Discourse Theory in

Language Education

Prepared by: Rhea Wiljoy A. Olea

Let's have an
activity!
 What is
discourse?
DISCOURSE
- a conversation or text
- collections of texts and conversations
- a shared way of talking or creating
text
- codes, languages, ways of speaking a
topic
 DISCOURSE THEORY

This theory was conceptualized by Evenlyn Hatch.

It is among the theories that came into birth and
developed rapidly in the past five decades with the
emergence of second language acquisition
researches worldwide.
 DISCOURSE THEORY

The theory emphasizes that language development

should be viewed within the framework of how the
learner discovers the meaning capacity of language
by taking part in communication.

discursus - Latin word which means running to and

from , and denotes written and spoken
communication.
 DISCOURSE THEORY

Language can be learned by communicating with the

target language speaker.

Learners discover the potential meaning of language

by participating in communication.
 DISCOURSE THEORY
Communication is treated as the matrix of the
linguistic language.

To be successful in first language acquisition,

interaction is a must.
According to Michael A.K. Halliday, the process of
first language acquisition is actually the process of
learning how to communicate in that language.

Hatch agrees to Halliday, that only

through communication discourses, the
learner can acquire the second language.
Communicative Competence
by Canale and Swain (1980)
Grammatical Competence

Socio-linguistic Competence

Strategic Competence

Discourse Competence
It has been widely accepted that
communicative competence should
be the goal of language
education, central to good
classroom practice.
 DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Analysis of the function of the language

Language is more than just a sentence-level

phenomenon
Concerned with the study of the relationship
between language and the contexts in which it is
used.
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
MAIN PRINCIPLES OF DISCOURSE THEORY
SLA follows a natural route in syntactical development.
Native speakers adjust their speech in order to
negotiate meaning with non-native speakers
Conversational strategies used to negotiate meaning,
and the resulting adjusted input influence SLA in a
number of ways.
The natural route is the result of learning how to hold
conversations.
Rules of Conversation
Attention Getting

Topic Nomination

Topic Development

Topic shifting and avoidance

Topic Termination
 WEAKNESSES OF DISCOURSE
THEORY
There's no certain method that can be directly
implemented to the learners.
Language can't be learned when learners do't have an
interest to make an interaction.
Mastery of the vocabulary is a must to have a conversation
with the target language speakers.
Overemphasizes the role of external process of language.
IMPLICATIONS TO LANGUAGE LEARNING AND
TEACHING

Encourage the learners to interact and participate

Meet
in group activities. my friends

Be aware of the rules of conversation.

Create situations that will allow learners to interact

and gain confidence.

IMPLICATIONS TO LANGUAGE LEARNING AND

TEACHING

Encourage the learners to interact and participate

Meet
in group activities. my friends

Be aware of the rules of conversation.

Create situations that will allow learners to interact

and gain confidence.

Thank you!