TOPIC 1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION: ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE.

FACTORS
DEFINING A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION: SENDER, RECEIVER, FUNCTIONALITY AND
CONTEXT.
INDEX
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE
4. FACTORS DEFINING A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION
 Sender
 Receiver
 Medium
 Channel
 Code
 Context
5. THE COMMUNICATIVE APROACH AND THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
6. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. INTRODUCTION
The present topic deals with communication, and more precisely with the notion of
language as communication. Language is an important part of being humans, since it is an
inherent skill for us. Indeed, what differentiates us from animals is the ability we have to
understand each other and the society we live in. Many have been the linguists who have
tried to define it, through this task has proven to be a difficult one.
Both, communication and language, are very complex phenomenon and there are many
variables playing an important role in communication and therefore, in language. That is
the reason why I am going to divide this topic into different parts, so it can be understood
on depth. For doing so, I will first deal with the notion of language and its possible
definitions and main properties. Second, I will outstand the main characteristics and
differences between oral and written language. Third, I will explain the main factors
defining a linguistic situation. Next, I will continue presenting the concept of communicative
approach to foreign language teaching and the communicative competence, based on
providing the student with communicative activities which help them to use the language
with accuracy and appropriateness. Finally, I will compile the main conclusions and the
bibliography used to develop this topic.

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 2 LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION
Language is the means by which people communicate their feelings, thoughts, knowledge
and wishes. However, providing an accurate and unique definition of language has been for
linguists a difficult task. Charles F. Hocket found that, among the essential features of
communication, there are some which are unique to humans, such as creativity, the
arbitrariness of meaning, the displacement or the productivity, for instance.
What looks clear about language and communication is that communication needs a
medium to embody the message. In the case of language communication, it is speech, as
the concrete manifestation of language, expressed through oral or written words. But
embodying the contents of language is not enough. Nevertheless, it is also important to
have the means to express those contents to whoever is receiving them.
Human language is, at the same time, the activity and the ability we have to communicate
using a system of verbal signs to which the sender and the receiver are familiarized with.
Language is a fundamental sign of man’s expression, which allows him to make known his
sense of the world, his thoughts and feelings. Besides, language is a set of linguistic signs
that are interrelated according to certain grammatical rules that the sender and receiver
are familiarized with. The science which studies the structure of all these possible signs
systems, and the role these play in the way we create and perceive meanings in
sociocultural behaviour is called Semiotics or Semiology. It studies all kind of signs, not only
the oral or written ones that constitute the aim of Linguistics. A sign is any perceptible thing
that proposes a message. Words and other expressions are signs that, in some sense,
signify other things.
The linguist Saussure introduced the concept of linguistic sign emphasizing that the
relationship between the thing signified and the thing which signifies is arbitrary.
Every language has a set of signs, encodes two subjects in a systematized rule, shared by
the sender- receiver, and is expressed in a concrete way by means of speech. Once than the
concept of language as communication has been explained together with the main
linguist’s beliefs about its features, is time to continue with the next point on this topic
which deals with spoken and written language.
Once than the concept of language as communication has been explained together with the
main linguist’s beliefs about its features, is time to continue with the next point on this
topic which deals with spoken and written language.
3. - SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE
Before entering in detail in the description of speech and written language, I would like to
give a brief introduction to the teaching of written and spoken language in language
teaching.

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For centuries, written language has been considered more important than oral language. It
is because it was the medium of literature and the grammatical rules were expressed
through written texts. Oral language, on the contrary, was considered to be lacking in care
and organization. In order to speak properly, it was necessary to follow the structure of
written form. In the 20th century the point of view changed, and more importance was
given to the oral language, because written language was considered only as a tool for
recording language by means of visible marks. Nowadays, linguists consider both means as
different systems of communication, with their own characteristics and uses. Although in
terms of linguistic, both oral and written language are equal, the Decree 61/2022 in its
Article 9.3 indicates that in the Community of Madrid, in schools in which areas are taught
in a foreign language, priority will be given to oral comprehension and expression in
English.
From the point of view of production, it is clear that spoken and written language make
somewhat different demands on language- producers. The speaker has no permanent
record of what he has said earlier, and only under unusual circumstances does he have
notes, which remind him what he wants to say next. Besides, his facial expression or his
postural and gestural systems can always modify the effect of the words he speaks. The
writer, on the contrary, may look over what he has already written, pause between each
word with no fear of his interlocutor interrupting him, take his time in choosing a particular
word, even looking it up in the dictionary if necessary, check his progress with his notes,
reorder what he has written, and even change his mind about what he wants to say.
Whereas, the speaker is under considerable pressure to keep on talking. There are, of
course, advantages for the speaker. He can observe his interlocutor and, if he wishes to
modify what he is saying to make it more accessible to his hearer. The writer has no access
to immediate feedback and simply has to imagine the reader’s reaction. Under some
circumstances a face-to-face interaction is preferred but, in others, for a variety of different
reasons, the individual may prefer to conduct his transaction in writing.
Written language has two main functions: the first is the function which permits
communication over time and space, and the second is that which permits words and
sentences to be examined out of their original contexts. It seems reasonable to suggest
that, whereas in daily life in a literate culture, we use speech largely for the establishment
of human relationships, we use written language for transference of information. In
general, speech is less richly organized than written language, containing less than written
language densely packed information, but containing more interactive markers and
planning “fillers”.
According to the knowledge of the characteristics of oral and written language, we can
draw several conclusions, regarding the foreign language teaching that I take into
consideration when I am teaching:

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  Oral language is easier to acquire and it is previous to the acquisition of written
language, so it should be introduced earlier.
 Written language is characterized by a bigger demand in the correction of its
structure than oral language.
 Errors in oral language should be considered as more normal within the learning
process.
 Dictations, spelling exercises and copies can help students to learn correctly the
written code. They are necessary because the differences between the oral and
written forms.
 Methods like “Jolly Phonics” or similar, can help students to identify the phonemes or
sounds easily and to acquire the oral language correctly.
 The new technologies are really helpful in oral activities since thanks to computers,
recordings, radio or videos students are exposed to a great variety of accents and
native speaker’s voices.
After having explained the main characteristics and differences between oral and written
language, I will continue explaining briefly the main elements that take part in the
communicative act.
4. FACTORS DEFINING A COMMUNICATIVE SITUATION: SENDER, RECEIVER,
FUNCTIONALITY AND CONTEXT
According to Shannon ́s model, every communicative act takes place necessarily between
one or several persons that act as sender and one or several persons that act as receiver.
These are also called participants. But apart from them, there are other elements that take
part in a communicative act.
 The message is the contents of the information that the sender sends to the receiver.
 The channel is the technical means through which the message travels like
telephone, computer or radio for instance. Students of a foreign language should
know the formulas and rules of use in each means.
 The code is a closed set of signs, which are combined using certain rules that the
sender and the receiver are familiar with. In language, the code is made up of
phonemes or letters if it is written language, morphemes, words and syntactic rules.
 The context is the situation which the sender and the receiver are in and which, in
given situations, allows the same message to be interpreted in different ways.
We have talked about information that conveys a message; but information should not be
confused with meaning. If, for example, we read the message “the snow is white”, we will
understand its meaning, but it does not inform us of anything that we did not know before.
Information and meaning are, therefore, different things.

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Language is primarily an instrument we use for different purposes. According to Roman
Jakobson, each one of those purposes is called a function. The elements that determine
different functions of languages are the sender, the receiver and the message. Indeed,
when communication focuses mainly on the contents of the language contained in a
message, language then has a merely representative function. Therefore, it is the main
function of those messages that communicate questions.
But the speaker can send a message that expresses his own feelings. The speaker is then
adding a function to the representative function, namely the expressive function.
If often occurs that the speaker emits a message in order to alter the listener’s behaviour
using imperatives, exhortations, etc. This type of message has, apart from the
representative function, a conative function.
Even all three functions can appear at the same time and in the same message. The
linguistics coming after Bühler (who offered these three functions), specially Roman
Jakobson, added three more functions:
 The phatic function is a way of guaranteeing that the receiver is attentive and the
channel is open.
 The metalinguistic function: It is the function in which language is used to speak
about language
 itself.
 The poetic function: The attention is focused on the way of communicating rather
than on the communication itself. The sender intends to achieve the nicest way of
communication through the selection of vocabulary, rhythm, and other elements.
Each function is characterized not only by a concrete communicative aim but also by the
element of communication that outstands, the linguistic expression more commonly used
and the type of written text in which it appears more predominantly.
Not everybody who comes from the same place speaks in the same way. Every individual
employs a linguistic variety, which is marked by geographic and social factors. These are
both inseparably linked.

Although it is true that the language used by a high-class person differs from the language
used by a low-class person, it is not the social class itself what determines the differences,
but rather the cultural level generally associated with each, since each social stratum is not
given equal educational opportunities. For this reason, when we speak of social factors
pertaining to language, we are namely referring to sociocultural factors: evidently, the
cultural-social class relationship is not always perfect, and, in fact, it is easy to find high-
class persons with a low cultural level. Regarding the social aspect, we find two types of

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language: learned language and popular language. These differ in the use and preference of
certain pronunciations and certain words.
In recent times, the British linguist Michael Halliday has offered a new vision of language, in
which language, against Chomsky’s theory, is seen as a social and cultural phenomenon. He
distinguishes three main language functions called metafunctions and are resumed in the
following way:
 The ideational function organises the speaker’s or writer’s experience of the real or
imaginary world, which means that language refers to real or imagined persons,
things, actions, events, states and so on. In other words, It is used to represent the
world to ourselves.
 The interpersonal function serves to indicate, establish or maintain social
relationships between people.
 The textual function serves to create written or spoken texts which cohere within
themselves and which fit the particular situation in which they are used.
Apart from the different theories, nowadays foreign language teaching has incorporated
the functional and communicative potential of language into teaching. Language teaching
focuses on communicative proficiency rather than on mastery of structures. Thus, we must
take into account the current communicative approach to foreign language teaching.
5. THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
The Communicative Approach appeared in the 1970’s as a reaction to the Audiolingual
Method, which paid more attention to structure than to its function. An important point
about language for Chomsky was its creativity, the capacity to generate completely novel
sentences. He proposed an alternative theory of language learning to that of behaviourism.
Chomsky argued that sentences are not learned by imitation and repetition but are
generated from the learner’s competence. For Chomsky, competence simply implied the
knowledge of the language system. Hymes maintained that Chomsky’s theory was
incomplete, and that a communicative and cultural dimension should be incorporated. A
speaker does not only need the ability to use grammatical structures, but also to learn how
to use those structures in a community. Canale and Swain (1980) were two linguists who
expanded the description of Hymes, establishing the dimensions of the communicative
competence also known as subcompetences:
 Grammatical competence: It refers to the correct use of the linguistic code, the
mastery of grammatical structures, vocabulary and pronunciation.
 Discursive competence: The ability to combine grammatical forms in order to
achieve a coherent discourse.
 Sociolinguistic competence: The ability to produce and understand messages relating
to social context, participants and purpose. It is the appropriate use of language.
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  Strategic competence: It is composed of verbal and non-verbal communication
strategies for compensating the breakdowns in communication and for increasing the
effectiveness of the communication.
 Socio-cultural competence: It implies the knowledge of certain cultural facts which
are of key importance for us to understand a message completely.
If we take into account all the ideas of the Communicative Approach, we have to apply
them in a practical way. Thus, we have to produce an appropriate input and activities for
the students.
Input is the language to which students are exposed. It should be related to the student’s
interests, it should be applicable to a wide number of situations, with a level of complexity
only a little higher than the knowledge the students possess, and it should have enough
contextual support to facilitate their understanding.
Communicative activities refer to the tasks and exercises that the student carries out for
real communication. These activities focus more on the message than on the linguistic
features of the language. Children learn how to speak without knowing what verbs and
adjectives are. The Communicative Approach believes that the practice of communicative
activities will produce the unconscious learning of the structures of the language. Then, the
communicative activity must be:
 Interactive: two or more people must be involved in the interaction.
 Unpredictable: A student has to seek the information his partner has.
 Within a context: We must create the appropriate context so that the communicative
interaction can take place.
 Authentic: The language used must be as similar as possible to the real one.
 It must be developed in a relaxed atmosphere.
The implications of this approach are present in our legal framework, and more specifically
in Annex 1 of Decree 61/2022 that regulates the curriculum of the Primary education in
Madrid. This Decree points out the importance of foreign language acquisition being a
pleasant, fun, practical process that creates language, which expands the communicative
possibilities of the students, allows them to be more autonomous in their learning and
develops curiosity for the knowledge of other social and cultural realities.
To illustrate a communicative situation in class, I am going to talk about an activity that I
have developed in my year 4 class and which my students love. That activity has been
adapted from Carol Read’s book ‘’ 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom’’ published in
2007 by Macmillan Education.
The main specific objective of this activity is to practice the structure of the present simple
verbal tense on its interrogative form, and it is going to be done through a group
communicative activity. The students have a special “mission” which is to find a person with
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the same interests, likes and dislikes. The students are given a piece of paper with some
requests like “Find a person who likes apples “or “find a person who plays the guitar “or
“find 3 people who like dancing”, for instance. They have to move around the class asking
their mates about it, following the structure “Do you like...? Do you play...?. Once that they
get the answers, they have to write the names of their mates below each question. In this
way I create a motivating communicative situation with information, sender, receiver,
channel, and a purpose. Moreover, they will play with their equals, respecting their turns to
speak and playing with the aspects that make them different, developing then not only the
Competence in Linguistic Communication and the Multilingual competence, but also their
Personal, Social and Learning-to-Learn competence.
6. CONCLUSION
To conclude, I would like to remark that, as I have proven in this topic, communication is a
key word for us as English teachers. Not only is it the essence of human interaction, but also
the centre of language learning, where both oral and written communication is included.
In this topic, I have studied the definition and the main properties of language. Then I have
compared spoken and written language, dealing first with the historical attitudes and then
outstanding the main differences between writing and speech. Finally, I have dealt with the
communication theory, the key factors that affect any communicative interaction and the
main functions of language according to Jakobson. Finally, I have summarize the notions of
Communicative Competence and Communicative Approach giving examples of how to
apply this theory into the English as a foreign language class.
The English teacher cannot teach just structures, vocabulary and pronunciation. He/she
should also add a social element that links and give sense to the structures to be learned.
Languages help us to get in touch with people who, otherwise, would remain an utter
stranger to us. We, as teachers should be aware of the fact that the structures to be taught
are transmitted within a context, through a channel, and orientated to an addressee who
will interpret it. That is to say that the function of the message and the factors that
intervene in a communication act are aspects which must be included in the methodology
of the foreign language.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Harmer,J. (1991): ‘The Practice of English Language’’. Longman
 Hymes, Dell (1971): On Communicative Competence. Penguin
 Carol, R. (2007): 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom. Macmillan Education.
 Crystal, David (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. CUP
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