Discuss the structural, functional, and interactional views of language.
Shihabur Rahaman
ContributorDiscuss the structural functional and interactional views of language NU Language is the primary tool of human life It helps people to share thoughts express feelings and build society Language learning is seen from different angles by linguists Among them three important views are the structural view the functional view and the interactional view Linguists such as Brewington Halliday and Vygotsky provided ideas to explain these views Together they shaped modern language teaching methods Structural View The structural view sees language as a set of forms It focuses on grammar rules and sentence patterns Brewington said it is the study of the structures of English and their order Menon and Patel noted that mastery of structures is more important than just words The aim is to help learners speak and write correct sentences For example a teacher may give patterns This is a book Is this a book Learners repeat
these drills In this view speech comes before reading and writing Students listen and speak first then read and write later This is why it is also called the aural-oral approach The method uses selection and gradation Only useful and simple structures are taught first More difficult ones come later The merit of this view is habit formation Students learn standard English sentence order It also gives stress on practice and accuracy But it has limits too It does not help in teaching prose poetry or higher skills It may also become boring because of repetition Functional View The functional view sees language as a tool for real use The main focus is on the purpose of speech Halliday and other linguists showed that people use language to perform functions These include greeting inviting apologizing ordering or thanking For example when a student says Good morning or Can you help me he uses language for a function This view adds the idea of notions A notion means ideas like time place or size For example the phrase last week conveys the notion of time So functions and notions work together in this view Teaching in this way is called the functional-notional approach It builds a link between grammar and real-life speech Lessons are arranged around real-life purposes such as buying a ticket or asking directions The merit of this view is that it makes learning a natural and valuable experience It gives stress on social roles and situations However grading can be challenging and sometimes it overlooks grammatical rules Interactional View The interactional view regards language as a means of constructing social life Language is not only for grammar or function It is also for relationships and culture Vygotsky explained this with the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development He said learners grow with the help of others in social interaction Bruner added the concept of scaffolding Here teachers or peers give support so learners can do tasks step by step This view makes interaction the center of language learning Students talk share and work together For example they take part in pair work role-play and group talk The teacher gives a real situation Learners exchange ideas and negotiate meaning The merit of this view is that it makes learners active and motivated It also joins language with culture and context But it is difficult to test or measure this view In short language cannot be explained from one side only The structural functional and interactional views all give important points The structural view gives forms and rules The functional view gives purpose and meaning The interactional view gives a social link and growth Modern Communicative Language Teaching joins these three views nbsp