Language_Context_and_the_English_Teaching.doc

题目： Language Context and the English Teaching 单位：漯河实验高中 姓名：何 喜 文 2013年5月 Language Context and the English Teaching Improvisation or transfer is the core of a course，based on the communicative approach．That is，the students are required to transfer what they learned in the textbook to real-life situation as far as possible．And in the present-day textbook of Middle School，the courses are organized in authentic everyday situations in which students can easily identify．So in the process of English teaching，it is very important for the teachers to set the language contexts correctly and flexibly． Ⅰ．The meanings of the language context Generally speaking，the language context can be divided into two major types：situational context and sociocultural context． Rivers suggests that items of language in total isolation have no function; they need a system and a setting to give them both function and meaning．Children often ask for the meaning of a word in isolation，without seeing the need to provide anything for it; too quick and too casual a reply can often have unexpected consequences．eg．When the child asks what cricket is and you say it is a game，and then discover that it was a“cricket”in the context of insects．Even if we know the strict linguistics，we still need to check further into the situation and even into the society and culture to be sure of what item of the language is appropriate or acceptable． In a narrow sense，the language context means the situational context．In Halliday’s opinion，the situational contexts include the setting，the way of talking，and participants．But Hymes divides it into eight elements：setting，role，function，notion，style，stress and intonation，grammar，vocabulary and language aids．Those factors affect each other and decide which language form is appropriate． The situational context and sociocultural context can’t be isolated from each other．In certain sociocultural context，people must obey the particular comm