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TEMA 1
La lengua como comunicacin: lenguaje oral y lenguaje escrito. Factores que definen
una situacin comunicativa: emisor, receptor, funcionalidad y contexto
0. Introduction
1. What is communication?
2. Language and communication
2.1 Language as a linguistic system
2.2 Language as doing things: The functional perspective
2.3 Language as self-expression
2.4 Language as culture and ideology
3. Spoken and written language
3.1 Communicative language processes
3.1.1
Planning
3.1.2
Execution
0. Introduction
Current pedagogic approaches to modern foreign languages (MFL) teaching
focus on communicative competence, which simply means to equip the learner with the
knowledge, skills and interpersonal strategies they need effectively to be able to
communicate with speakers of the language in question.
Many different perspectives on the nature of language, a complex phenomenon
as Cunningsworth (1995) comments, can be found both in the theoretical literature and
in the coursebooks and materials we use. These perspectives may in certain cases be
stated explicitly, while in others they may remain implicit. In either case, however, they
are present and influence how the language is presented to students and which aspects
of it are selected for study.
On the other hand, communication has become a buzz word and un umbrella
term which is applied to almost any approach to MFL teaching and learning nowadays.
That is why it is important to be clear about its concept and implications.
1. What is communication?
Canale (1983) understands communication to have the following characteristics: it
appropriate use of the language in real everyday situations. That is one of the reasons
why the methods used produced grammatically competent students but only too often
communicatively incompetent ones.
The growth of the communicative approach in the 1970s emphasised that language
is a tool for achieving communicative goals, and not simply a linguistic system in its
own right. At the same time, language is a system, and mastering this system (or parts
of it at least) is a meaningful form of communication. A coherent approach to language
teaching therefore calls for choices to be made about all these aspects. That is why this
section centres around four main visions of the nature of language as proposed by Tudor
(2001), all of them having to do with language as communication2 :
1
2
Vid Topic 13
Vid Topic 6
Other perspectives exist, and this section does not claim to provide a
comprehensive overview of all theories of language, but simply to examine some of the
more frequent ways of seeing language which teachers are likely to encounter in the
daily practice of teaching.
2.1
The language system comprises three main elements: phonology, vocabulary and
grammar. They are part of linguistic competences, which is one of the components of
communicative language competence. Following the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages, published by the Council of Europe in 2001, they include
lexical, phonological, syntactical knowledge and skills and other dimensions of
language as system, independently of the sociolinguistic value of its variations and the
pragmatic function of its realisations. This component relates not only to the range and
quality of knowledge (e.g. in terms of phonetic distinctions made or the extent and
precision of vocabulary) but also to cognitive organisation and the way this knowledge
is stored (e.g. the various associative networks in which the speaker places a lexical
item) and to its accessibility (activation, recall and availability). Knowledge may be
conscious and readily expressible or may not (e.g. once again in relation to mastery of a
phonetic system). Its organisation and accessibility will vary from one individual to
another and vary also within the same individual (e.g. for a plurilingual person
depending on the varieties inherent in his or her plurilingual competence). It can also be
held that the cognitive organisation of vocabulary and the storing of expressions, etc.
depend, amongst other things, on the cultural features of the community or communities
in which the individual has been socialised and where his or her learning has occurred.
2.2
language can be put. Language scholars have identified many functions (macrofunctions) to which language can be put. Thus
(b)
(c)
FUNCTION:
addresser
addressee
conative
context
message
poetic
contact
code
metalinguistic
(a)
(b)
(c)
interactive
function
connected
with
the
shared
world
of
the
communicants.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Heuristic (tell me why): exploring the world around and inside one
(f)
(g)
These are arranged in the order in which they appeared from 9 months onwards, before
the child had a recognizable linguistic system. Halliday speaks of there being several
meanings in each function. Learning the mother tongue is interpreted as progressive
mastery of a number of basic functions of language and the building up of a meaning
potential in respect of each.
5. Hymes (1962), following Jakobson, 1960) proposes seven broad types of functions
which language in use serves:
(a)
expressive / emotive
(b)
(c)
poetic
(d)
(e)
(f)
referential
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(g)
contextual / situational
(a)
sender
(b)
receiver
(c)
message form
(d)
(e)
(f)
topic
(g)
setting or situation
a genre may be embedded thus a sermon or prayer may be part of the larger event, a
church service). In later recensions Hymes adds other features, for example key (which
involves evaluation was it a good sermon, a pathetic explanation, etc.), and purpose
(what did the participants intend should come about as a result of the communicative
event.
Hymes theory of communicative competence (1972) played an important role
in introducing a new perspective on language into reflection on language teaching.
Hymes situates language in its social context as the medium by which members of a
speech community express concepts, perceptions, and values which have significance to
them as members of this community. Language, then, can only be understood within the
framework of the meaning structures of the relevant speech community, and the study
of language therefore needs to operate within a sociological and sociocultural
framework. This implies that the teaching of language needs to accommodate this
dimension of meaning and enable learners to operate effectively within the relevant
speech community. According to Hymes the rules of appropriacy linking forms to
contextual features were not simply to be grafted on to grammatical competence, but
were to be acquired simultaneously with it.
This perspective on language underpinned work on notional / functional
syllabuses (Wilkins, 1976; Finocchiaro and Brumfit, 1983) and the communicative
approach to language teaching (Widdowson, 1978). As a result of this line of reflection,
language came to be seen as social action and the social or functional uses which
learners were to make of the language became the starting point for the development of
learning programmes. Communicative language teaching (CLT) arose out of this
perspective on language and, on this basis, set out to develop an approach to teaching
whose goal was to enable students to use the language in one or more socially defined
contexts. In this view, language learners are social actors whose learning goals are
defined by the contexts in which they will be required to use the language and the
messages they will wish to convey in these contexts.
Wilkins (1976) proposed a notional or semantic approach which would reflect
the behavioural needs of learners, would take the communicative facts of language into
account from the beginning, without losing sight of grammatical and situational factors,
and would attempt to set out what the learner might want to do and to say through
language.
In order to set out what people might want to do and to say through language,
Wilkins drew upon Austins (1962) speech act theory. This suggested that in addition to
conceptual meaning all utterances have an illocutionary value which embodies the
speakers intention. Sometimes we express our intention directly, (for example, I
congratulate you), but more often, as Searle (1975) pointed out, we tend to do this
indirectly, for example, when we use a question about someones ability (Can you
speak a little louder) to serve as a request for action. This highlights the fact that we do
not use an interrogative form, for example, uniquely to ask for information, or a
declarative form simply for giving information. There is no simple one-to-one
relationship between particular forms and the illocutionary values that should be
attached to them. Values must be interpreted in the light of the context in which the
forms occur.
Pragmatic competences, another component of communicative competence,
refer to this knowledge and skills. As defined by the Council of Europe (2001), they are
concerned with the functional use of linguistic resources (production of language
functions, speech acts), drawing on scenarios or scripts of interactional exchanges. It
also concerns the mastery of discourse, cohesion and coherence, the identification of
text types and forms, irony, and parody. For this component even more than the
linguistic component, it is hardly necessary to stress the major impact of interactions
and cultural environments in which such abilities are constructed.
2.3
Language as self-expression
the term, which means that language is also a means of personal and affective
expression.
This casts a different light on language and also, on the nature and goals of
language teaching. A view of language as a linguistic system says that the goal of
language teaching is to help students learn this system. A functional view of language
says that the goals of language teaching are defined by what the learner has to do in the
language. When language is viewed as self-expression, learning goals are defined by
what the learner wishes to express, and this means that each learner has his or her own
unique and personal learning agenda. As a consequence, this perspective on language
sets objectives which are internal to learners as individuals and relates to the concerns
and aspirations of learners as thinking and affective beings. Language in this framework
of ideas is a means of personal expression and a tool for personal fulfilment. Selfexpression is a fundamental component of language use and the opening up of a
course to at least some degree of self-expression can help learners find a sense of
personal meaningfulness in their language study. Or, to express this negatively, the
absence of any scope for self-expression can make students perceive a course as being
something out there and indifferent to them and to their individual concerns, and thus
make it difficult for them to relate to it in a personally meaningful manner.
Moon (2000) summarises some of the important abilities which our pupils are
able to make use of in learning a foreign language and which indicate the active nature
of their learning: using language creatively, going for meaning, using chunks of
language, having fun, joining in the action, talking their heads off, feeling at home.
Children will only be able to make use of these abilities if we create the right kind of
learning environment in which they can draw on them. This means we need to consider
how to:
create a friendly atmosphere in which children can take risks and enjoy their
learning
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2.4
of
community),
the
sociolinguistic
component
of
communicative
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interpersonal interaction which are often deeply rooted in the sociocultural traditions of
the target language (TL) community.
No society is a single seamless entity made up of standard members. We
therefore have to question whether the image of the TL society we present to students is
a real, living one or something shallow and stereotypical. We also need to question
whether we are presenting a balanced view of this society or rather a selective and
value-loaded vision of the way in which one group may wish to see it.
These questions are generally dealt with in curricula and published materials on
two levels. One is by the choice of a given variety of English, often on the basis of
traditional regional preferences for British, American, Australian English, etc. The other
is by means of the selection of topics and of exemplificatory material which is more or
less closely linked to the culture of the relevant variety of English. None of these
choices, however, is unmarked, and they can have a significant influence on classroom
dynamics. A sanitised and decultured presentation of the language, for example, can
make it appear so lifeless that learners may experience difficulty in relating to it as a
living medium of communication, even perhaps within the framework of practice
activities. On the other hand, a culturally biased presentation of the language can give
rise to negative affective reactions. In other words, the way in which the cultural content
of teaching materials is perceived by learners is likely to be context-specific. A given
vision of the TL or the TL community will thus interact dynamically with the attitudes
and aspirations of the learners concerned, and possibly those of the broader community
to which they belong.
3.1
To act as a speaker, writer, listener or reader, the learner must be able to carry out a
sequence of skilled actions.
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hand-write or type the text (manual skills) or otherwise transfer the text to
writing.
The observable stages of these processes are well understood. Others events in the
central nervous system are not. The following analysis is intended only to identify
some parts of the process relevant to the development of language proficiency.
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3.1.1 Planning
The
selection,
interrelation
and
co-ordination
of
components
of
general
and
3.1.2
Execution
Production
The formulation component takes the output from the planning component and
assembles it into linguistic form. This involves lexical, grammatical, phonological (and
in the case of writing, orthographic) processes which are distinguishable and appear to
have some degree of independence but whose exact interrelation is not fully understood.
The articulation component organises the motor innervation of the vocal apparatus to
convert the output of the phonological processes into co-ordinated movements of the
speech organs to produce a train of speech waves constituting the spoken utterance, or
alternatively the motor innervation of the musculature of the hand to produce handwritten or typewritten text.
Reception
The receptive process involves four steps which, while they take place in linear
sequence (bottom-up), are constantly updated and reinterpreted (top-down) in the light
of real world knowledge, schematic expectations and new textual understanding in a
subconscious interactive process.
the perception of speech and writing: sound / character and word recognition;
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perceptual skills;
memory;
decoding skills;
inferencing;
predicting;
imagination;
rapid scanning;
Comprehension, especially of written texts, can be assisted by the proper use of aids,
including reference materials such as:
thesauruses;
pronunciation dictionaries;
reference grammars.
Interaction
15
In written interaction (e.g. a correspondence by letter, fax, e-mail, etc.) the processes of
reception and production remain distinct (though electronic interaction, e.g. via the
Internet, is becoming ever closer to real time interaction). The effects of cumulative
discourse are similar to those of spoken interaction.
Permanence. Written discourse is fixed and stable so the reading can be done at
whatever time, speed and level of thoroughness the individual reader wishes.
Spoken text in contrast is fleeting, and moves on in real time. The listener
though he or she may occasionally interrupt to request clarification must in
general follow what is said at the speed set by the speaker.
Explicitness. The written text is explicit; it has to make clear the context and all
references. In speech, however, the real-time situation and knowledge shared
between speaker and listener means that some information can be assumed and
need not be made explicit.
Density. The content is presented much more densely in writing. In speech, the
information is diluted and conveyed through many more words: there are a lot
of repetitions, glosses, fillers, producing a text that is noticeably longer and
with more redundant passages.
Detachment .The writing of a text is detached in time and space from its reading;
the writer normally works alone, and may not be acquainted with his or her
readers. Speaking usually takes place in immediate interaction with known
listeners, with the availability of immediate feedback.
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A learnt skill. Most people acquire the spoken language (at least of their own
mother tongue) intuitively, whereas the written form is in most cases
deliberately taught and learned.
Sheer amount and importance Spoken texts are far longer, normally (in the
sense that they contain more words), than a representation of the same
information in writing; this is largely because of the phenomenon called
'redundancy'. It is also true to say that most people speak far more than they
write. Associated with this point is a third: that speech is more important for
survival and effective functioning in society than writing is.
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Noise. There will be a certain amount of noise: bits of the discourse that
are unintelligible to the hearer, and therefore as far as he or she is concerned
are meaningless noise. This may be because the words are not said clearly,
or not known to the hearer, or because the hearer is not attending any
number of reasons. We usually comprehend somewhat less than 100 per cent
of what is said to us, making up for the deficit by guessing the missing items
or simply ignoring them and gathering what we can from the rest.
Redundancy. The speaker normally says a good deal more than is strictly
necessary for the conveying of the message. Redundancy includes such
things as repetition, paraphrase, glossing with utterances in parenthesis, selfcorrection, the use of fillers such as I mean, well, er. This to some extent
compensates for the gaps created by noise.
4. Conclusions
Following Sharpes ideas (2001), because in the early and middle years of schooling
children are still in the process of learning about their world, and learning the language
through which that world can be described and talked about, all good MFL lessons at
the primary stage of education need to provide the pupil with clear and appropriate
language through which what is being learned can be expressed. It has long been a sine
qua none of primary teaching that it is better for the teacher to structure lessons in such
a way that children use the written and spoken language for real purposes rather than
simply to meet the limited demands of arid, decontextualized exercises. At the same
time it is also recognized that children need opportunities to practise skills such as
handwriting, careful pronunciation and so forth, and getting the balance right is a
professional judgement with which good primary teachers are very familiar.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sharpe, K. 2001. Modern Foreign Languages in the Primary School. London: Kogan
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