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Chapter 11 Linguistics and Foreign Language Teaching
11.1 The relation of linguistics to foreign language teaching
1. Both linguistics and foreign language teaching take language as their subject.
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, so it is clearly related with language teaching. However, linguistics and language teaching differ in their attitudes, goals and methods towards language.
2. Linguistics regards language as a system of forms, while the field of foreign
language teaching considers it as a set of skills. Linguistics research is concerned with the establishment of theories which explain the phenomena of language use, whereas foreign language teaching aims at the learners’ mastery of language.
3. Applied linguistics serves to reconcile and combine linguistics and foreign
language teaching.
(1) Applied linguistics extends theoretical linguistics in the direction of
language learning and teaching, so that the teacher is enabled to make better decisions on the goal and content of the teaching.
(2) Applied linguistics states the insights and implications that linguistic
theories have on the language teaching methodology.
11.2 Various linguistic views and their significance in language learning and teaching
11.2.1 Traditional grammar
Traditional grammar, as a pre-20th century language description and a pre-linguistic product of research, was based upon earlier grammars of Latin or Greek, and laid emphasis on correctness, literary excellence, the use of Latin models, and the priority of written language. Prescription was its key tone.
11.2.2 Structuralist linguistics
Modern linguistics, in spite of theoretical diversities, is primarily descriptive. Structuralist linguistics describes linguistics features in terms of structures and systems. It describes the current spoken language, which people use in daily communication. Its focus, however, is still on grammatical structures.
11.2.3 Transformational-generative (TG) linguistics
TG grammar sees language as a system of innate rules. A native speaker possesses a linguistic competence, or a language acquisition device. Although Chomsky does not intend to make his model a representation of
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performance, i.e., the language actually used in communication, applied linguistics find TG grammar useful in certain aspects. But because it is a formal and abstract grammar, it remains limited in language teaching.
11.2.4 Functional linguistics
Taking a semantic-sociolinguistic approach, M. A. K. Halliday’s systemic-functional linguistics sees language as an instrument used to perform various functions in social interaction. It concerns not only with the formal system of language but also the functions of language in society, and its scope is wider than that of former theories.
11.2.5 The theory of communicative competence
The concept competence originally comes from Chomsky. It refers to the grammatical knowledge of the ideal language user and has nothing to do with the actual use of language in concrete situations. This concept of linguistic competence has been criticized for being too narrow. To expand the concept of competence, D. H. Hymes (1971) proposes communicative competence, which has four components:
1. Possibility – the ability to produce grammatical sentences;
2. Feasibility – the ability to produce sentences which can be decoded
by the human brain;
3. Appropriateness – the ability to use correct forms of language in a
specific socio-cultural context;
4. Performance – the fact that the utterance is completed.
What is the role of grammar in language teaching? Currently, the general consensus is that although language learning should be meaning-focused and communication-oriented, it is still necessary and beneficial for language learners to pay a certain degree of attention to the study of grammar. Research in second language acquisition has indicated that grammar has its due value in the process of language learning. The study of grammar facilitates the internalization of the structures of the target language. The problems unsolved are what grammar or what aspects of grammar learners should learn and how they can learn them. 11.3 Syllabus design
11.3.1 What is syllabus?
Syllabus is the planning of a course of instruction. It is a description of the course content, teaching procedures and learning experiences.
11.3.2 Major factors in syllabus design 1. Selecting participants 2. Process 3. Evaluation 11.3.3 Types of syllabus
1. Structural syllabus: Influenced by structuralist linguistics, the
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2.
3.
4.
5.
structural syllabus is a grammar-oriented syllabus based on a selection of language items and structures. The vocabulary and grammatical rules included in the teaching materials are carefully ordered according to factors such as frequency, complexity and usefulness. The major drawback of such a syllabus is that it concentrates only on the grammatical forms and the meaning of individual words, whereas the meaning of the whole sentence is thought to be self-evident, whatever its context may be. As a result, students trained by a structural syllabus often prove to be communicatively incompetent.
Situational syllabus: The situational syllabus does not have a strong linguistic basis, yet it can be assumed that the situationalists accept the view that language is used for communication. The aim of this syllabus is specifying the situations in which the target language is used. The selection and organization of language items are based on situations. Because it relies on structuralist grammar, it is essentially grammatical. The situations described in a textbook cannot be truly “authentic.” Moreover, the arrangement of the situations is not systematic.
Notional-functional syllabus: Notional-functional syllabus is directly influenced by Halliday’s functional grammar and Hymes’s theory of communicative competence. Notion refers to the meaning one wants to convey, while function refers to what one can do with the language. Its problems are: first of all it is impossible to make an exhaustive list of notions and functions, and it is hard to order them scientifically. Secondly, there is on one-to-one relationship between notions / functions and language forms. Thirdly, the notional-functional syllabus treats language as isolated units, only they are notional rather than structural isolates. Such a syllabus cannot achieve the communicative competence which it aims at. Communicative syllabus: The communicative syllabus aims at the learner’s communicative competence. Based on a notional-functional syllabus, it teaches the language needed to express and understand different kinds of functions, and emphasizes the process of communication.
Fully communicative syllabus: The communicative syllabus stresses that linguistic competence is only a part of communicative competence. If we focus on communicative skills, most areas of linguistic competence will be developed naturally. Therefore, what we should teach is communication through language rather than language for communication.
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6. Communicative-grammatical approach (only cases, so this part is
omitted.)
11.4 Language learning
11.4.1 Grammar and language learning
1. Focus on form: Although language learning should generally be
meaning-focused and communication-oriented, it is still necessary and beneficial to focus on form occasionally.
2. Universal grammar: A theory which claims to account for the
grammatical competence of every adult no matter what language he or she speaks. It claims that every speaker knows a set of principles which apply to all languages and also a set of parameters that can vary from one language to another, but only within certain limits.
11.4.2 Input and language learning
The Input hypothesis is a theory proposed by Krashen (1985) to deal with the relationship between language input and learners’ acquiring language. According to this hypothesis, learners acquire a language as a result of comprehending input addressed to them. Krashen brought forward the concept of “i + 1” principle, i.e. the language that learners are exposed to should be just far enough beyond their current competence that they can understand most of it but still be challenged to make progress. Input should neither be so far beyond their reach that they are overwhelmed, nor so close to their current stage that they are not challenged at all.
11.4.3 Interlanguage in language learning
Interlanguage is a language system between the target language and the learner’s native language. It formed when the learner attempts to learn a new language, and it has features of both the first language and the second language but is neither.
11.5 Error analysis
11.5.1 Errors, mistakes, and error analysis
[In this part, there is difference between my understandings (according to the reference book I used) of errors and mistakes. According to Introducing Linguistics by Professor Yang Zhong, errors and mistakes mean differently from what they mean in Professor Hu’s book. Refer to section 9.3 “Analyzing learners’ language” on pages 122~123 of Yang’s book. – icywarmtea]
1. Error: Error is the grammatically incorrect form.
2. Mistake: Mistake appears when the language is correct
grammatically but improper in a communicational context.
3. Lapse: Lapse refers to slips of the tongue or pen made by either
foreign language learners or native speakers.
4. Error analysis: Error analysis is the study and analysis of error and is
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confined to the language learner.
11.5.2 Attitudes to errors 1. The structuralist view 2. The post-structuralist view 11.5.3 Procedure of error analysis 1. Recognition 2. Description 3. Explanation
11.5.4 Contrastive analysis and non-contrastive analysis
1. Contrastive analysis (CA): CA is the comparison of the linguistic
systems of two languages. E.g. the comparison of the sound or the grammatical system.
2. Transfer: Transfer refers to the carrying over of learned behavior
from one situation to another.
(1) Positive transfer (facilitation): Positive transfer is learning in
one situation which helps or facilitates learning in another later situation. E.g. when the structures of the two languages are similar, we can get positive transfer.
(2) Negative transfer (interference): Negative transfer is learning in
one situation which interferes with learning in another later situation.
3. Overgeneralization: A process common in both first and second
language learning, in which a learner extends the use of a grammatical rule of linguistic item beyond its accepted uses, generally by making words or structures follow a more regular pattern. E.g. in the sentence “* He speaked English.”, “speaked” is wrong (overgeneralized).
4. Hypercorrection: Overgeneralization of a rule in language use. E.g.
some learners constantly miss the articles in English, and after they are corrected, they tend to overuse them.
11.6 Testing
11.6.1 Two different approaches to testing 1. Psycholinguistic-structuralist approach 2. Psycholinguistic-sociolinguistic approach 11.6.2 Types of test
1. Aptitude test: Aptitude tests attempt to measure the learner’s
aptitude or natural abilities to learn languages. This type of test usually consists of some different tests which measure respectively the ability to identify and remember sound patterns in a new language, etc. In order to assess these abilities, artificial languages are often employed.
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2. Proficiency test: The purpose of proficiency tests is to discover what
the testee already knows about the target language. Proficiency tests are not concerned with any particular course but the learner’s general level of language mastery. An example of proficiency tests is the American TOEFL.
3. Achievement test: Achievement tests assess how much a learner has
mastered the contents of a particular course. Clearly, the items in such tests should be based on what has been taught. The midterm and final term exams held in schools and colleges are often typical tests of this kind.
4. Diagnostic test: Diagnostic tests are designed to discover mainly
what the testee does not know about the language, e.g. a diagnostic English pronunciation test may be used to show which sounds a student is and is not able to pronounce. A test of such kind can help the teacher to find out what is wrong with the previous learning and what should be included in the future work.
11.6.3 Requirements of a good test
Validity and reliability are the two basic requirements for a good test, as was proposed by R. Lado (1961).
1. Validity is the degree to which a test measure what is meant to. If the
candidates know some items before the exam the validity will be reduced. There are four kinds of validity.
(1) Content validity refers to the extent to which the test adequately
covers the syllabus area to be tested.
(2) Construct validity requires the test to prove the theoretical
construct whereupon it is based.
(3) Empirical validity demands the results of the test to correlate
with some external criteria.
(4) Face validity is based on the subjective judgment of an observer,
unlike the other forms of validity. If the test appears to be measuring what it intends to measure, the test is considered to have face validity.
2. Reliability can be defined as consistency. If a test produces the same
results when given to the same candidates twice in succession or graded by different people, it is regarded as having a high degree of reliability. There are two kinds of reliability.
(1) Stability reliability is estimated by testing and retesting the same
candidates and ten correlating their scores.
(2) Equivalence reliability means that a measuring device is
equivalent to another if they produce the same results when used on the same objects and subjects.
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11.6.4 Test contents and test form 1. Structural tests 2. Communicative tests
11.6.5 Marking and interpretation of scores 11.7 Summary
(Omit.)
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