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Foreign language standards and the contexts of communication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2008

June K. Phillips
June K. Phillips*
Affiliation:
Weber State University, USAjphillips@weber.edu
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Abstract

Once upon a time, there were four skills. But what did it mean to be a listener? A speaker? A reader? A writer? Skills in a vacuum are useful neither for describing how well one uses language nor for how to teach it effectively. As the Standards were developed, the task force made an effort to look at related disciplines and to investigate how their methods might inform the teaching of second languages. As the discipline of communication was studied, the role of context became evident. For example, the speaker as rhetorician was quite distinct from the speaker in interpersonal or small group communication. The rules that governed those behaviors and the way students were taught to speak in these two situations differed considerably. What are the ramifications for how we look at communication in foreign languages? The answer is ‘The Framework of Communicative Modes’.

Type
Plenary Speeches
Information
Language Teaching , Volume 41 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 93 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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