© 1991 by Oxford University Press
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Linking language and situation: a course for advanced learners
lectures at Dublin City University. She teaches undergraduate courses to non-native speakers as part of an exchange programme with other mainly European universities. These courses include cultural studies, ESP courses, and general language courses for advanced learners. She also supervises TEFL postgraduate students. She is a graduate from the University of Paris, has an MA in Area Studies from the University of London, and has taught widely in the fields of EFL, ESL, and ESP in Paris, Milan, London, and Dublin. She is at present preparing a PhD thesis at Reading University, on the inter-relationship between language and social context.
Focus on the situation of language is often regarded as outside the domain of language teaching and more appropriate to sociolinguistics than applied linguistics. Yet finding the appropriate piece of language to ‘fit’ a situation continues to constitute a difficult task, even for the advanced learner. The article argues that understanding the context of language—the social, the interpersonal, the setting in its broadest sense—is a vital component in a learner's capacity to communicate effectively. This article describes a course for advanced learners, the aim of which was to focus on the links between language and situation, and, at the same time, equip the students with concepts that would guide them in the production of appropriate written texts. The process involved students talking about language as well as practising it. It also contributed to making them aware of language variation—something which most students sense intuitively, but are seldom taught.