Communication and Language Acquisition Understanding, speak

Communication and Language Acquisition

"Language", remarks Deese (1970), "provides the principal means for social inheritance and the cumulation of cultural information" (p. 115). Vetter (1969) notes that the linguistic relativity hypothesis contends that "language to some degree directs cognitions and aids in defining situations. Further, it possesses the capability of operating as a force to initiate cultural changes as well as being modified by changes in other cultural dimensions" (p. 141). All very nice but... One of the problems with language is that "the use of most words for objects, qualities, or relations is uncertain and unsettled; and their meanings consequently vague" (Halloway, 1971, p. 138). The problem is compounded when the language is on the upswing as a world lingua franca, widely dispersed, highly dynamic, getting richer every day, with a rather flexible structure, and with speakers of a multitude of native language origins. If, in addition, there is no official body (such as the Academies in Spain and France) to hold the reins of polysemy and run-amock neologisms, we have English.

"There is little question that the mastery of any language must be regarded as an example of learning" (Eiseson, Auer, & Irwin, 1963, p. 85). Whether the potentiality for learning language is innate or acquired is currently an academic topic. One thing is certain, though: language is an arduous and long

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should be considered, viz. relevance, transferability/applicability, and task-orientation (p. 90). These principles are germane to all teaching/learning materials, and therefore apply equally to the development of listening skills. The question now arises: What do we listen for? Meaning? Words? Stress? Intonation? Grammar? Structures? Do we concentrate on form or on substance? And if we concentrate on form, do we not miss the whole point of language, viz. communication of meaning? And if we concentrate on meaning, do we not miss learning form which qualifies message contents and gives us the tools for structuring our responses? Can we apprehend both form and substance simultaneously when we are still at the learning stage? The question becomes even more complex in the case of students whose native language lacks such features as intonation and stress or is essentially based on intonation (such as Chinese) or stress (such as Spanish). On what features of spoken English will Japanese naturally focus? A knowledge of Japanese by the teacher will help in identifying the listener's focus and, if need be, in providing remedial practice. Foss and Hakes (1978) and Clark and Clark (1977) suggest that propositions are the basic units of m
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Paulston Dijkstra, Clark Clark, Doubting Thomas, Communication Skills, Auer Irwin, Hinofotis Bailey, Riggenbach Lazaraton, Brown Yule, Acquisition Language, University York, york ny, university press, foreign language, oral communication, listening comprehension, heinle heinle publishers, heinle heinle, heinle publishers, cambridge uk cambridge, boston ma, 2nd ed, cambridge university press, ma heinle, ma heinle heinle, uk cambridge university,
Approximate Word count = 4302
Approximate Pages = 17 (250 words per page)

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