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2024年4月12日发(作者：gcc手机版编译下载)
Different views on language.
In the past century, language teaching and learning practices have been influenced by three
different views of language, namely, the structural view, the functional view and the interactional
view. Different views on language generate different teaching methodologies.
Structural View: It sees language as a linguistic system made up of various subsystem:
from phonological, morphological, lexical, etc. to sentence. Each language has a finite number of
such structural items. To learn a language means to learn these structural items so as to be able
to understand and produce language.
Functional View: it sees language as a linguistic system but also as a means for doing things.
Most of our day-to-day language use involves functional activities: offering, suggesting, advising,
apologizing, etc. Therefore, learners learn a language in order to do things with it. To perform
functions, learners need to know how to combine the grammatical rules and the vocabulary to
express notions that perform the functions.
Interactional view: It considers language as a communicative tool, whose main use is to
build up and maintain social relations between people. Therefore, learners not only need to know
the grammar and vocabulary of the language, but also need to know the rules for using them in a
whole range of communicative context.
The understanding of the nature of language may provide the basis for a particular teaching
method, and it is also closely related to the understanding of language learning. If language is
considered to have a finite number of structural items, learning the language means learning
these items. If language is more than just a system of structure, it is more importantly a tool, then
to learn the language means to use it, rather than just to study what it is and how it is formed.
III. Views on language learning.
The language learning theory underlying an approach or method usually answers two
questions:
1) What are the psycholinguistic and cognitive process involved in language learning?
2) What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be
activated?
The research into the answers fall into process-oriented theories and condition-oriented
theories.
Process-oriented theories are concerned with how the mind processes new information,
such as habit formation, induction, making inference, hypothesis testing and generalization.
Condition-oriented theories emphasize the nature of the human and physical context in
which language learning takes place, such as the number of students, what kind of input learners
receive, and the learning atmosphere.
Behaviourist theory: Proposed by behavioural psychologist Skinner, he suggested that
language is also a form behaviour. It can be learned the same way as an animal is trained to
respond to stimuli. This theory of learning is referred to as behaviourism. One influential result is
the audio-lingual method, which involves the “listen and repeat” drilling activities. The idea of
this method is that language is learned by constant repetition and the reinforcement of the
teacher. Mistakes are immediately corrected, and correct utterances are immediately praised.
Cognitive theory: The term cognitivism is often used to describe method in which students
are asked to think rather than simply repeat. It is Noam Chomsky’ theory. The key point of
Chomsky’s theory is reflected in his most famous question:
If all language is a learned behaviour, how can a child produce a sentence that has never
been said by others before?
According to Chomsky’s theory, language is not a form of behaviour, it is an intricate
rule-based system and a large part of language acquisition is the learning of this system. There
are a finite number of grammatical rules in the system and with a knowledge of these rules an
infinite number of sentences can be produced. A language learner acquires language
competence which enables him to produce language. One influential idea of this theory is that
students should be allowed to create their own sentences based on their understanding of
certain rules.
Consructivist theory: The constructivist theory believes that learning is a process in which
the learner constructs meaning based on his/her own experiences and what he/she already
knows.
It is believed that education is used to develop the mind, not just to rote recall what is
learned.
Therefore, teachers must balance an understanding of the habits, characteristics as well as
personalities of individual learners with an understanding of the means of arousing learners’
interests and curiosity for learning.
Socio-constructivist theory: similar to constructivist theory, social-constructivist theory
emphasizes interaction and engagement with the target language in a social context based on
the concept of “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD) (近侧发展区间)and scaffolding（鹰架理论）.
In other words, learning is best achieved through the dynamic interaction between the teacher
and the learner and between learners.
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