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Fostering language awareness
Reflective task 7.8
Do you think helping learners analyze and understand the language of cur- rent affairs in the L2 classroom is a good way of fostering critical language awareness? How would you respond to those who may believe that such discussions can come only at the expense of the important task of devel- oping basic language skills?
To sum up our discussion so far, language is an integral part of the practice of everyday life. Therefore, any educational enterprise must include the teaching of language awareness. A general awareness of the way in which a language operates in terms of phonology, syntax, semantics, and discourse is necessary but not sufficient. What is also needed is the fostering of critical language awareness that can en- rich one’s understanding of how a language is often used to control people economically, culturally, and socially. It is therefore important for teachers, language teachers in particular, to design activities that foster both general and critical language awareness in the classroom.
Microstrategies for Fostering Language Awareness
This section presents two microstrategies—one dealing with general language awareness and another with critical language awareness.
Microstrategy 7.1: Language Use and Levels of Formality
7.1.0 This microstrategy is designed to foster general language aware- ness about levels of formality involved in interpersonal communica- tion. One example of formal-informal language use pertains to the way in which we address people at home, in school, or at our workplace. Therefore, a useful microstrategy may be to ask L2 learners to explore how different cultural communities require different levels of formality in addressing people. Here’s one way of doing it. Make changes to suit your specific learning/teaching situation.
7.1.1 Write the following (or similar) forms of address on the board:
Madam President Mr. Chairman