication has inspired a new approach in English language teaching: the Communicative Ap-
proach. This is based on providing the students with communicative activities that will develop their
oral and written skills, so they can use the language with accuracy and appropriateness. This view fo-
cuses on communicative proficiency rather than on the mastery of structures and vocabulary.
Our current Educational System has incorporated this functional and communicative potential of
language in its objectives and methodology. The ultimate goal is the development of the students-
communicative competence. The communicative competence not only refers to the ability to use
the language, but also to aspects related to the communicative context. The social dimension of lan-
guage is also taken into consideration.
This chapter on oral and written language and the communicative act is the starting point with
which, on the one hand, we will define communication and language, focusing on linguistic communi-
cation, and we shall analyse the differences of the two means we use to communicate, speech and
writing, as well as the pedagogical implications in the development of both. On the other hand,
we will study the factors that intervene in a communicative act, and see in which way they relate to
each other when transmitting a message. Finally, we study the main ideas of the Communicative Ap-
proach to foreign language teaching. Its principles have been incorporated into our current syllabus
design.
1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION
1.1. COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE
Communication is the number of acts by which individuals from a particular society establish con-
tacts among themselves in order to transmit particular information.
Following the linguists Breen, Cadlin (1980), Morrow (1977) and Widdowson (1978) communication is
understood to have the following characteristics:
a. It is a form of social interaction and it is therefore normally acquired and used for social inter-
action.
b. It involves a high degree of unpredictability and creativity in form and message.
c. It takes place in discourse and socio-cultural contexts, which provides constants on appropri-
ate language use and also clues to the correct interpretation of utterances.
d. It is carried out under limiting psychological and other conditions, such as memory constraints,
fatigue and distractions.
e. It always has a purpose (for example to establish social relations, to persuade or to promise).
f. It involves authentic language as opposed to textbook-contrived language and
g. It is judged successfully or not on the basis of actual outcomes
The communicative procedures are very varied. They are performed not only among human beings,
but also inside very complex machines capable of receiving and transmitting orders. For instance,
when the temperature in a room is low, a thermostat commands the heating system to start working.
Referring more precisely to human communication I shall say that it takes place via spoken or written
language, but not exclusively. It can indeed take place via visual (flags, drawings), tactile (a hand-
shake, a kiss), sound (an alarm clock, a baby crying to be fed) and olfactory means (a perfume). Al-
though there are different ways of human communication, this is specially performed through lan-
guage.
Linguistic communication consists of the transformation of something abstract (ideas, feelings, etc)
into something concrete, through language. It is the activity of encoding and decoding messages, us-
ing linguistic signs, with which, the contents and forms of each message are built, interpreted and as-
sessed.
This form of transmitting messages, through a non-instinctive method, belongs exclusively to human
beings. People communicate ideas, emotions and wishes through a system of signs produced in a
deliberate way. This is why we can affirm that language, properly said, is exclusively human.
Language is the main means by which people communicate. It can broadly be defined as a system of
signs that are combined, with the help of conventional rules, to transmit a message.. Language is not
the result of the natural activity of an organ, so it is not a natural or primary function of the human or-
ganism. The organs used to speak have other functions apart from the production of sounds. Humans
do not have a specific language organ.
Language is a human institution, a product of the society which uses it. However, it is far more than a
mere emission of sounds, as it has a communicative function, and therefore, a social character. Lan-
guage is actualised in different ways depending on the community which it belongs to. Language is
cultural, social and historical; it is born within a given community and it is modified by it through use.
Communication is the primary linguistic function. Language allows us to receive and transmit different
types of information, as well as to influence other people surrounding us, by regulating and guiding
their activity at the same time that they regulate our own activity.
But language is not just an instrument for interpersonal communication. We can communicate with
ourselves, by using the so-called inner language (intra-personal communication). This way we can:
 analyse our own problems
 organise our own information
 memorise
Thus we regulate, guide and control our own activity.

In order to carry out effective communication, users have to agree about the real relationships among
the linguistic signs and the reality (objects, situations, happenings…). Language represents the vision
that speakers have of the reality around them. The origin of language is directly related to the need for
communication, and its acquisition and development are only possible in a social interplay.
A useful approach to language, and one used by most current linguists, is to identify its essen-
tial defining features. The aim is to establish what counts as a human language, as opposed to other
systems of communication. The most widely recognized comparative approach was proposed by the
American linguist Charles F. Hocket. He made a set of 13 design features of communication using
spoken language, and studied whether these features could be found in animal communication. He
concluded that some animals shared some of these characteristics when communicating, such as the
use of sounds (birds, dolphins, monkeys and other species). However, most of the features are
unique to human language.
We will discuss some important ones:
- Auditory-vocal channel. Human language is a system of sound signals used between mouth
and ear, as opposed to visual, tactile or other means of communication.
- Total feedback. Speakers hear and can reflect upon everything they say.
- Arbitrariness. There is no link between the signal and the nature of the reality to which it refers.
There is no intrinsic connection, for example, between the word "dog" and the animal it repre-
sents.
- Traditional transmission. Human language is acquired by a long learning process, which is
transmitted from one generation to the next. Human language is by no means totally conditioned
by the environment, and there is some type of innate predisposition towards learning it.
- Duality. The sounds of a language or its phonemes mean nothing separately, but they become
meaningful when they are combined with other phonemes to form words. This organization of
language in two layers is known as duality or double articulation.
- Displacement. Speakers can talk about events remote in time and space.
- Productivity. Human language is essentially creative (or productive). Humans can understand
and produce new sentences, that's to say, sentences that they have not heard or said before.
- Structure dependence. Language operations depend on an understanding of the internal struc-
ture of a sentence, rather than on the number of elements involved. A person cannot learn a lan-
guage by mechanical means such as counting the elements of a sentence. He/she must know
how the elements of the structure are related to each other.
To summarize, language is a patterned system of arbitrary sound signals characterized by dis-
placement, duality, creativity, cultural transmission and structure dependence. All there features show
that acquiring a language is a complicated process which is unconscious and effortless when children
learn their mother tongue, but conscious and difficult when learning a foreign language.
1.2. COMMUNICATION THEORIES

Nowadays language is considered a means of communication, not simply a system of struc-
tures and words. Language is an interactive event occurring between participants.
The branch of linguistics that studies the factors that govern our choice of language in social in-
teraction is called pragmatics. The field of pragmatics is fairly new and sometimes overlaps with other
areas, such as semantics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics or stylistics. Pragmatic factors always in-
fluence our selection of grammatical structures, vocabulary and intonation.
Language constraints, such as expressions of politeness, conventions of greeting, leave taking
and so on, vary from one language to another, and some of them are taught to us at a very early
stage (for instance, in British English, the importance of using please and thank you.)
We will now explain three influential approaches on communication theory: the cooperative
principle, the speech act theory and discourse analysis.
Cooperative principle.
This is a term derived from the American philosopher Paul Grice, who is sometimes regarded as
the "father of pragmatics". Grice emphasized that people cooperate in the process of communication
in order to reduce misunderstanding. He attempted to specify the principles which underline this co-
operative behaviour, and proposed four maxims or rules of conversation:
- Maxim of Quantity - states that speakers should give the right amount of information. A speaker
should say neither too little nor too much.
- Maxim of Quality - states that a speaker's contribution to a conversation ought to be true. They
should not say what they believe to be false, nor should they say something about which they lack
evidence.
- Maxim of Relevance states that contributions should clearly relate to the purpose of exchange.
Speakers should be relevant.
- Maxim of Manner - states that the contributions should be clear, perspicuous. More specifically:
speakers should avoid obscurity and ambiguity. They should also be clear and orderly.
These maxims are best regarded not as rules but as implicit principles on which successful
communication is built. Other maxims have also been proposed: the politeness principle, suggested
by G. Leech, and the relevance theory.
Speech act theory.
The British philosopher J.L. Austin was the first to draw attention to the fact that many utter-
ances do not communicate information but are equivalent to actions. When a judge says: "I sentence
you to five years' imprisonment", he/she is not merely saying a string of words: his/her utterance has
the same effect as if the judge performed the action of locking the person up. Austin called these ut-
terances performatives. He has found three types of performative acts:
- Locutionary act. This refers to the literal meaning conveyed by the words and structures con-
tained in the utterance: It s cold today (a statement about the weather).
- Illocutionary act. This refers to the act which is performed as a result of the speaker making an
utterance, such as requesting, promising, warning, welcoming, betting, and so on: What's the
time? (requesting the time).
- Perlocutionary act. This refers to the effect the speaker's utterance has on the listener, such as
persuading, commanding, convincing, etc.: Go to bed! (commanding).
One of the most widely-used taxonomies of speech acts is that proposed by J.R. Searl:
1. Representative. Description of states and events with an assertion: Today is Monday.
2. Directive. Suggestions, commands, requesting, etc: Please, be quiet.
3. Commissives. Threats, promises, etc.: If you pass the exams, you'll get a prize.
4. Expressive. Expressions of feelings and attitudes: The film was horrible.
5. Declarative. Marrying, christening, declaring in institutional frameworks: I declare you the
natural successor
Discourse analysis.
―Discourse‖ is quite an elastic term in linguistics. It is often used to mean any sequence of lan-
guage in written or spoken form larger than a sentence. The distinctive feature of discourse is that it
stresses the communicative dynamics of language. In this sense, discourse analysis means studying
all those features which are part of the communicative act: the context of the utterance, the tenor of
relationships, the mode of discourse, and so on. Of the many types of communicative acts, most
study has been devoted to conversation.
Conversation analysis (also known as ethno methodology) studies aspects such as strategies
for beginning and ending a conversation, changing topics, and the use of adjacency pairs. These are
formulaic exchanges: greeting-greeting, question-answer, apology-acceptance, etc.
Examples:
Greeting: Hello, Tom.
Greeting: Hi, Bill.
Offer: Would you like a cup of tea?
Acceptance: Yes, please.
Once we have studied these approaches, we can conclude that they have a common concern:
they see language as a dynamic, social and interactive phenomenon, whether between the speaker
and listener or the writer and reader. Meaning is conveyed not by single sentences but by more com-
plex exchanges, in which the participant, the purpose and the situation play a crucial part. We will see
these factors in more detail further on in this chapter. But first let us analyze the main features of oral
and written language.
2. ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE
2.1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

For centuries, written language held a more pre-eminent place than oral language. It was the
medium of literature, and thus the standard of linguistic excellence. Grammatical rules were always il-
lustrated from written texts.
Oral language, on the contrary, was an object unworthy of study, because it was considered to
be lacking in care and organization. In fact, it was said that oral language had no rules and in order to
speak "properly" it was necessary to follow the structure of the written form.
The supremacy of written language over oral language remained until the 19th century, in which
there was sporadic criticism of this viewpoint. It wasn't until the 20th century, however, that a new ap-
proach appeared. This new approach pointed out that speech was more important than writing, for
three reasons:
1. Because speech is much more ancient than writing,
2. Because it is developed naturally in children, while writing is artificially taught,
3. And because writing is a transcription of the rounds of speech.
The American linguist Leonard Bloomfield said: "Writing is not language, but merely a way of
recording language by means of visible marks. Because of the emphasis given to the spoken lan-
guage, it was now the turn of writing to fall into disrepute. Many linguists considered the written lan-
guage a useful tool for a minority: writers and scientists. For the rest, written language was consid-
ered a mere reflection of spoken language, being excluded from scientific study.
Nowadays, the vision of both means is changing. Linguists no longer consider one means better
than the other, or one of them to be the reflection of the other. Speech and writing are different sys-
tems of communication, with their own characteristics and uses.
2.2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE

The most obvious difference between oral and written language is the physical form: speech
uses the form of air-pressure movements and the written language uses graphs that are marks on a
surface.
A great consequence follows this physical difference: listening is different to reading. Listening
to an informal conversation differs from reading a written text. Speech is immediate, dynamic, transi-
tory and interactive. Writing is static and permanent, and there is no interaction, in general, between
the addresser and addressee.
Furthermore, oral language is developed naturally in children, while written language should be
taught. In foreign language teaching, this implies that we should develop oral skills before written
skills, following the pattern of natural development of mother language.
The knowledge of the differences between speech and writing will allow the teacher to design
activities depending on the difficulty of the skills that must be developed: speaking and listening are
oral skills; reading and writing are written skills. We must not forget that in the English language there
is a great difference between the oral and written form, which usually leads students to having prob-
lems when writing, making mistakes such as:
It's a teibol, instead of It’s a table.
or pronouncing words as if they were reading Spanish:
saying /ause / instead of / ‗haus/
Let's look at the differences between oral and written language, and try to understand the spe-
cific features of each medium.
2.3. CHARACTERISTICS OF ORAL LANGUAGE
Expressive possibilities.
The immediacy of oral language makes it more expressive than writing. When speaking, we can
vary the tone, the accent and the speed of our words to underline the most important word in our
speech, or to show our attitude towards what we're saying. We can show our interest, apathy, irony or
scorn:
Really?
Great!
Awful!
Use of gestures and body language.
They're important because they reinforce the transmission of the message. Gestures and words
go together in the speech act.
Simple constructions.
The spontaneity and speed of oral language makes a person build simpler sentences when
speaking than when writing, because he/she has less time to select more complicated forms.
Pause, repetitions or rephrasing.
These are frequent, according to the degree of the speaker's understanding (feedback).
Errors.
It's normal to make mistakes when uttering words, to hesitate when speaking or say incomplete
sentences.
2.3.1. Methodological principles of oral language

- Principles of activity.
- Principles of socialization.
- Principles of individualization.
- Motivation.
The first aim at school should be to motivate and release oral language starting from the child's
interest and experience (referential principle). The children must feel the need to communicate and
this is only possible starting from their own personal experience.
2.3.2. Main forms and techniques of oral communication

- Practice of dialogues: conversation, role-play, survey, interview, dramatization brain-
storming, etc.
- Practice of monologues: narration, explanation and oral description, reading dialogues
aloud, etc.
2.3.3. Assessment of oral language

The task of evaluating is a difficult one in any subject but as far as oral language is concerned, it
is even more complex. This is due to the fact that oral communication is nct only influenced by the
way of expressing but also by the speaker's personality, intelligence and emotions.
Evaluation of oral language includes three levels:
- Diagnostic of the difficulties and mistakes
- Correction
- Planning of activities of reinforcement and extension
2.4. CHARACTERISTICS OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Precision.
The fact that writing is permanent allows more time for its preparation, promoting the develop-
ment of careful organization and more structured expression than in oral language. Sentences should
be complete, paragraphs should have internal cohesion and words should be correctly written. A text
which is full of errors or incomplete sentences would be considered an illiterate text.
Clarity.
The participants in a written interaction are not usually present. Therefore, there is an absence
of immediate answer (immediate feedback) for possible explanations of the message. Ambiguity
should be limited to the maximum.
Unique graphic features.

Writing displays several unique features such as punctuation, spelling, space organization, capi-
talization and calligraphy which oral language does not have; all this makes the learning of this skill
more difficult.
Formal.
Written language tends to be more formal than spoken language and it provides a standard
valued by society.
2.4.1. Methodology of written language

In the same way as we distinguish controlled practice, guided or directed practice and free prac-
tice in oral language, we should distinguish them in written language. The difference between the
three stages is the level of free participation the student has when writing.
2.4.2. Assessment of written language
A good test should give us a reliable indication of our students' skills and ensure that they do
not suffer because of a question which has not been thought over carefully. A good test also must be
valid. It must test what it is meant to test.
2.5. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The knowledge of the characteristics of oral and written language allows the teacher to pro-
gramme activities which will develop each one of them in an appropriate way. We can draw several
conclusions:
 Oral language is easier to acquire than written language, so it should be introduced earlier. It is
more "natural" for a person to start listening and speaking first and later to read and write, espe-
cially at the beginning of the learning process.
 Written language is characterized by a bigger demand in the correction of its structure than oral
language. Sentences should be complete and grammatically correct, and words should be spelt
correctly.
 Errors in oral language should be considered as more "normal" within the learning process, due
to time constraints when uttering a message.
 Spelling exercises are important: students find the writing of words in English difficult, because
of the difference between the oral and written forms. Dictations, copies and rules help the stu-
dent pay more attention to English spelling.
 The understanding of oral expressions should be encouraged, as in:
Well?
Really?
I see.
Oh, that's nice!
 The graphic features of writing make the learning of this skill the slowest to acquire. The prepa-
ration of texts, letters and written work should be very simple and guided in the Second Cycle,
and more complex and freer in the Third Cycle. Reading and writing in the first cycle should re-
main at word or basic structures level.
 To be able to write is not only a necessary linguistic competence. It is also necessary to learn
how to organize ideas in a written text. The teacher should give notions of style to help the stu-
dents to organize their discourse logically and cohesively. In the case of a letter, for example,
the teacher should explain what it would contain in an English-speaking country.
3. FACTORS THAT DEFINE COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION

As we saw in part 1, communication between humans is a complex and dynamic phenomenon.
Our daily life is full of communicative acts, and their nature depends on several factors: the partici-
pants (a relative, a stranger, our boss), the context (in the morning at home, at night in a restaurant)
and the type of activity we're engaged in (phone conversation, conference). In fact, the choice of the
words that we use will vary according to the factors of each situation. Language appropriateness will
depend on the knowledge of language use. An informal greeting to a member of your family is not the
same as the greeting you'd use with a person you've just met.
In the English classroom it's necessary to keep these factors in mind, since it is through small
communicative acts that we will introduce language structures and vocabulary. The communicative
approach is based not only on creating communicative situations in the classroom as models for
learning the language, but also on developing appropriateness.
We are going to analyze the factors that take part in a communicative act and the pedagogical
implications derived from them.
3.1. ADDRESSER, ADDRESSEE

They are the participants in the communicative act. The addresser is the author of the message
and the addressee is the person or people to whom it is directed. In an oral communicative act, the
participants can see each other, like in a face to face conversation, or not, as in the case of a tele-
phone conversation. Gestures and body language will be more usual in a face to face conversation,
while a conversation on the phone will be full of expressions, which indicate that the addressee has
no problem in following the message.
In written language, the addresser and the addressee can be two people exchanging letters, the
writer/novelist and his/her readers, a company and the people that read the advertisements of a prod-
uct...
The relationship between the participants in a communicative act is one of the factors that affect
the style of language we adopt, and it is particularly relevant in situations which call for more or less
formality. A father and a son will naturally use a different language style to an employee talking to
his/her boss. There will be differences in the syntactic structure, choice of words and intonation.
In daily life, we are continuously changing roles as addressers and addressees. In an English
classroom we should also try to vary the interactions, so that the communicative act is as genuine as
possible. The communicative approach, in fact, rejects the traditional pattern: teacher-student, and
advocates the creation of varied interactions:teacher-student or students, student-teacher,student-
student , student-students...
3.2. THE CONTEXT

Linguists distinguish between linguistic context and situational context. The former refers to the
context provided by the linguistic system itself; it is the text - i.e. the words, phrases, sounds, etc. –
that accompanies the particular sentence or utterance. The latter refers to the place and the moment
in which the communicative act is developed.
The situational context will influence the language type that is used in a communicative act. A
family context, where the language is colloquial, and a formal context, such as a conference, where
the grammatical constructions are complex and the vocabulary is ample and erudite, are obviously
not the same thing.
In the English class the student should not only be able to communicate a message; he or she
should also learn how to select the language form to use in a certain context.
Students should learn that the imperative is more informal, and that courtesy formulas are used
in more formal situations. Here's an example in which the formality of the structure increases:
Informal:
- Pass me the salt.
- Can you pass me the salt, please?
- Could you pass me the salt, please?
More formal:
- Would you be so kind as to pass me the salt, please?
In the English class, role–plays are very useful to recreate a situation. Students imagine that
they are in a certain place and time, and they have to communicate in that context in an appropriate
way (appropriateness). For example, they should know how to greet, how to say goodbye, how to
thank, etc., in a family context, or in a shop, or with a stranger.
Many linguists make a distinction between micro-context and macro-context. The micro-context
is the immediate one in which a communicative act occurs, and it includes two features: the setting,
which is the place where the act occurs (a school, a shop) and the occasion, which is the particular
set of circumstances (during a lesson, asking for an item) . The macro-context refers to more remote
environments. It includes sociocultural aspects, such as shared values, beliefs, traditions and knowl-
edge of the world. That's why sociocultural aspects must be present when teaching a foreign lan-
guage.
3.3. PURPOSE
The purpose is the intention of a message. Addressers in a communicative act want something
to happen as a result of what they say or write. They may want to give some information; they may
want to express pleasure or they may want to apologize. The purpose will vary the election of the
words of the addresser. If the intention is to apologize, the addresser can choose among a variety of
apologizing forms:
- Sorry.
- I ‘m sorry.
- I'm afraid this cup seems to have broken.
When learning English, the students should have a purpose or desire to communicate. In other
words, they should be using language in some way to achieve an objective. The concepts of purpose
and desire have an important methodological implication: if the students have a communicative pur-
pose then communication will be effective, and they'll learn the language.
3.4. TOPIC
The topic is the matter about which the interaction develops. Topics can be varied: health,
transport, clothes, sports, etc. There's usually a set of terms particular to each topic or field which we
interpret in relation to the field. If we hear the phrase ―a heat wave‖, for instance, we know that we are
listening to a conversation about the weather.
In order to have successful communicative activities in the English class it is essential for the
topics to be based on the students' interests. If short-age students are taught structures and vocabu-
lary based on politics, we are sure they'll be unmotivated and, therefore, they'll have serious difficul-
ties learning them. If, on the contrary, we use topics of their interest, such as animals, sports or the
family, about which students can express ideas and feelings, the communicative act will be success-
ful.
3.5. MEDIUM/ CHANNEL

The medium is the means by which a message is transmitted. As far as language is concerned,
there are two types of media: speech (phonic medium) and writing (graphic medium). The channel is
the technical means of transmission: telephone, television, radio, etc. The form of the message will
change depending on the medium and channel we choose. The words chosen by the addresser in a
declaration of love will vary, depending on whether they're done by telephone, letter, face to face, fax,
etc. As we have already seen in part two, writing involves a different attitude towards language and a
different relationship between participants.
A Foreign Language Student should know the formulas and roles of use in each means. For
example, the sequence to answer a telephone differs in English and in Spanish. In English, the for-
mula "Dígame" does not exist. British people answer the telephone by saying his/her telephone num-
ber:
1. (The telephone rings)
2. 622001. Hello?
3. Hello. Is Mary in?
These cultural differences in the use of the medium and channel are important, because their
ignorance can not only cause an inadequate use of the language, but also misunderstandings.
3.6. CODE
The code is the communication system shared by addresser and addressee. Language is the
most frequent code used. But there are also other extralinguistic codes, such as the facial expres-
sions, body language or intonation that we use to make our message come through easily.
Non-verbal communication is very important during the acquisition of a foreign language, espe-
cially in the first years, when students still have very little communicative competent. Facial expres-
sions, posters, flashcards… help the message to be transmitted and understood.
It is also convenient for students to know the existent of common body language in most cul-
tures (consent or negation with the head, expressions of fatigue or hunger, etc.). It's worth noting that
there can be expressions which lack meaning in another culture, or can even be offensive.
3.7. REGISTER
In linguistics, register refers to a defined style of language and has to do with more - or less
formality in the use of language. The register relates all the factors entering into a communication act:
the topic, the channel, the medium, the tenor and the context. The way we ask a boy to do something
has a very different linguistic approach to the way we ask our boss. Although the intention is the same
in both cases, the context and addressee change and, in consequence, the grammatical structure, the
vocabulary and the degree of formality of the language also change.
According to Aitchison, register could be defined as the rules of the game that must be learnt to
be able to express ourselves correctly (in our case, linguistic rules). In any game, like football or
chess, it is necessary to know the aims of the game, the principles of interaction and the moves that
are permitted.
The "aims" of language involve the intention of the addresser (conveying information, express-
ing emotions...). The "rules" are given by social and cultural conventions (speaking in turns, respond-
ing to greetings, thanking...). The "permitted moves" are related to grammatical and spelling rules. All
there aspects of the game are important. And we must know them to be able to play well.
Martin Joos (1962), mentioned by Geoffrey Finch in "Linguistic Terms and Concepts", describes
the following register:
Formal.
Used by judges, lecturers and preachers. It features:
- Complex structures.
- Ample vocabulary.
- Meticulous pronunciation and no contractions.
Consultative.
Used for conversing with a stranger or for small group discussion. It features:
- Complete grammatical forms.
- Absence of elaborated terms and slang.
- Clear and friendly pronunciation.
Casual.
Used to converse among friends. It features: Sentence fillers ("you know", "I mean").
- Semantically empty words ("whatsit"), slang.
- Not always clear pronunciation and varied intonation.
Intimate.
Used among members of a family or people who know each other very well. It features:
- Non-verbal communication.
- Nonsense words, reduced vocabulary.
- Exaggerated intonation.
Frozen.
Used in literature, religion, legal works, funeral services, weddings, etc. It features:
- Ceremonial language.
- Archaic and latinized vocabulary.
- Meticulous pronuntiation, neutral intonation.
In the English classroom, the registers used correspond to informal or intimate situations, since
the context will always be friendly. In the Third Cycle the teacher could introduce a more formal lan-
guage, or at least let the students know of its existence, giving them situations in which they have to
meet unknown people (a gentleman in the street, an authority), and so on.
4. FUNCTIONALITY
What do we use language for, in its oral or written form? The most immediate answer would be
"to communicate our ideas and feelings." But it would be wrong to think of it as the only function of
language. Linguists have identified many other functions of language and they consider that the
communication of ideas is only one of many functions. It is obvious that we decide what we want to
say on the basis of which purpose we wish to achieve. Do we wish to invite? To agree? To congratu-
late? All these purposes have been called language functions. Greetings, for example, do not com-
municate any idea; they are only courtesy expressions that human beings use to maintain social rela-
tionships.
FACTORS CORRESPONDING FUNCTIONS
Addresser Emotive
Addressee Conative
Context Referencial
Message Poetic
Channel Phatic
Code Metalingual
Firstly, let us see the main functions of language, followed by the pedagogical implications.
4.1. JAKOBSON'S MODEL

One of the most influential models has been that of the Swedish linguist Roman Jakobson, who
has found six general functions. These functions can be paired with the factors that define the com-
municative situation (point three of this chapter):
Emotive function.
This is the expression of feelings and attitudes. The most common expressions are usually:
"Oh, my God!" or interjections such as "Wow!". It is directed to the addresser.
Conative function.
This is used to draw the addressee's attention. For example, the expression to get the waiter's
attention "Excuse me!" is directed to the addressee.
Referential function.
This is the function we mentioned at the beginning of this section. It is the communication of
ideas or facts: for example, the explanation of a lesson or the narration of what has been done during
a holiday. It is directed towards the context.
Poetic function.
This is the language used for aesthetic purposes (poetry) or as verbal play (crosswords, jokes,
riddles, tongue twisters). It is directed towards the message.
Phatic function.
This is based on the human being's need for showing signs of friendship. Sentences like: "Good
morning!,"Nice to meet you!" are used as courtesy formulas or as ice-breakers. It is directed towards
the channel.
Metalingual function.
This is used when explanations are requested for clarification, for example: "I don't understand",
"I can't read this". It is directed towards the code.
These functions of language have the following pedagogical implications: the English language
teacher should not only teach the language for students to communicate their ideas (referential func-
tion), but he/she should also teach expressions, phrases or interjections to help them maintain rela-
tionships (phatic function), enjoy the language (poetic function) or to understand the language better
(metalingual function).
4.2. HALLIDAY'S MODEL

The British linguist Michael Halliday believes language exists to fulfill certain human needs,
such as the need to make sense of the world or to relate to others. His model of language is called
functional or systemic grammar. The development of this grammar was a reaction to more abstract
approaches associated with Chomsky's generative grammar. Halliday sees language as a social and
cultural phenomenon, whereas Chomsky sees it as a biological one.
Halliday identifies three principal functions of language:
 The ideational function. This function emphasizes language as an instrument of thought with
which we represent the world to ourselves. We use the language to conceptualize the world:
language refers to real or imagined objects, persons, events, etc.
 The interpersonal function. This function emphasizes language as an instrument of transac-
tion by which we represent ourselves to other people. We use language as a personal medium:
to establish or maintain social relationships.
 The textual function. This function emphasizes language as an instrument of communication
with which we construct sentences cohesively and coherently. We use language to form texts,
whether spoken or written.
Today, FLT has incorporated the functional and communicative potential of language into teach-
ing. Language teaching now focuses on communicative proficiency rather than on mastery of struc-
tures. Several pedagogical implications can be derived from this view of language:
1. The language presented to students must be contextualized in realistic and natural situa-
tions;
2. students are expected to interact with one another through pair and group work in order to
experience communication,
3. syllabuses should be organized around the notions and functions that learners may need in
order to communicate successfully, such as expressing likes and dislikes, asking, identify-
ing, accepting /declining invitations, etc.
5. THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO FLT
5.1. BACKGROUND
The Communicative Approach appeared in the 1970s as a reaction to the Audio-lingual Method,
which paid more attention to structure than to its function. The attack on audio-lingual beliefs resulted
from changes in the American linguistic theories in the 1960s. The changes became a revolution in
applied linguistics, that is, the teaching of a language. The person responsible for these changes was
Noam Chomsky.
Noam Chomsky rejected the structuralist approach to language description and the behaviourist
ideas on language learning: "Language is not a habit structure. Ordinary linguistic behaviour charac-
teristically involves innovation, formation of new sentences and patterns in accordance with rules of
great abstractness and intricacy". What struck Chomsky about language was its creativity, that is, the
capacity to generate completely novel sentences, endlessly.
He proposed an alternative theory of language learning to that of behaviourism. Chomsky ar-
gued that sentences are not learned by imitation and repetition but are generated from the learners'
competence.
Learners, then, should be encouraged to use their innate and creative abilities.
British applied linguists emphasized another fundamental dimension of language: its functional
and communicative potential. They saw language learning as the learning of communicative profi-
ciency rather than the mastery of structures. Scholars who advocated this view of language drew on
the work of British functional linguists (e.g. Halliday), American sociolinguists (e.g. Hymes and Labov),
as well as work in philosophy (e.g. Austin and Searl). The work of these scholars had a significant im-
pact on the development of a Communicative Approach to language teaching.
The Council of Europe incorporated this communicative view into a set of specifications for a
first-level communicative language syllabus called "Threshold Level English" in the 1980s. These
specifications have had a strong influence on the design of communicative or functional language
programmes and textbooks in Europe. The Communicative Approach is also called Communicative
Language Teaching and Functional Approach.
5.2. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

The American sociolinguist Dell Hymes established a new concept in language theory which
complemented Halliday's functional view: the communicative competence. It is defined as what a
speaker needs to know in order to be communicatively competent in a speech community. Hymes
coined this term in contrast to Chomsky's theory of competence. For Chomsky, competence simply
implied the knowledge of the language system. Hymes maintained that Chomsky's theory was incom-
plete, and that a communicative and cultural dimension should be incorporated. A speaker does not
only need the ability to use grammatical structures, but also to learn how to use those structures in a
community (appropriateness).
Canale and Swain (1980) were two linguists who expanded the previous description of Hymes',
establishing four dimensions of the communicative competence (subcompetences):
1. Grammatical competence. This refers to the correct use of the linguistic code, i.e. the
mastery of grammatical structures, vocabulary and pronunciation. Chomsky called this
"linguistic competence".
2. Discursive competence. The ability to relate and combine grammatical forms, in order to
achieve coherent texts.
3. Sociolinguistic competence. The ability to produce and understand messages relating to
social context, participants and purpose; in other words, the appropriate use of language.
4. Strategic competence. It refers to participants' verbal and non-verbal strategies: begin-
ning, maintaining or finishing a chunk of communication, avoiding ruptures in the trans-
mission of the message. These are the procedures which are necessary for communica-
tion to be effective.
These four skills are complemented by socio-cultural competence, which implies the knowledge
of certain cultural facts which are of key importance for us to understand a message completely.
The communicative strand relates to conscious and subconscious learning, and to accuracy as
well as to fluency and appropriateness. Julian Edge describes the students' tasks as juggling with
three clubs: 1)accuracy: conforming to the language itself; 2) fluency: using the system quickly and
easily, and 3) appropriateness: relating successfully to other people through language.
5.3. COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

Communicative activities refer to the tasks and exercises that the student carries out for real
communication. These activities focus more on the message than on the linguistic features of the lan-
guage. Children learn how to speak without knowing what verbs, adjectives or verbal tenses are.
The communicative approach believes that the practice of communicative activities will produce
the unconscious learning of the structures of the language.
A communicative activity must be:
 Interactive. Two or more people are involved in the communicative interaction.
 Unpredictable. A student has to seek the information his/her partner has. This will create the
necessity and the desire to communicate.
 Within a context. This refers to the situational context (place, circumsta ces, time, channel
used...) as well as the linguistic context (cohesion in linguistic forms and in vocabulary).
 Authentic. The language used should be genuine, that is to say, similar to that of an English-
speaking person
Examples of oral communicative activities:

 Information-gap activities. In these activities there is missing information the student must
discover. For example, asking for the number of brothers and sisters that a partner has.
 Role-play. Students pretend they are someone else in an imaginary situation. For example,
buying a T-shirt in a clothes shop. The most common sequence for roleplaying is:
- Setting the context and situation.
- Describing the roles that the students will perform and the purpose of the conversa-
tion.
- Presenting linguistic options that learners may choose from: vocabulary, structures...
- Demonstrating role-play so that students get familiar with the use of the different op-
tions.
- Role-playing. The performance of roles and use of language.
 Problem-solving. This activity can be carried out in pairs or in groups, and it consists of solving a
problem — for instance, discovering the differences in similar pictures.
 Following instructions. Students should follow instructions which they're given. For example, a
cooking recipe or instructions for using a device.
 Describing personal experiences. Describing learner's own experiences of his/her life is a
highly motivating activity. For example: describing a member of their family, telling about a typi-
cal day, etc.
 Communicative games. Games are also motivating and real for children. For example: Snakes
and Ladders, Battleships, the Hangman...
 "Reaching a consensus" activities. The students must agree with each other on a topic. For
example, they have to choose ten objects they would take with them if they had to go camping.
Examples of written communicative activities:

 Writing instructions. Students write instructions which other students, or the teacher, have to
carry out.
 Writing short messages. This is the most basic forro of letter-writing, very appropriate for be-
ginner levels. Examples: writing invitations, writing personal questions, instructions, etc.
 Writing short letters.
 Writing to penfriends. This is one of the most motivating and genuine communicative activi-
ties, since students use their English for a real purpose in a real situation.
 Writing questionnaires, quizzes, puzzles, TV programmes.
 Writing imaginary diaries.
 Filling in forms. The students give their personal data. This is a useful activity, since filling in
forms is very frequent in real life.
 Communicative games: The Hangman, finding mistakes...
 Project work. This is a very useful activity for integrating skills. It usually involves some re-
search (interviewing, reading), and some group discussion about the topic to write about. There
are, therefore, two stages: the process of carrying out the project and the final product. We can
also integrate the skills of listening and speaking if the students explain their work orally. At a
basic level, topics will be about students' interests: food, animals, descriptions, the family, etc.
6. CONCLUSION
Learning a foreign language today implies knowing how to use the language just as a native
does: knowing the structures and the vocabulary, at oral and written in a variety of circumstances and
situations.
Right now the teaching of English is more complex than it used to be. The English teacher can't
just teach structures, vocabulary and pronunciation. He/she should add a new element: the social
one. The teacher should keep in mind that the structures that he/she will teach (the code) are trans-
mitted within a certain context, through a channel, and orientated to an addressee who will interpret it.
In short, the function of the message and the factors that intervene in a communication act are as-
pects which must be included in the methodology of the foreign language.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
AITCHISON, J.: ―Linguistics. Hodder and Stoughton‖. 1999.
BREWSTER, J. et al.: ―The Primary English Teacher's Guide‖. Penguin. 1992.
CRYSTAL, D.: ―The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of
Language‖. University Press. Cambridge, 1997.
FINCH, G.: ―Linguistic Terms and Concepts‖. Macmillan Press Ltd. 2000.
HARMER, J.: ―The Practice of English Language Teaching‖. Longman. 1991.
LEWIS, M. et al.: ―Practical Techniques for Language Teaching‖. Language Teaching Publica-
tions. 1992.
MCDONOUGH, J. et al.: ―Materials and Methods in ELT‖. Blackwell. 1993
SAUSSURE, Ferdinand. ―Cours de linguistique génerale.‖ Droz. Genéve, 1957. Last edition:
Open Court Publishing Company (July 1986).
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/-wrader/slang/ (slang dictionary)
JAKOBSON, ROMAN & HALLE, MORRIS, ―Fundamentals of Language‖. Mountain&Co. S.

Gravenhague. 1956. Walter de Gruyter; Reprint edition (January 2002).

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TEMA 1.

LA LENGUA COMO COMUNICACIÓN: LENGUA-

 analyse our own problems

 organise our own information

Thus we regulate, guide and control our own activity.

1.2. COMMUNICATION THEORIES

2. ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE

2.1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

2.2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE

2.3.1. Methodological principles of oral language

2.3.2. Main forms and techniques of oral communication

2.3.3. Assessment of oral language

2.4. CHARACTERISTICS OF WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Unique graphic features.

2.4.1. Methodology of written language

2.5. PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

3. FACTORS THAT DEFINE COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION

3.1. ADDRESSER, ADDRESSEE

3.2. THE CONTEXT

3.5. MEDIUM/ CHANNEL

4.1. JAKOBSON'S MODEL

4.2. HALLIDAY'S MODEL

5.2. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

5.3. COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES

Examples of oral communicative activities:

Examples of written communicative activities:

JAKOBSON, ROMAN & HALLE, MORRIS, ―Fundamentals of Language‖. Mountain&Co. S.

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