© 1997 by Oxford University Press
Articles |
Language play, language learning
Reader in Education and Head of Languages in Education (formerly ESOL and Modern Languages) at the University of London Institute of Education. He has worked as an English language teacher in Egypt, Italy, Russia, and the UK, and as a lecturer at the University of Leeds. His research interests include applied linguistics and language teaching; discourse analysis; literature theory and teaching; translation; and language and biology. His publications include Discourse (Oxford University Press 1989), The Discourse of Advertising (Routledge 1992), Discourse and Literature (Oxford University Press 1994), and (with B. Seidlhofer) Principle and Practice in Applied Linguistics (Oxford University Press 1995).
This article challenges the widespread belief in contemporary ELT that students should be exposed to authentic or natural language, and that such language is primarily focused on making meaning and achieving practical purposes. Firstly, it is argued that the terms ‘authentic’ and ‘natural’ are vaguely defined, but that if they refer to language used between native speakers and by children acquiring a first language, this is not necessarily the best type of language use for foreign learners. Secondly, it is argued that a good deal of authentic or natural language is playful, in the sense of being focused upon form and fiction rather than on meaning and reality.