Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition
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- Varieties of language
Communicative competence
From babyhood onwards, everybody starts (and never ceases) to learn how to communicate effectively and how to respond to other people’s communications. Some people are better at communicating than others, but every normal human being learns to communicate through language (as well as with the ancillary signalling systems). It may be a matter of intelligence (as well as motivation and experience) to communicate well, but it is not necessary to have any more than normal intelligence to communicate sufficiently for everyday life. In the process of communication, every speaker adjusts the way he speaks (or writes) according to the situation he is in, the purpose which motivates him, and the relationship between himself and the person he is addressing. Certain ways of talking are appropriate for communicating with intimates, other ways for communicating with non- intimates; certain ways of putting things will be understood to convey politeness, others to convey impatience or rudeness or anger. In fact, all our vast array of language use can be classified into many different categories related to the situation and purpose of communication. For a foreign learner, it might sometimes be more important to achieve this kind of communicative competence than to achieve a formal linguistic correctness. Varieties of language The ways in which we use our language can be divided first of all into two broad aspects: (i) the factors determined by the context, and (ii) the factors determined by the mood and Language and Communication 31 purpose of the speaker. Every time we speak, we operate from a complex of choices, involving selection of vocabulary, structure, and even modes of pronunciation, constantly adjusting our language to suit the moment, fitting in always with the conventions of the group we are part of. Context The first factor which operates is on the choice of the language itself, or the appropriate dialect. The choice of language is not as self-evident as it may seem to speakers living in countries where only one language exists, as in the English-speaking countries like England, America or Australia. But in many countries, speakers are bilingual or multilingual, and two or more languages exist side by side, to be used with different purposes to different people on different occasions. Thus, a French speaker in Brussels, might switch between French, Dutch or Flemish, depending on whether he was at home, or in his office, speaking with intimates, friends from his home town, or formal acquaintances. He might even use different languages to the same person, according to whether they were alone or in the presence of others. Similar switching occurs in many countries, including Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, Norway, Nigeria and Paraguay. Even when there is only one language to use, it may have more than one dialect. Contemporary English has numerous regional dialects which vary in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, and although, by convention, a certain prestige usually attaches to one of them—Standard English—many speakers are able to choose between the standard dialect and one of the many regional dialects of Yorkshire, Wales, Ireland, etc. Dialect means primarily the form of a language associated with a geographical region, but geographical boundaries are not the absolute determinants, and one may often find two or more dialects being used within one region, especially in a multi-lingual or multi-dialectal situation where one dialect might be used as a lingua franca (e.g. Swahili). The second important factor of context is the nature of the Download 0.82 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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