Language and language learning概要1.ppt

EFL Teaching Design and Case Study lixukui@ouc.edu.cn Foreign languages College Ocean University of China Views on Language Your view on language is the basis for syllabus design, teaching methods, teaching procedures and techniques. Different views on language generate different teaching methodologies. In the last half century, language teaching and learning practices have been influenced by three views of language, i.e. the structural view(结构主义语言观 ), the functional view (功能主义语言观), and the interactional view(交互语言观). The structural view: language is a linguistic system made up of various subsystems: from phonological, morphological, lexical, etc. to sentences. Each language has a finite number of such structural items. To learn a language means to learn these structural items so as to be able to understand and produce language. Knowing a language is knowing its structural rules and vocabulary. The functional view: language is not only a linguistic system but also a means for doing things. Most of our day-to-day language use involves functional activities: offering, suggesting, advising, apologizing, etc. Therefore, learners learn a language in order to be able to do things with it. To perform functions, learners need to know how to combine the grammatical rules and the vocabulary to express notions that perform the functions. Examples of notions are the concept of present, past future time; the expressions of certainty and possibility; the roles of agent and instrument within a sentence; and special relationships between people and objects. ? e.g. Where’s the nearest bank? Function: ask for information Notion: special relationship between the speaker and the bank Knowing a language involves not only knowing its structural rules and vocabulary, but also knowing how to use them to do what you want to do. ? The interactional view: language is a communicative tool, whose main use is to build up and maintain social relations between people.