1—5 C D A B C
1. The contribution in terns of applications to language teaching is easier to understand. The products of linguistic descriptions provide the input to syllabus design and material construction. It is hard to imagine that language can ever be taught and learned as a component of education without reference to the out come of linguistic descriptions. The metalanguage, created by linguists in their analysis of the sound system, the lexico grammar and the meaning of a language, make it possible to talk about what to teach in language teaching. Pedagogic grammars and dictionaries are used by teachers and students as reference books. Indeed, it is hardly possible to define the content of teaching without linguistic descriptions.
2. Implications are less obvious but bot less important. The insight aimed by linguists into the nature of language and language learning may enlighten language teaching professionals in thinking about what to teach and how to teach. Language teaching decisions have to be made at several levels—designing the content, determing the approach, selecting techniques and procedures, and assessing the effectiveness of teaching and learning. At the preparatory level the decisions are made by specialists. To make wise decisions, they need to draw information from relevant disciplines. They need to evaluate linguistic theories and see what implications a certain theory has for language teaching. At the operation level, the language and the process of language learning influences his thinking about what to teach and how to teach. Whether one is aware of it or not, a view of language and language learning underlies one’s decisions about teaching.
3. A syllabus is an official document that authoritatively determines the content and principles of teaching and learning. It is designed with the reference to: 1) the social aim for the teaching the language; 2) information about the group of learners; 3) the account of time allocated in the curriculum; 4) theories of language and language acquisition. There are two fundamental questions in constructing a syllabus: what elements should be included? On what principle should they be sequences?
4. Structural syllabus assumed that the elements should be defined by reference to certain formal in terms of linguistic description and that the sentence should be the basic teaching unit. It was supposed that if learners could accumulate knowledge of the underlying system of the language, they would be able to use the language in communication when occasions arise. The core component of a syllabus based on such theoretical assumptions is naturally sentence patterns, which are sequences according to structural complexity.
5. The structural syllabus has its advantages and defects. Its advantage is that it is economical. Learning a limited set of rules can lead to production of a very large number of sentences. Its serious defect lies in the fact that sentences are units of linguistic analysis but not of natural language use. Although learners may be able to construct grammatical sentences, they are often at a loss in real situations, wondering what it is appropriate to say.
6. In the early 1970s, the theory of communicative competence was proposed by DII Hymes. Functional linguists and pragmatists began to exert a stronger influence in the study of language. Since then communicative views of language teaching have been the foundation of syllabus design. The central question for proponents of a communicative was: “what does the learner need/want to do with the target language?” syllabi began to appear in which content was specified, not only in terms of the grammatical element, but also in terms of the functional items students would need to master in order to communicate successfully. The starting point in designing a communicative syllabus is the analysis of learner’s needs.
7. In communicative language teaching, the teacher needs to fulfill at least the roles of communicator. The teacher communicates with the students in the target language. His /her His/her proficiency in the language is absolutely a pre-requisite in fulfilling the role of communicator. At the same time, he/she sets the students a model in using the target language. The younger the learners are, the more important the role of model is. He/she is a designer of the tasks and activities that engage the students, and he/she is an organizer of these. Finally, he/she diagnoses students’ errors and problems in the process of learning and gives advice accordingly.
8. The value of linguistics in the professional development of language teachers lies in these aspects: to increase the teacher’s understanding of the nature language; to develop the teacher’s awareness of the complexity of language and language learning; to sensitive the teacher in identifying errors and diagnosing their sources; to help the teacher to monitor his/her own use of the target language.
9. The grammar-translation method, the direct method, the reading method, the audiovisional method, total physical response, the silent way, the communicative approach and so on.