TOPIC 1: LANGUAGE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF COMMUNICATION: ORAL LANGUAGE AND WRITTEN

LANGUAGE. ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION: SENDER, RECEIVER, FUNCTIONALITY

AND CONTEXT.

INDEX

0. INTRODUCTION
1. LANGUAGE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF COMMUNICATION
a. Definition of communication and language
b. Features of language: productivity, structural complexity, articulation
c. Communicative Competence (Dell Hymes)
d. Negotiation of meaning
2. ORAL LANGUAGE AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE
a. Differences between oral and written language
3. ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION: SENDER, RECEIVER, FUNCTIONALITY AND
CONTEXT.
a. Components of the communicative situation
4. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE
a. Functions /macro-functions (Lyons and Halliday)
b. Current view: Guy Cook’s classification
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

0. INTRODUCTION

The title of this topic synthesizes a long research tradition that has been widely developed over the
twentieth century. Since the Classic times, language has raised the interest of philosophers and
grammarians all over the world. However, the greatest development of the most relevant theories
has been carried out in the last few decades, especially after turning the focus from grammar to the
study of semantics and pragmatics, given that the context often conditions communicative
situation. This fact has also strongly influenced Applied Linguistics and the second language teaching
methods. Our intention is to spot on the most recent findings as far as the second language
teaching practice is concerned.

This topic is closely related to the concept of communicative competence which is also present both
in the Organic Law of Education 2/2006 (LOE) and in the LOMCE 8/2013.
More precisely, the LOMCE establishes the following general objective: “to acquire a basic
communicative competence in, at least, one foreign language so that they (students) can express
and understand easy messages and handle in daily-life situations”. Likewise, as it was the case in
LOE, key competence number one is the “Linguistic communication competence”.
Furthermore, the R.D. 126/2014 (passed on the 28 th of February) divides the contents into four
different sections or blocks: 1) listening, 2) speaking), 3) reading and 4) writing. All these contents,

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together with most of the crosscurricular contents, aim to help Primary students become
communicatively competent in the foreign language.
There exists a clear connection with the other topics, as topics 2 and 3 also deal with language and
communication (verbal and non-verbal and spoken and written communication respectively) and
topics 7 and 8 deal with communication and language skills (oral skills-listening and speaking- and
written skills –reading and writing-).
Communication is also covered in topics 13 and 14 although it could be considered to be developed
in any of them since, according to Spanish legislation, it is the ultimate goal of FLT.

1. LANGUAGE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF COMMUNICATION

a. Communication and language

Communication is often defined as the exchange of ideas, information, meanings, etc, between two
or more individuals through a common system of symbols. In an act of communication there is
usually at least one speaker or sender, the message which is transmitted, and a person or people to
whom this message is intended (the receiver).

Communication is also defined as a variety of behaviours, processes and technologies by which

meaning is transmitted or derived from information. It is not only performed by human beings, but
also by animals and complex machines capable of receiving and transmitting information. On the
other hand, linguistic communication is only produced by and between human beings and what is
being communicated must be something new to the recipient. It is this element of unexpectedness
and unpredictability what makes communication what it is and the reason why it is so hard to teach
foreign language students to communicate by conventional or traditional teaching methods.

Human beings use language to communicate but the exchange and negotiation of meaning may be
achieved through either verbal or non-verbal symbols, oral/written models and
production/comprehension processes. As regards human communication, it takes place through
oral and written language, but it can also take place through visual, tactile, sound or olfactory
means. However, it is especially performed through language.

Language is characterized by the following features:

a. Productivity: language allows human beings to communicate in a limitless variety of ways,
where the language is developed to fit their needs. According to Chomsky’s theory, all
human beings have an innate capacity for language (Language Acquisition Device-LAD),
which is highly creative and allows them to change, mould and coin new expressions when
communication requires it.
b. Structural complexity: a language is a code shared by a certain community, but the elements
of the code are not just a series of units, but a system of elements related one to another.
And those units, called linguistic signs, are a series of sounds that represent a certain
concept.

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 c. Articulated: language is articulated because we can make different messages combining the
elements of language consists of. This is why human beings can express different messages.

Language is a fundamental sign of human being’s expression and it enables them to make known
their inner life, their thoughts and their feelings. Language is a system of linguistic signs that are
related according to certain rules that both, the sender and the receiver are familiar with. This set
of linguistic signs is conventional (shared by a particular community) and arbitrary (the
correspondence between expression and meaning is established deliberately by that community,
without following a certain correspondence). Therefore, language is a product of the
community/society that uses it -it is exclusively human-. Given this social character, it is changed
and adapted depending on the needs and uses of the community it belongs to.

In order to carry out effective communication, users have to agree about the relationships among
the linguistic signs and reality, so, as far as this agreement exists, we can say that language
represents the vision speakers have of the reality around them. Therefore, the origin of language is
directly related to the need of communication and its acquisition and development are only
possible in a social interplay.

For this reason, apart from the linguistic knowledge, the use of the language in an appropriate way
to fulfill social functions requires other types of knowledge, e.g., social knowledge, strategic
knowledge, etc. This is known as the communicative competence. This idea was first developed by
Dell Hymes in 1972 in opposition to Behaviourist models based on repetition or imitation of
patterns. In 1965 Chomsky had already proposed that every person had a LAD (Language
Acquisition Device) supplied with a Universal Grammar that would account for human’s
predisposition to learn a language and to use it creatively. He made the distinction between
competence (speaker’s intuitive knowledge of the rules of language) and performance (the
application of these rules). But this theory could not account for the socio-cultural and other
contextual features that have proved to be so important for communication.

On this ground, Hymes coined the communicative competence concept to define the ability not
only to apply the grammatical rules of a language in order to form grammatically correct sentences
but also to know when or where to use these sentences and to whom. In this way, Canale and
Swain in 1980 proposed 4 interacting factors which developed Hymes concept: grammatical
competence, discourse competence, socio-linguistic competence and strategic competence, which
all would interact.

This view is crucial as, according to the official methodology in the national regulations and the
Council of Europe suggestions for the foreign Language teaching, teachers must teach students how
language items are used and in what situation they are appropriate.

The negotiation of meaning is an important part of the process of communication. It allows the
adjustments that are needed for successful communication. Some factors affect the process of
negotiation, i. e., co-operative principles (assumptions such as a shared knowledge, taking roles and
making contributions), turn-taking procedures (distribution of talking among the participants),
repairs (devices like self-correction, echoing…) and communication strategies (to solve problems).

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2. ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE

Before finishing Primary Education, students should have mastered an automatic and quick
correspondence between oral language phonemes and the graphic signs they represent. The
command of oral language is a basic condition to acquire and learn the written language, as
deficiencies in the former will be reflected in the written language. That is why the oral and written
language should be taught at the very same time and related to one another, in order to make
learning easier and more effective.

The main aim in the language teaching-learning process should be the acquisition of an autonomous
and creative use of both oral and written language.

2.1. Differences between oral and written language

The most obvious aspect of language is speech. Speech is the universal material of human language.
For many years, human language was transmitted and developed entirely as spoken means of
communication. However, historically, written language was considered to be superior to spoken
language. It was the medium of literature and the latter was considered as a source of standards of
linguistic excellence. Written records provide language with permanence and authority and, so, rules
of grammar were illustrated exclusively from written texts. Written language provides a standard
that society values.

It is obvious that oral and written language have lots of differences apart from the fact that speech
uses the medium of “phonic substance” and writing uses the medium of “graphic substance.” There
are also important differences in the language structure, as the grammar and vocabulary of speech
is not the same as that of writing. Both mediums, though related, function as independent methods
of communication. Only in few circumstances are we faced with a real choice between speaking or
writing.

ORAL LANGUAGE

 Use of contractions due to the language economy principle.

 Units: phonemes.
 It is dynamic, as both participants are present.
 It is spontaneous and quick, as there is a pressure to think while speaking and this promotes
looser construction, repetition and rephrasing.
 It implies face to face interaction and extralinguistic interaction, such as gestures and facial
expression, helps to understand meaning.
 It allows a more informal speech and grammatical informality.
 It gives the speaker an opportunity to rethink utterances while in progress.
 Errors cannot be withdrawn.
 Interruptions and overlapping speech are normal.
 Unique features of speech: intonation, rhythm, pitch of voice, etc…

WRITTEN LANGUAGE

 Use of contractions is limited to informal or familiar writing.

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  Units: letters.
 It is static and permanent. The writer is distant from the reader.
 It allows re-reading, closer analysis and careful organization and expression.
 There is not immediate feedback.
 There are some words and constructions characteristic of formal writing, which are more
strict and complete than those or oral language.
 Errors can be eliminated easily in the very spot.
 Unique features of writing: punctuation, layout.
 It is suited to the recording of facts.
 It is suited to tasks of memory.

Apart from the aforesaid differences, it is obvious that both types of language share common
elements and both types must be taken into consideration in the language teaching-learning
process during the Primary Education stage, introducing them at the same time, as it has been
proved that the students’ level of linguistic competence is enhanced by the interaction of all
linguistic skills rather than by the independent acquisition of one linguistic skill at one time.

Moreover, the role of the ICTs and the development of the digital competence in this process seem
to be of great importance since computers, audiovisual resources and new technologies in general
promote and favour considerably real communication with native speakers of the foreign language.

3. ELEMENTS OF A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION: SENDER, RECEIVER, FUNCTIONALITY AND

CONTEXT.

In any communicative process the following elements must be taken into account:

 Two agents (transmitter/sender and receiver)

 Two activities (coding and decoding)
 A context (=situation)
 A purpose (=intention, finality)

Those elements characterize any kind of linguistic communication, that is, the communication
established among human beings that codify linguistic signs in their messages. Those linguistic signs
are made up of two associated elements: a given meaning and its expression.

In 1963, R. Jackobson established the most important components of a communicative situation.

They were:

 Addresser (transmitter or sender): the person who originates the message. This is usually the
same as the person who is sending the message, but not always, as in the case of messengers,
spokespeople or towncriers.

 Addressee (receiver): the person to whom the message is addressed. This is usually the person
who receives the message, but not necessarily, as in the case of intercepted letters, bugged
telephone calls and eavesdropping.

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 The channel: the medium through which the message travels: sound waves, marks on paper,
telephone wires, word processor screens.

 The message form: the particular grammatical and lexical choices of the message.

 The topic: information of the message which is strongly related to the purpose or intention to
transmit something to somebody.

 The code: the language or dialect, which have to be shared by both sender and receiver to
create and interpret the messages they will exchange.

 The setting: the social or physical context. Some elements here should be considered:

 Physical situation: where communication is produced and it consists of the place, time and
communication agents.
 Socio-cultural environment: refers to the knowledge that the agents have about different
aspects of life in a particular community: customs, ways of living, history and traditions,
culture, etc…
 Speakers’ relationship: the way they share certain experiences and knowledge, the way they
communicate, their interests, attitudes, etc.

4. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

The use of language can respond to different and varied purposes that depend on each speaker’s
particular intentions.

There are many theories about the functions of language. The study of the main functions, normally
called macro-functions, leads to traditional approaches to this issue which offer two main
classifications, according to Lyons and Halliday. Both authors describe language as performing three
macro-functions which are more or less equivalent:
Although both authors define those functions from Lyons Halliday
different approaches, what makes them not the same, the
first pair is related to the transmission of factual Descriptive Textual
information (something stated or denied); the second one is Expressive Ideational
to supply information about the speaker, his or her feelings,
preferences, prejudices… As for the third, the function is to Social Interpersonal
establish and maintain social relationships.
A most recent approach to this classification is offered by Guy Cook. This classification takes into
account each of the elements of communication previously identified by Jackobson. Cook
establishes a direct relationship between these elements and equal number of language functions:
 Emotive function: communicating the inner states and emotions of the sender (for instance:
“ Good”, “My God!”, Dammit!”). This function is related to the addresser.
 The directive function: the intention is to affect other people’s behavior (for instance: “Don’t
do it!”, “Listen to me, please!”, “Mind what you say!”. This function is related to the
addressee.

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  Phatic function: language expressions used to establish and maintain relationships either for
social reasons (“Hi!”, Would you like a drink?”, “Nice weather, isn’t it?”) or for practical ones
(“Can you all hear me at the back?”). This function is related to the channel.
 Poetic function: This function is established in order to focus on the particular form chosen
for the message. It pays attention to different formal elements of discourse, such as ellipsis,
emphasis, use of deictic forms, etc. This function is related to the message form.
 Referential function: performed by language, it consists in carrying information. When we
communicate with people, there is always a certain amount of new and old information. We
talk about events, people, objects, ideas, etc…). This function is related to the topic.
 Metalinguistic function: Focusing attention upon the code itself, to clarify it or to
renegociate it (“how do you say “tornillo” in English?”, “What does “huge” mean?” “this
bone is known as the “femur”). This function is related to the code.
 Contextual function: creating a particular kind of communication connected with a specific
situation (“Robinson’s scored 1”, “I’d like soup for a starter”). This function is related to the
setting.
A message often performs several functions combined.

5. CONCLUSION

To sum up and as a conclusion, what I have developed in this essay is the notion of language as
communication. First, I have dealt with the definition of communication and language and their
main characteristics. In addition, I have argued about the concept of communication by different
authors. Then, I have explored some of the differences between oral and written language. Next, I
have analyzed the key elements affecting any communicative interaction. Finally, I have established
the functions of language from a historical perspective and considering different views of them.
In my opinion…

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

o Reference literature.

 Jackobson, R. (1963): Essays de linguistique générale. Paris: Minuit.

 Canale, M. & Swain, M. (1980): Language and Communication. London: Longman.
 Cook, G. (1989): Discourse. Oxford: OUP.
 Akmajian, A. et al.( 2001): Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication.
Cambridge: MIT Press.
 Kaplan, R. (2002): The Oxford Handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: OUP.
 Davies, A. & Elder, C. (2006): The handbook of Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

o Legal framework.

 Organic Act 8/2014, for the Improvement of the Educational Quality, of December 9th (BOE
#295, December 10th, 2013).

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 Royal Decree 126/2014, of February 28th (BOE #52, March 1st, 2014).

 Order of March, 17th, 2015 for Andalusia which stablishes the basic curriculum of primary
education.

 Decree 97/2015, of March 3rd, which establishes the curriculum in Primary Education in
Andalusia (BOJA #50, March 13th, 2015).

 Order ECD/65/2015, of January 21st, which establishes the relationship between Competences,
Contents and Assessment Criteria in Primary Education (BOE #25, January 29th, 2015).