Language as Communication: Oral and Written Language, Factors Defining a Communicative Situation

Introduction to Language and Communication

DIANA MONJE MARCOS Did you know that language is the most essential and characteristic part of human beings? We use language to communicate our ideas, thoughts and feelings. In this sense topic 1 is paramount for us teachers as it has got a relevant role in the foreign language teaching and learning process. Taking the CEFRL as a reference, one of its main aims is that intends to overcome the barriers of languages, providing a valuable framework through methodological guidelines and a common basis for the description of objectives and contents. Let's continue now with laws, which can be considered as the educational process' foundation, because they are the basis to build up the beautiful building of education where teachers and students coexist. But which is the pillar of this building? "A good Education is the main wealth and resource of a country and its citizens", this is set by our current law LOMLOE 3/2020 passed on the 29th of December which modifies LOE. Then, if we continue building up, we arrive at the floor, the Royal Decree 157/2022 passed on the 1st of March which establishes the curriculum of Primary Education and states on its article 7 goal f) that primary education will contribute to develop the capacity which enable children to "achieve basic communicative competence in at least one FL to enable them, express and understand simple messages and to perform well in everyday situations". Finally, we arrive at the roof of this building, by our 38/2022 Decree passed on the 29th of September which establishes the curriculum of Primary Education in Cyl which states that this area contributes to the improvement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and to enable students to face the challenges of the 21st century. Moreover, our curriculum includes some methodological guidelines in the FLT which involves the implementation of communicative activities and strategies of understanding, expression, interaction and mediation. In this way, according to the Key Competences, topic 1 will foster Communicative Competence and personal, social and learning to learn competence. The present topic is divided into 5 sections: Firstly, in section 1 I will deal with language as communication. In Section 2, I will present the main characteristics and differences between speech and writing (oral and written language). In section 3 I will deal with the factors that define a communicative situation. In section 4 I will introduce the functions of language and finally in section 5 I will compile the main conclusions and in section 6 I will include the bibliography used to develop this topic. Now, let's move to the first part of the topic which is 1. LANGUAGE AS COMMUNICATION

Language and Communication Concepts

Language and Communication Defined

1.1 Language and communication The concept of language has been approached by many linguists and it has prompted innumerable definitions, but the most outstanding definition comes from Halliday (1973) who defines it as an instrument of social interaction with a clear communicative purpose. Hocket (1958) defined a set of features of human language. The most important features are: 2DIANA MONJE MARCOS

1. Auditory-vocal channel: which only humans are endowed with.
2. Total feedback: speakers hear and can reflect on everything they say.
3. Arbitrariness: there is no link between the signal and the reality which it refers.
4. Traditional transmission: it is transmitted from one generation to the next by a process of teaching and learning.
5. Duality: the sounds of language can be combined in different ways to form words which do convey meaning.
6. Displacement: we may talk about events thar are remote in space or time from the situation of the speaker.
7. Productivity: there is an infinite number of possible messages to be expressed.

Now, that I have established the main features of human language I will go on to talk about

Types of Communication

1.2. Types of communication Following Crystal (1985), one of the main characteristics of language is that it is an essential tool for communication. Writing a letter or having a conversation, among others, are instances of verbal communication by means of language. However, other means should also be taken into account, such as gestures, facial expressions, body language, touch and so on, given that non-verbal symbols are also components of the communicative process. Now, let's move to the

Characteristics of Communication

1.3 Characteristics of communication According to Halliday (1973), communication is understood as the exchange of information between at least two individuals through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, oral and written, and production and comprehension processes. We understand verbal language such as writing a letter or having a conversation. However non-verbal language can include elements such as gestures, facial expressions or body language. From this definition we may conclude that the main features of the communication process are:

1. Communication is a form of social interaction, and therefore it is normally acquired and used in such as an interaction.
2. It always has a purpose, that is to communicate.
3. It involves a high degree of unpredictability or creativity.
4. The communication process involves both verbal and non-verbal language.
5. It involves certain elements and the use of linguistic symbols that mean something to those who take part in the process.

Once the characteristics of communication have been presented, it may be appropriate to develop

Concept of Communicative Competence

1.4. The concept of Communicative Competence Our current educational law is based on the Communicative Approach which concerns about giving students enough communicative activities to develop oral and written skills in order to use the language with accuracy. This view centres on achieving c. competence which is the final goal of language teaching. 3DIANA MONJE MARCOS This concept is one of the aims of our current educational system. The article 7, letter f in Royal Decree 157/2022 establishes the importance of acquiring at least on one foreign language Communicative Competence that allows students to express and understand simple messages in daily situations. This notion of communicative competence set by Hymes (1966) comprises not only the abstract abilities that speakers possess that enable them to produce grammatically correct sentences but also to use a language in an appropriate way in order to be communicatively competent in a speech community. Chomsky's theory was incomplete and a communicative and cultural dimension should be incorporated. Hymes states that when a native speaker speaks, he does not only utter grammatically correct forms, he also knows where and when to use these sentences and to whom. Canale and Swain (1980) expanded Hymes' description, establishing that communicative competence is made up of five sub competences areas.

• Grammatical Competence: which consists of knowing how to use the grammar, syntax and vocabulary of a language. (It is the mastery of the language code).
• Sociolinguistic Competence: which consists of knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately according to the social context, participants and purpose. (Given the setting, the topic and the relationship among the people communicating).
• Discourse competence: which is knowing how to interpret the larger context and how to construct longer structures of language so that the parts make up a coherent whole.
• Strategic competence: it is the mastery of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies used to compensate for breakdowns in communication and to make communication more effective. For example body movement or intonation.
• Sociocultural Competence: it is being familiar with the social and cultural context, the background where the language is spoken.

These communicative sub competences seek to help children to use real language in real situations. Now, let's move to the second part of this topic which is 2. ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE The current legal framework is concerned with the teaching of the FL as a tool to communicate, socialize, investigate, solve problems, etc. On the whole, using the language to communicate involves real situations where learners can put their linguistic abilities into motion in diverse contexts. This educational system acknowledges the prominent role of being able to establish real and practical communication in a FL as the first requirement in an increasingly pluricultural and plurilingual international context. In this sense, our Decree 38/2022 establishes the general aspects to be taken into consideration as or the FL teaching process as well as the specific methodological orientations. Therefore, in the case of the foreign language area, the specific competences are organized into six axes that are related to each other, associated with the two dimensions of multilingualism, the communicative dimension and the intercultural dimension. In this sense, the first four specific competencies refer to comprehension, expression, interaction and mediation, all necessary for an effective communication in the foreign language. 4DIANA MONJE MARCOS

Oral Language Characteristics

With regard to 2.1 Oral language Spoken language is more fundamental than written language. Speech appears to be human universal, whereas there have been many cultures that lack written communication. Speech evolved before human beings discovered writing. Besides, people learn to speak and process spoken language more easily and much earlier than writing. In this way I will highlight some characteristics of oral language:

1. Oral language is the first expression of human language.
2. The means or channel of transmission is air and the message is coded by making use of the physical quality of sound: pitch, tone, intensity and quantity.
3. Oral language is of wider use, more practical and frequent than the written language.
4. Oral language allows an immediate modification of the message and it is subject to interruptions.
5. Due to the presence of another speaker, it also allows a continuous interaction and a permanent process of feedback.
6. In oral language, the message is reinforced by additional resources like pauses, changes in rhythm, intonation, tone. The information is complemented by gestures or movements, by the use of body language and non-verbal elements.
7. Oral language is more spontaneous, and not as precise as written language.
8. It always takes place in a situational context.
9. Oral language is more dynamic and innovative than written language as it facilitates the use of new words and colloquial expressions.

Moreover, Our Decree emphasizes the use of the FL to communicate in real-life context. In this sense, listening, speaking and interaction are included in the first and second specific competences as well as in the block of contents especially in block 1 related to communication. This block has specific contents necessary for the development of comprehension and production strategies and intonation and rhythmic patterns, fostering active understanding and production of oral texts. We can foster comprehension of oral text by listening to songs, watching videos, listening to stories, TPR activities for lower levels. Additionally, according to Littlewood (1981) we can foster speaking and listening through task presentations, active and cooperative participation, social interaction activities such as a role play in which students try to find the shortest route to a specific point in town, the recording of a podcast in a form of a role play where students are buying tickets for a basketball match.

Written Language Characteristics

2.2 Written language Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols. Written language has some distinctive characteristics.

1. It is usually planned, organized and durable.
2. It is not bound to any physical setting, and it is often read by people unknown to the writer. 5