English Applied Linguistics PDF

1 ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi  2 ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS Linguistic paradigms English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 3 INTRODUCTION → It is sometimes maintained that lang...

1 ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi  2 ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS Linguistic paradigms English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 3 INTRODUCTION → It is sometimes maintained that language teaching has been going on for a long time quite satisfactorily without teachers knowing anything about linguistics, the psychology of language or the sociology of language. → However, this previous statement is patently untrue. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 4 INTRODUCTION → All of us have been learning some part of what is now called ‘linguistics’ from primary school on; we have been talking about language since we started school, and to do so, we have been using theoretical categories, which can only be called linguistic. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 5 INTRODUCTION → Most people acquire this theoretical linguistic knowledge randomly by studying their mother tongue or a second language rather than through the direct study of language as an independent discipline in its own right during their initial training. → But this means that they have only been learning inductively rather than deductively. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 6 INTRODUCTION → The basic assumption is that a teacher can only teach a language using any current techniques with linguistic knowledge and that he constantly uses linguistic concepts. → In the case of a language teacher, knowledge is an ambiguous term. No one would nowadays question the necessity of the teacher knowing how to perform in the language s/he is teaching. The question here is the degree to which he must also have explicit knowledge or competence about the language. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 7 INTRODUCTION → If linguistic knowledge had no relevance to LT, then potentially any native English speaker with general teaching ability and nothing more could teach his language. → Such a person would be able to choose what to teach and when to teach it, and he would know how to present and practise it. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 8 INTRODUCTION → Language teachers must have a 'performative' knowledge of their language. → However, one can also have a cognitive knowledge of the language. This is the kind of knowledge a linguist has of a language. → A teacher must also have some cognitive knowledge of the language to teach it. → The job of LT is to get the learner to develop a performative knowledge of the language through the intermediary of the teacher's performative and cognitive knowledge. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 9 1. The issue of the description of languages → The starting point of every application of linguistics to LT is a description of the language or languages involved in the task. → Assuming that linguistic theories are developed to do two things: (i) to explain language and (ii) to make descriptions of languages, the linguist will need to complete descriptions of different languages to test the validity of his theories and to see if his theoretical predictions about human language are borne out in practice. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 10 1. The issue of the description of languages → Although our English grammars, dictionaries and books on English phonetics are all descriptive and not theoretical, they result from applying a theory about language in general to the description of a particular language. → Nevertheless, we all know of cases where teachers with no training in LT have had to teach a language. Quite often, they have had some success. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 11 1. The issue of the description of languages → One explanation is that such teachers have had a textbook to work with. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 12 1. The issue of the description of languages → A textbook embodies most of the linguistic contribution to LT. → Many linguistic and extra-linguistic decisions must be made in preparation, but the actual work of writing the textbook once these decisions have been made is linguistic. → This does not mean that the book will be full of the technical terminology of linguistics. → In fact, most modern textbooks are not overloaded with specialised linguistic terminology. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 13 2. The mediating role of AL Most teachers will agree, from their own experience in the classroom, that their philological studies (if they had any) have been of little direct help to them in their teaching. Therefore, their knowledge has had to be supplemented considerably over the years by the pragmatic insights into language acquired by other experienced teachers. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 14 2. The mediating role of AL Linguistic studies do, indeed, have an application in LT, and the ordinary language teacher has always used fundamentally linguistic concepts in his work. Still, linguistics is not the only contributory discipline, nor does it only find its application in LT. Since AL is an integrative activity, the insights acquired from the different approaches to language study have to be drawn together, reconciled and used to make the acquisition of a language a more efficient, useful and pleasant task. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 15 2. The mediating role of AL Decisions about language pedagogy are not in themselves the domain of the applied linguists, but there are two respects in which the applied linguist has a role in contributing to pedagogy. 1. The first is that the applied linguist stands between the theoretical and the descriptive linguist on the one hand and the language teacher on the other. Applied linguists are able to look at language in terms of what may facilitate learning and how it may be necessary to process the language to make it accessible to learners. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 16 2. The mediating role of AL 2. AL is also concerned with identifying and analysing certain problems when conducting LT programmes. This has been one of the major fields of the application of linguistics to LT. ⁃ By enabling us to compare the systems or rules of different languages, linguistics permits us to predict what errors will be made. ⁃ Thus, describing a language enables us to say what is and is not part of the language. ⁃ Consequently, the teacher can identify the source of the error and thus do something about preventing it in future. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 17 2. The mediating role of AL There is no doubt that contrastive studies provide valuable information for the teacher. In this regard, the projection by the learner of the linguistic rules of his mother tongue into the second language is known as interference. Where the rules of the two languages are similar, we may expect the converse-facilitation. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 18 2. The mediating role of AL English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 19 2. The mediating role of AL English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 20 2. The mediating role of AL However, we tend to be more aware of interference than facilitation in teaching. In the study of language development in children, we are more aware of what they have not yet learned correctly than of the great mass they have learned. If linguists have reshaped their thinking to discover more about language universals, the foreign language teacher, too, should concentrate more on the similarities that will help his pupils than worry too much about the differences that hinder their progress. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 21 2. The mediating role of AL When we teach a learner a language, we prepare them to behave appropriately in several English-speaking situations, public or private, formal or informal, technical or standard, in one part of the world or another, in writing or speech… This is the terminal behaviour we are aiming at. The tendency in LT at present is towards more closely defined aims in terms of the competence of our pupils. This competence is describable in linguistic terms. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 22 2. The mediating role of AL There was a time when the terminal behaviour was described in terms of frequencies, i.e., so many of the most familiar words in the language by a certain stage in the course or so many grammatical patterns or ‘structures’ at the same stage. This description suffered from one serious problem: Frequency counts of vocabulary and grammatical items were mainly based upon written language to a large extent until fairly recently. However, we all agree that the written language is in any helpful way statistically representative of the language ‘as a whole’. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 23 2. The mediating role of AL These techniques did not consider sufficiently: ⎼ the uses that learners have for the second language are likely to be very much more restricted than those of a native speaker, and ⎼ therefore, the frequency of ‘words’ and ‘structures’ should only be calculated on the basis of those language varieties that the learner is going to use, e.g. scientific, written, formal, standard, etc. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 24 2. The mediating role of AL To describe the terminal behaviour of the learner or group of learners in quantitative terms, the learner's needs must be determined, and this is the teacher's job. Therefore, the description of what the learner must know at the end of his course is a matter of collaboration between linguist and teacher, a matter of applied linguistics. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 25 2. The mediating role of AL At the end of all this work, we must develop a list of linguistic items in the ‘language to be taught’. The decision about ordering the linguistic material is mainly made on pedagogical grounds. These are considerations of complexity, teachability and utility. The linguist might have something to say about complexity. S/he might say, for instance, that we should logically proceed in teaching tenses from simple to compound or that in English, we should move from declarative to interrogative. But the linguist has little to say regarding matters of teachability and utility. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 26 2. The mediating role of AL We are not concerned with teaching our pupils to produce correct sentences; we are teaching them to communicate. The teacher is concerned with creating situations that encourage them to do this, even if it sometimes means ignoring the ‘logic’ of linguistic progression. Since the techniques of AL have to do with the selection of language data and their organisation and presentation in the form of teaching materials, AL configures itself as a set of related activities or techniques mediating between the various theoretical accounts and the practical activities of language teaching. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 27 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Although many linguists vigorously denied that linguistics had anything to say about how a language should be taught, the influence of linguistics on the design and content of language courses and teaching methods was considerable. Of the schools of linguistics that have markedly influenced LT theory, American structuralism, derived from Bloomfield’s Language (1933), is probably the most important since 1940. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 28 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Around 1940, the imminent Second World War had made American administrators aware of language problems that American armed forces might face in different areas. A team of linguists aimed to apply their expertise in language description to the task of conducting a linguistic analysis of each language to be taught. Based on this analysis, they prepared learning materials. Since the mid-1960s, the theory has faced fierce opposition, and other linguistic theories with different emphases have overshadowed it since the 1970s. However, its influence still persists. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 29 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Bloomfield’s criticism of conventional LT in American schools and colleges had been severe: Our schools and colleges teach us very little about language, and what little they teach us is largely in error. The textbooks are far from perfect, and some teachers do not have sufficient command of the foreign language. Often enough, the student, after two, three, or four years of instruction, cannot really use the language he has been studying. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 30 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Drawing on his experience of linguistic field studies, Bloomfield suggested a professional and almost technical approach based on the following principles: A language can only be learnt from a native speaker who acts as an informant, and who must be closely observed and imitated. The less self-consciously the informant can show the student what to say and how to say it, the better it is. The more he theorises and sets himself up as a teacher, the worse it is. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 31 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Was there, then, no place for instruction? Indeed, there was. However, good textbooks, useful grammar, and dictionaries were rare, and teachers often needed to gain an adequate command of the language. Therefore, ‘the only effective teacher’ was the trained linguist working alongside the student, prompting him on what questions to ask from the informant and how to study the forms of the language. According to Bloomfield, language learning involves conscientious recording, conscious imitating, patient practising and memorising, and analysing what the native speaker does and says. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 32 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching The set of techniques that emerged from these arguments were: A structural analysis of the language as the basis for graded material, presentation of the analysis by a trained linguist, several hours a day of practice with the help of a native speaker and in small classes and emphasis on speaking as the primary objective. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 33 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching These ideas derived from structural linguistics became the accepted doctrine that was implemented in the American wartime language programmes. They were commonly expressed in five slogans, which reflect the influence of structural linguistics: 1. Language is speech, not writing. 2. A language is what its native speakers say, not what someone thinks they ought to say. 3. Languages are different. 4. A language is a set of habits. 5. Teach the language, not about the language English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 34 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching The fifth principle emphasises the importance of practice over explanation, particularly for language learners. It reminds linguist teachers to prioritise their students' goal of using language for communication over their interest in language as a formal structure. During the two post-war decades, all five principles became principles of LT doctrine. Their influence was felt in teacher training, classroom practice, and the design of teaching materials. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 35 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching At the same time, a group of American linguists demonstrated the usefulness of linguistics in teaching English as a second language. Beginning in the 1940s, the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan, under the direction of Fries, set out to develop new teaching materials. Fries demonstrated how linguistic knowledge could be used to derive the sound system, structures, and useful lexical material for language teaching purposes. Fries emphasised that the primary contribution of linguistics to LT was the descriptive analysis used to create teaching materials, rather than factors such as oral emphasis, intensive practice, or smaller classes. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 36 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching In 1957, Lado, who succeeded Fries as the director of the English Language Institute, was concerned with the concept of difficulty in language learning. Lado firmly believed that a comparative study would be useful in identifying the similarities and differences between languages. This would enable linguists to predict areas of difficulty for L2 learners, as Robert Lado (1915-1995) individuals tend to transfer features of their native language to the foreign language. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 37 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Contrastive analysis was not intended to offer a new method of teaching. Instead, it was a form of language description across two languages that was particularly useful for preparing teaching materials and for analysing teaching materials. In response to this belief, several studies on the phonology and grammar of German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, and French were conducted. This led to contrastive linguistics becoming one of the most important means of relating linguistics to LT in the early 1960s. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 38 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.1 Bloomfield and American Structuralism’s Contribution to Language Teaching Around 1960, structural linguistics had a significant impact on language teaching. It was the main theoretical foundation of the audiolingual method, which was associated with a behaviourist approach to language learning. As a result, it influenced teaching materials, techniques, and teacher training. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 39 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching The emergence of Generative Grammar in the academic field challenged the principles of structuralism in linguistics and, consequently, audiolingualism in language teaching. Chomsky disagrees with the notion that linguistic behaviour is simply a matter of habit, acquired slowly through reinforcement, association and generalisation. He argues that language is not a mere 'habit structure' because it involves the creation of new sentences and patterns based on abstract rules. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 40 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Based on stimulus-response processes and behaviourist learning theory, structuralists viewed language and grammar learning as a process of intensive drilling of sentence patterns in the language lab until they became habits. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 41 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching In the field of LT, structural linguistics acknowledged imitation, memorisation, mechanical drills and practice of sentence patterns as separate and unrelated issues. Structural linguists were accused of: having no criteria for distinguishing the regular from the accidental, the grammatical from the ungrammatical, and (grammaticality judgements) overemphasising the differences between languages and the unique characteristics of each language. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 42 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Chomsky blamed structuralist linguists for perpetuating the myth that linguistic behaviour is 'habitual' and that a fixed stock of 'patterns' is acquired through practice and used as the basis for 'analogy.’ However, Chomsky's theories from 1957 were initially ignored by language teachers for a number of years. Why does this happen so? English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 43 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Chomsky himself made it clear that neither the Syntactic Structures (1957) nor the Aspects (1965) model is intended to be a model of performance. He openly declared that there is very little point in looking to GG for ideas about how to teach language in the classroom. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 44 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Therefore, these discoveries may prove difficult to use in the classroom, as they cannot be fully understood without reference to a rather complex set of rules. Despite this limitation, Chomsky identifies three tendencies and developments within linguistics and psychology that could potentially impact LT: the ‘creative’ aspect of language use; the abstractness of linguistic representation; and the universality of underlying linguistic structure. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 45 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching The ‘creative’ aspect of language use The concept proposed by Chomsky that language is creative suggests that teaching methods that encourage automatic or mechanical repetition are less effective than those that promote creative language use. Although native speakers have internalised generative grammar, they are unaware of its properties. Therefore, linguists must discover the speakers' intrinsic 'linguistic competence’ and make it accessible for LT. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 46 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching The abstractness of linguistic representation Language teachers have known for centuries that different sentence structures can be related to each other. Language learning exercises often involve transformations, such as changing sentences from active to passive, from direct to indirect speech, or from affirmative to interrogative. 47 English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 48 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Similarly, structural linguistics was unable to reveal the ambiguity of the phrase ‘The shooting of the rebels' because the various syntactic relationships of the elements in this phrase can only be demonstrated by linking them to two potential underlying sequences, such as 'Either X shoots the rebels’ or 'The rebels shoot X'. Chomsky's notion of deep and surface structure arose from the observation that a sentence or phrase can be seen as resulting from transformations of underlying sequences. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 49 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching The universality of underlying linguistic structure Suppose the underlying principles of generative grammar cannot be acquired through experience and training. In that case, they must be part of the intellectual organisation that is a prerequisite for language acquisition. Chomsky believes that it is impossible to explain many fundamental aspects of language through training or experience, and that one must, therefore, seek an explanation for them in terms of an intrinsic intellectual organisation. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 50 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Conclusion The impact of structuralism on language pedagogy is evident in teaching materials, methods, language tests, and the writings of LT methodologists. In contrast, the influence of GG was different. Although some language courses included 'transformations' and 'rules', and a few textbook authors attempted to incorporate insights from GG into their teaching programmes, it was less pervasive and powerful than the influence of structuralism. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 51 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Conclusion However, GG had a liberating impact on LT theory by freeing it from the constraints of behaviourism in psychology and structuralism in linguistics. By introducing new concepts, perspectives, and techniques, GG forced LT theory to re-examine its view of language and the psychological aspects of language learning. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 52 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.2. Generative Grammar’s contribution to Language Teaching Conclusion Generative theory has had a more significant impact on theoretical aspects of teaching rather than practical applications. It has left the teaching community uncertain about their practices and has provided little methodology to replace it. On the contrary, it has contributed to a significant division between grammatical competence and incorrect actual performance, and especially between formal grammar competence and its communicative use. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 53 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT In the UK, the most determined efforts to give LT a linguistic basis have been made by teachers of English as a second language. Linguistics influenced European LT, particularly through a new emphasis on the description and authenticity of language data in the development of LT materials. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 54 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT In the early 1960s, two major works appeared that promised a reorientation towards structural linguistics: Language Teaching Analysis by The Linguistic Sciences and Language Mackey (1965). Teaching by Halliday, McIntosh, and Strevens (1964) English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 55 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT Halliday, McIntosh, and Strevens (1964) sought an alternative to the ill-formulated and traditional linguistic conventions in LT. They criticised pedagogical grammars for their unclear categories, heterogeneous criteria, value judgements, inaccurate phonetics, and confusion between speech and writing. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 56 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT Like Fries and other structuralists, Halliday, McIntosh, and Strevens believed that linguistics could contribute to LT through adequate language descriptions. They considered descriptions based on structuralism to be unsatisfactory, mainly due to: their ignoring of contextual meaning and their inability to provide an integrated picture of a language as a whole. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 57 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT Halliday approached language not from within but from outside. He approached language from an external perspective, beginning with why language is structured the way it is and not in some other way. He argues that language reflects the functions it serves as a means of social communication. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 58 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT In LT, the same issues arise similarly: To what extent should foreign language teaching focus exclusively on the language as a formal system, or should it take a broader view and consider the social context and the language use of listeners and speakers? If we study the language in relative isolation as a formal system, what should be our primary emphasis – grammar, words, meanings, or the sound system? And how can we best integrate these different aspects with each other and, eventually, with the real world of language use? English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 59 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT When teaching grammar, providing students with a solid understanding of the fundamental structural principles and how to apply them practically is crucial. While there has been a focus on teaching the code in LT methodology literature, there needs to be more attention on teaching students how to use the code effectively. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 60 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT Some language teachers and applied linguists have argued that the 'structural' approach to FLT, which emphasises the importance of manipulating sentence patterns and focuses on the formal properties of the language being learned, does not adequately facilitate the development of communicative competence. Conversely, foreign language courses should primarily focus on communicative rather than linguistic aspects. Syllabuses should be based on communicative or notional categories instead of a selection of linguistic structures and lexical items. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 61 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT Since the 1970s, grammarians have become increasingly concerned with the characterisation of language as an instrument of social communication. As a result, the scope of grammatical statements has been extended to cover not only the internal patterns but also how these patterns relate to the communicative operation of the language in use. This shift in theoretical perspective coincides with an inevitable change in emphasis in LT pedagogy. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 62 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT In this context, a syllabus starts from the assumption that what the learner needs to know is not so much how to recognise and produce sentences as linguistic objects but: o how to make and understand utterances which express certain concepts (illocutionary force) o perform certain communicative acts (perlocutionary force) and o enable the learner to participate in the interactional processes of ordinary language use. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 63 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT The essential contribution that recent work in grammar makes to LT is that it provides a characterisation of what it is that language expresses, and of the kinds of messages which people communicate by means of sentences. In short, it has provided a (partial) description of ‘communicative competence’ (CC). English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 64 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT The idea of CC is, of course, a familiar one in LT. Teachers have generally been aware of the need to teach communicative skills and have recognised that the learner’s terminal behaviour should be the ability to use the language he is learning to communicate. However, language teachers have usually relied on the grammarian to provide the descriptions of language from which the content of LT courses can be drawn. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 65 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT The concepts of 'competence' and 'deep/surface structure' were challenged, leading to the proposal of 'pragmatics' as an alternative. According to 'pragmatics', the idea of deep structure should be reinterpreted as 'meanings or relationships between situational settings (referents, actions, events, abstract concepts, etc.) and linguistic forms', rather than relationships between sentences and underlying sentences. English Applied Linguistics Dr Juan Ramírez-Arlandi 66 3. Linguistic theory and language teaching 3.3. Alternatives to American structuralism: Functional Grammar’s contribution to LT Pragmatics has implications for LT. For example, pattern drills should be designed to allow students to use language in response to situations rather than manipulating unrelated sentences illustrating a point of syntax. Thus, the focus changed utterly. Pragmatics defines the goal of language teaching as making students send and receive messages in the language rather than merely manipulating meaningless sound sequences for the sake of repetition.