Jones, Leo. & C Von Bayer. (1983). [Rpt. 2008].

Functions of American English: Communication Activities for the Classroom

Cambridge: CUP. ISBN 978 0 521 28528 5

A short review of the book can be used in the two books for two different
sets of learners. In the contents page, we can
As the title suggests, this is a course book on see that the units are driven by language
communicative activities for the language functions. It is therefore clear that the book has
classroom. This book is meant for the learners used a communicative functional approach, with
and is accompanied by an audio cassette tape materials presented in a dialogic mode.
(it was written and published in the 80s!). (It is
possible that more recent editions may either In the section titled Introduction to the student,
have a CD accompanying the book in the the authors answer questions, such as who is
place of a pre-recorded cassette, or a website this book for? And what does this book cover?
from which the audio content can be Such questions make the purpose of the book
downloaded.) Apart from this student copy, clear, and provide the users a right perspective
there is also a teacher’s manual. on how to use the materials.
There are 15 units, and at the end, a separate The units are divided into smaller sections, each
section for communication activities is included. with a different focus as stated: conversations,
This book is based on the earlier version of the presentations, exercises, communication
British text Functions of English by the same activities, written work, and listening
authors. This demonstrates how the same content activities (marks the sections that are recorded

42 Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol. 63, No. 6, November-December 2021

on cassette tape). The conversations in the book to hesitation devices like I was wondering…, I
are close to real-life situations. The hope you don’t mind my asking..., and so on.
communication activities and exercises are not They also learn about fillers, which are a big part
presented in a routine manner, similar to what of real-life conversations. Fillers like well…,
we see in grammar books based on the oh…, let me see…, and so on.
structural approach.
Unit 3: ‘Getting people to do things: Requesting,
A sensitive reader from India perceives that this attracting attention, agreeing and refusing’ The
book cannot be used for beginners because it conversation is among three people, a waitress,
presupposes some exposure to language – and a couple. Agreeing and refusing does not
learners from semi-urban backgrounds with five mean simply saying yes or no. Learners learn
plus years of exposure to the English language. different expressions like sure, all right, I’m sorry
Therefore, it can be assumed that the book is but…. The written task at the end requires the
suitable for use at the beginning of the pre- learners to write three different letters in three
intermediate level, as proposed in the ‘New different situations. The learners work
Cutting Edge’ series of the Longman publication, individually and in pairs for the communication
London. To substantiate this point, the next activities and exercises.
section of the review provides a brief description
Unit 4: ‘Talking about past events:
of each unit in the book.
Remembering, describing experiences, imagining
Unit 1: ‘Talking about yourself, starting a What if….’
conversation, making a date’
This unit is about going down memory lane while
This provides materials for a good ice-breaking talking about the past. Learners will learn to use
session for the facilitator and the learners in the questions like ‘What happened next?, How did
classroom. The latter learn expressions related you feel when…?’ to get specific information.
to functions, like introducing oneself and making The communication activity requires students to
a date. There is a sample conversation given. work in pairs and it is about finding out what
They then get to practice it through an exercise their partner did the previous day. The writing
and produce what they have learned with the exercise at the end involves writing a letter, writing
help of another exercise. At the end of the unit, a note, and writing a story.
written tasks are given to the learners, which
involves dialogue writing. Unit 5: ‘Conversation techniques: Hesitating,
preventing interruptions and interrupting politely,
Unit 2: ‘Asking for information: Question bringing in other people’
techniques, answering techniques, getting more
information’ Conversation has a lot of fillers. These fillers are
used to express hesitation. It also includes
Has a conversation between two friends asking expressions we can use when we do not want
for and get information from each other. The to be interrupted. Learners will have a lot of fun
learners do not just learn about asking questions doing exercise 5.3. They just need to prolong
and answering them, but will also be introduced the conversation using fillers like umm, well, I

Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol. 63, No. 6, November-December 2021 43

think…, without focusing much on the content. politely is something we do in debates.
The presentation part talks about expressions Expressions like if you ask me, In my opinion,
used when we do not want to be interrupted. and As I see it are used to give opinions, while
Learners also learn how to bring in new people Exactly, I couldn’t agree more, maybe, but
into the conversation for their opinion. The don’t you think… are used for agreeing and
interaction pattern for the communication activity disagreeing. The learners work in pairs and
is in groups. groups for the activities. Written work focuses
on writing a report expressing their opinions.
Unit 6: ‘Talking about the future: Stating
intentions, discussing probability, considering Unit 9: ‘Describing things, instructing people
What if…’ how to do things, checking understanding’
Instructions play a huge role in getting things
Learners learn expressions like yes, definitely, done. The presentation part talks about
probably, no probably not, to perform describing things, giving instructions step by step,
functions like stating intentions and probability. and checking and understanding. Expressions
Learners work in groups for communication related to these language functions are given to
activities. They learn to use ‘will’ and ‘going the learners. The communication activity requires
to’ when they talk about the future. At the end, learners to work in pairs. The written work
the written task includes writing a letter, a focuses on writing descriptive notes with the help
description of a note, and a short write-up on of diagrams.
what would one do if one became a president.
Unit 10: ‘Talking about similarities, talking about
Unit 7: ‘Offering to do something, asking for differences, stating preferences’
permission, giving reasons’
This unit focuses on the language function of
Learners learn to use expressions like let me comparing and contrasting. A sample
get that for you and how about me getting conversation is given, where two persons talk
that for you when they are offering to do about similarities and differences of cars.
something. They also learn expressions they need Expressions like slightly higher, more or less
to use when they are asking for help and the same, very little in common, and it is
expressions they need to use while giving people nowhere near are taught to help learners talk
reasons. The learners work in pairs and also in about similarities and differences. There are no
groups for the communication activities. The communication activities in the unit. The written
written task includes writing different letters for work is about writing an essay by comparing
permission. and contrasting things.
Unit 8: ‘Giving opinions, agreeing and Unit 11: ‘Making suggestions and giving advice,
disagreeing, discussing’ expressing enthusiasm, persuading’
Giving opinions is really important in one’s Learners get to learn about performing functions,
professional life. This also helps the learners like suggesting and persuasion. They learn the
perform better in debates. We do not always difference between polite suggestions and
agree with everything. Expressing disagreement informal suggestions. Learners have to work in

44 Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol. 63, No. 6, November-December 2021

groups and in pairs for the activities. Unit 15: ‘Dealing with moods and feelings:
Anger, sadness, indifference. Saying goodbye’
Unit 12: ‘Complaining, apologising and forgiving,
expressing disappointment’ Expressing feelings is an important part of
language function. In the sample conversation
Language plays a huge role in performing these given, we see a couple having a heart-to-heart
functions. There is a sample conversation where conversation. The presentation part deals with
people express their complaints in a polite expressing different moods, like anger, sadness,
manner and also apologise. The presentation part and indifference. As it is the last unit, there is an
talks about how it is safe to complain politely so activity which focuses on the language function
that we do not come across as rude. Learners of saying goodbye. The written work requires
work in groups and pairs for the activities. students to write about what they have learnt
Students also learn expressions used for from the book.
expressing disappointment. The written work
focuses on writing complaint letters. Conclusion

Unit 13: ‘Describing places, describing people’ This book is quite useful, both for teachers and
learners who would like to adopt a
A vivid description makes the conversation communicative-cum-functional approach to
better. The presentation part gives information language learning. A further strength of the book
about questions we need to ask before is that it presents the content in the form of
describing people or places. The exercises dialogic conversations. The book clearly
require the learners to work individually. There underscores what we actually do with language
are no communication activities for this unit. The and the same has been used as a guiding force
written work focuses on writing notes describing to present the learning materials in communicative
people and things. language functions. In the introduction to the
book, Leo Jones states that the material used in
Unit 14: ‘Telling a story: Narrative techniques, this book is taken from his own book, published
handling dialogue, controlling a narrative’ in Britain as Functions of English. Both the book
have the same purpose of helping the instructors
This unit focuses on narration. Learners learn
use a functional syllabus to develop English and
different narrative techniques. It also talks about
to help the learners use it to improve their
using direct and indirect speech in narration.
proficiency in English.
There is an exercise where the learners have to
create a narrative from the comic strip given. Dr K. Venkat Reddy, Professor, Department
They need to work in pairs for the activities. of Training & Development, The English &
The written work focuses on writing a story Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad,
based on newspaper headlines. Email: [email protected]

Journal of English Language Teaching, Vol. 63, No. 6, November-December 2021 45