The system and language of the English system
The Systems and Language Skills of English
1.
The best teachers are the confident and prepared teachers. To be a successful English teacher you need a good knowledge of the topic. Clearly, communication with students is essential in effective teaching.
To communicate successfully, teachers must know how to structure their own language for maximum clarity and have strategies for understanding what students are saying since understanding student talk is key to analysis of what students know, how they understand, and what teaching moves would be useful. Possessing basic understanding of the nature of the language means the teacher must be aware of the history of the language as well as the structure of the language. The Structural view of language covers the study of language at the level of phonology (the systematic study of sound system in a particular language), lexis, function (communicating a particular purpose we wish to achieve in language) and grammar.
When looking at the following sentences, you can see how they are related with various systems of the language and can be interpreted differently:
• I went to London; I’ve been to London. Grammar
• Lend me $5. Could you possibly lend me $5? Function
• Library; bookstore Lexis
• Foot; foots Grammar
• I’d rather not; no way! Function
• Hit; heat Phonology
• Photograph; photographer Lexis
• Should; must Function
When teaching a language we have to remember that we are teaching four very important skills that are intricate and are taught as one.
Receptive skills (Listening and reading)
Productive skills (speaking and writing)
When we teach a vocabulary word we automatically should be teaching the definition and the spelling of the word, the pronunciation and how to read it. This obviously comes with a lot of practice on behalf of the student and many times English language system can be difficult and confusing to learn. It is important that we always keep in mind
1.
The best teachers are the confident and prepared teachers. To be a successful English teacher you need a good knowledge of the topic. Clearly, communication with students is essential in effective teaching.
To communicate successfully, teachers must know how to structure their own language for maximum clarity and have strategies for understanding what students are saying since understanding student talk is key to analysis of what students know, how they understand, and what teaching moves would be useful. Possessing basic understanding of the nature of the language means the teacher must be aware of the history of the language as well as the structure of the language. The Structural view of language covers the study of language at the level of phonology (the systematic study of sound system in a particular language), lexis, function (communicating a particular purpose we wish to achieve in language) and grammar.
When looking at the following sentences, you can see how they are related with various systems of the language and can be interpreted differently:
• I went to London; I’ve been to London. Grammar
• Lend me $5. Could you possibly lend me $5? Function
• Library; bookstore Lexis
• Foot; foots Grammar
• I’d rather not; no way! Function
• Hit; heat Phonology
• Photograph; photographer Lexis
• Should; must Function
When teaching a language we have to remember that we are teaching four very important skills that are intricate and are taught as one.
Receptive skills (Listening and reading)
Productive skills (speaking and writing)
When we teach a vocabulary word we automatically should be teaching the definition and the spelling of the word, the pronunciation and how to read it. This obviously comes with a lot of practice on behalf of the student and many times English language system can be difficult and confusing to learn. It is important that we always keep in mind