Correctness and Appropriacy
Keywords:
aims, language, perform, learn, teaching, produceAbstract
The article is an attempt to clarify certain issues that seem to me to arise from adopting a communicative approach to the teaching of language. I have in mind, in particular, the teaching of English to speakers of other languages. Over recent years I (and a number of others) have advocated such an approach in principle and have tried to put it into practice in the preparation of teaching materials. In principle and practice, however, there always seemed to be loose ends of one sort or another: inconsistencies, unexamined assumptions, unresolved difficulties. My aim in this article was to sort out some of the things that I had been saying, consider their implications more closely, and see if they might be ordered into a coherent account. I wanted to try to think things through.
Downloads
References
J.P.B Allen and S. Pit Corder, Oxford University Press, 1975, pp.37-40.
Babbie, E.R. 1973. Survey Research Methods. Belmont, C A.: Wadsworth.
Brian Tiffen and H. G. Widdowson: Language in Education, Oxford University Press, 1968.
Gay, L.R. 1981. Educational Research. Columbus, Ohio: Merill.
Herbert W. Seliger and Elana Shohamy: Second Language research methods 1989. 270 p.
The most detailed treatment is to be found in W. F. Mackey: Language Teaching Analysis, Longman, 1965, pp.137 et seq.
The criteria discussed by Mackey are: frequency, range, availability, coverage, learnability. See also Chapters 29-31 of my Language Teaching Texts, Oxford University Press, 1971.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
-
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
