Hostname: page-component-5c6d5d7d68-7tdvq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-08-16T16:28:38.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Spoken Language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2008

George Yule
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The investigation of aspects of the spoken language from a pedagogical perspective in recent years has tended, with a few exceptions, to be indirect and typically subordinate to considerations of other topics such as acquisition processes, cognitive constraints on learning, cross-cultural factors, and many others. At the same time, there has been a broad movement in language teaching away from organizing courses in terms of discrete skills such as speaking or listening and towards more holistic or integrated classroom experiences for learners. There is no reason to suspect that these trends will be reversed in the early 1990s and, with the exception of those specifically involved in remediation, language teachers will be less likely to find themselves being prompted to “teach the spoken language” than to “create learner-centered, acquisition-rich environments” which will have listening and speaking activities as incidental processes rather than as objectives. While acknowledging this trend, I would like to survey, albeit selectively, some of the areas where speaking and listening activities relevant to the classroom have been the subject of recent investigation and evaluate some of the claims concerning what might be beneficial or not. In the three sections which follow, I shall review current thinking on: 1) the spoken language as a formal system, focusing on pronunciation, 2) the spoken language as a medium of information transfer (that is, in its transactional function), and 3) the spoken language as a medium of interpersonal exchange (that is, in its interactional function).

Type
Language Pedagogy
Information
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics , Volume 10 , March 1989 , pp. 163 - 172
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

UNANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bolinger, D. 1964. Around the edge of language: Intonation. Harvard educational review. 34.2.282–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A. 1988. Functional load and the teaching of pronunciation. TESOL quarterly. 22.4.593–606.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. 1977. Listening to spoken English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Brown, G. 1986. Grading and professionalism in ELT. In Meara, P. (ed.) Spoken language: British studies in applied linguistics. London: CILT. 3–15.Google Scholar
Brown, G. and Yule, G.. 1983. Teaching the spoken language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, G. et al. , 1984. Teaching talk: Strategies for production and assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Buckingham, H. W and G., Yule. 1987. Phonemic false evaluation: Theoretical and clinical aspects. Clinical linguistics and phonetics. 1.113–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrd, P. and Constantinides, J.. 1988. FTA training programs: Searching for appropriate teaching styles. English for specific purposes. 7.2.123–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byrd, P.Constantinides, J., and Pennington, M.. 1989. The foreign teaching assistant's manual. New York: Macmillian.Google Scholar
Candlin, C. N. 1987. Towards task-based language learning. In Candlin, C. N. and Murphy, D. F. (eds.) Language learning tasks. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 5–22.Google Scholar
Carter, R. 1987. Is there a core vocabulary? Applied linguistics. 8.2.178–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Catford, J. C. 1987. Phonetics and the teaching of pronunciation. In Morley, J. (ed.) Current perspectivies on pronunciation. Washington, DC: TESOL. 87–100.Google Scholar
Celce-Murcia, M. 1987. Teaching pronunciation as communication. In Morley, J. (ed.) Current perspectives on pronunciation. Washington, DC: TESOL. 5–12.Google Scholar
Chaudron, C. 1988. Second language classrooms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Pietro, R. J. 1987. Strategic interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Doughty, C. and Pica, T.. 1986. “Information gap” tasks: Do they facilitate second language acquistion? TESCOL quarterly. 20.2.305–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duff, P. A. 1986. Another look at interlanguage talk: Taking task to task. Conversation in second language acquisition. Rowely, MA: Newbury House. 147–181.Google Scholar
Eckman, F. 1985. Some theoretical and pedagogical implications of the markedness differential hypothesis. Studies in second language acquisition. 7.3.289–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
English, S. 1988. Say it clearly. New York: Collier Macmillan.Google Scholar
Faerch, C. and Kasper, G. (eds.) 1983. Strategies in interlanguage communication. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Flege, J. 1987. Effects of equivalence classifaction on the production of foregin language speech sounds. In James, A. and Leather, J. (eds.) Sound patterns in second langauge acquisition. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. 9–39.Google Scholar
Gass, S. M. and Varonis, E. M.. Forthcoming. Incorporated repairs in non-native discourse. In Eisenstein, M. (ed.) Variation and second language acquisition. New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Gierut, J. A. and Dinnsen, D. A.. 1987. On predicting case of phonological learning. Applied linguistics. 8.4.35–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, J. 1984. Clear speech. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Heath, S. B. 1986. Children at risk? Building investments in diversity. Plenary address, 20th Annual TESOL Convention, Anaheim, California. March.Google Scholar
Kagan, S. 1985. Cooperative learning. Laguna Niguel, CA: Resources for Teachers.Google Scholar
Kaplan, R. B. 1989. The life and times of an ITA program. English for specific purposes. 8.2.109–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kass, E. W. and Schmidt, A. M.. 1986. American English pronunciation workbook. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.Google Scholar
Kellerman, E. Forthcoming. Compensatory strategies in second language research: A critique, a revision and some (non-) implications for the classroom. In Phillipson, R. et al. , (eds.) Foregin language pedagogy. Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Kenworthy, J. 1987. Teaching English pronunciation. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Klippel, F. 1984. Keep talking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Krashen, S. and Terrell, T.. 1983. The natural approach. Hayward, CA: Alemany Press.Google Scholar
Lado, R. and Fries, C.. 1954. English pronunciation. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. 1983. Linguistic and conversational adjustments to non-native speakers. Studies in second language acquisition. 5.2.177–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. and Porter, P. A.. 1985. Group work, interlanguage talk and second language acquisition. TESOL quarterly. 19.2.207–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pennington, M. and Richards, J.. 1986. Pronunciation revisited. TESOL quarterly. 20.2.207–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pica, T. 1987. Second language acquisition, social interaction and the classroom. Applied linguistics. 8.1.3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pica, T. 1988. Interlanguage adjustments as an outcome of NS-NNS negotiated interaction. Language learning. 38.1. 45–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pica, T. and Doughty, C.. 1988. Variations in classroom interaction as a function of participant pattern and task. In Fine, J. (ed.) Second language discourse. Norwood, NJ: Albex. 41–55.Google Scholar
Porter, P. A. 1986. How learners talk to each other: Input and interaction in task-centered discussions. In Day, R. (ed.) Talking to learn: Conversation in second language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. 200–222.Google Scholar
Prabhu, N. S. 1987. Second language pedagogy. Oxford: Oxford Univeersity Press.Google Scholar
Prator, C. and Robinett, B. W.. 1985. Manual of American English pronunciation. 4th ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Rivers, W. (ed.) 1987. Interactive language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Rounds, P. 1987. Characterizing successful classroom discourse for NNS teaching assistant training. TESOL quarterly. 21.4.643–671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scovel, T. 1988. A time to speak: A pshycholinguistic examination of the ciritcal period for language acquistion. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Snow, C. 1987. Beyond conversation: Second language learners' acquisition of description and explanation. In Lantolf, J. and Labarca, A. (eds.) Research in second language learning: Focus on the classroom. Norwood, NJ: Albex. 3–16.Google Scholar
Swain, M. 1985. Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In Gass, S. M. and Madden, C. M. (eds.) Input in second language acquisition. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. 235–253.Google Scholar
Swan, M. and Smith, B.. 1987. Learner English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tarone, E. E. and Yule, G.. 1989. Focus on the language learner. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Varonis, E. M. and Gass, S. M.. 1985. Non-native/non-native conversations: A model for the negotiation of meaning. Applied linguistics. 6.1.71–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Via, R. 1987. “The magic if” of theater: Enhancing language learning through drama. In Rivers, W. (ed.) Interactive language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 110–123.Google Scholar
Williams, M. 1988. Language taught for meetings and language used in meetings: Is there anything in common? Applied linguistics. 9.1.45–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, R. 1987. Teaching pronunciation: Focus on English rhythm and intonation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Yule, G. and Gregory, W.. 1989. Survey interviews for interactive language learning. ELT journal. 43.2.142–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yule, G., Gregory, W. and Macdonald, D.. Forthcoming. Resolving referential conflicts in L2 interaction: The effect of proficiency and interactive role. Language learning.Google Scholar
Yule, G. and Gregory, W. and Tarone, E. E.. Forthcoming. Eliciting the performance of strategic compentence. In Scarcella, R., Andersen, E., and Krashen, S. (eds.) Developing communicative competence in a second language. Cambridge, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar