by Karina Palacios octubre 26, 2020 0 comentarios

 

Unit 4: FUNCTION

The TKT book states that function is the reason why people communicate. Also, it describes some examples such: as requesting, inviting, explaining, requesting, apologizing, agreeing, and so on. Functions refer to the way that we use a language and its meaning to people in context. According to Thompson, S. & Couper E. (2014) the language used to express function is named exponent. For example, the exponent is " Do you want to go to the cinema?'' when inviting someone to the cinema. There, the function is ''inviting', but the rest is the text is the topic of function in a defined situation.

 

However, exponents can express more than one function, that depends on the situation. Another feature to consider is the person, or people addressed. That is because a speaker should be appropriate with the level of formality when talking to someone. For example, if a student who is talking to his professor should use different registers of formal or neutral language to communicate student’s ideas. If not, the student will be inappropriate and not respectful of the professor. That is not the situation when the same student talks to some friends. In that case, the student sounds informal or colloquial.

O'Regan, L. (2020) states that the human brain is able to choose the correct register of language according to the situation, purpose, and level of studies. Sometimes, people use very formal or less informal language to express their bad mood about other people. That is a way to avoid them. For example, girls are sarcastic to show their anger to their boyfriends.

To sum up this information, it is important to ask ourselves what did we learn in this unit?

We understood that function is the purpose of why people communicate. There, lexis, grammar, and phonology join together; to play an essential role. The right combination of those features makes people understand what is said. Additionally, the level of formality should be appropriate in each context to avoid some issues. That is because the way we say something makes people like or hate us.

Also, as teachers, we should take into consideration some points to improve our oral lesson so, there are some suggestion we can apply like:

Ø  We should teach functions and grammar for an oral or a writing lesson. In this way students will not get loose learning new vocabulary or structures. For example, students will identify which are the exponents to use for apoligazing.

 

Bibliography:

O'Regan, L. (2020). Lateralisation of language functions in the brain: Effects of handedness.

Spratt, M., Pulverness, A., &Williams, M. (2011). The TKT Course Modules 1,2 and 3 (Second) Cambridge: Cambridge Univertity Press. https://doig,org/10.1017/CBO9781139062398.003

Thompson, S. & Couper E. (2014). Language function. 10.1017/CBO9781139342872.008.