Functions of language

Functions of language

One of the main goals of language teachers is to provide students with the tools to be effective communicators in the TL. Often when students are assigned projects and assignments (like the weather report in Anna’s case study) their lack of practical tools to produce the actual language becomes evident. In these cases, students might very well have the necessary resources to accomplish the task, but teachers might need to consider a communicative approach to teaching the language, focusing on the functions of language, to properly equip students to complete assigned tasks. In this section we will explore functions of language and how they can be taught in the SL classroom.

A lot of what we say is for a specific purpose. Whether we are apologizing, expressing a wish or asking permission, we use language in order to fulfill that purpose. Each purpose can be known as a language function. Savignon describes a language function as “the use to which language is put, the purpose of an utterance rather than the particular grammatical form an utterance takes” (Savignon, 1983). By using this idea to structure teaching, the instructional focus becomes less about form and more about the meaning of an utterance. In this way, students use the language in order to fulfill a specific purpose, therefore making their speech more meaningful.

If we think about a function of language as one that serves a purpose we can see that much of what we see can be considered to be functional. Let's take the example of going to a dinner party. Arriving at the dinner party we may introduce ourselves, thank the host and ask where to put our coats. During the dinner we may congratulate someone on a recent accomplishment, ask advice, express affection and compliment the host on the meal. Each of these individual utterance are considered functions of language.