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    LanguageFunctionsForms PDF

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    Sambarana Evan
    This document provides a brief summary of language functions and forms. It defines language functions as what students do with language, such as expressing ideas, communicating, and showing understanding. Common oral functions include giving instructions and making requests, while academic writing functions involve describing, comparing/contrasting, and classifying. Language forms deal with grammatical structures like nouns and verbs as well as academic vocabulary. Both functions and forms are needed for students to develop English proficiency and for teachers to understand language demands. Examples of many common functions and forms are also listed.

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    LanguageFunctionsForms PDF

    Uploaded by

    Sambarana Evan
    77 views2 pages
    This document provides a brief summary of language functions and forms. It defines language functions as what students do with language, such as expressing ideas, communicating, and showing understanding. Common oral functions include giving instructions and making requests, while academic writing functions involve describing, comparing/contrasting, and classifying. Language forms deal with grammatical structures like nouns and verbs as well as academic vocabulary. Both functions and forms are needed for students to develop English proficiency and for teachers to understand language demands. Examples of many common functions and forms are also listed.

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    This document provides a brief summary of language functions and forms. It defines language functions as what students do with language, such as expressing ideas, communicating, and showing understanding. Common oral functions include giving instructions and making requests, while academic writing functions involve describing, comparing/contrasting, and classifying. Language forms deal with grammatical structures like nouns and verbs as well as academic vocabulary. Both functions and forms are needed for students to develop English proficiency and for teachers to understand language demands. Examples of many common functions and forms are also listed.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    77 views2 pages

    LanguageFunctionsForms PDF

    Uploaded by

    Sambarana Evan
    This document provides a brief summary of language functions and forms. It defines language functions as what students do with language, such as expressing ideas, communicating, and showing understanding. Common oral functions include giving instructions and making requests, while academic writing functions involve describing, comparing/contrasting, and classifying. Language forms deal with grammatical structures like nouns and verbs as well as academic vocabulary. Both functions and forms are needed for students to develop English proficiency and for teachers to understand language demands. Examples of many common functions and forms are also listed.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Language

     Functions  and  Forms:  A  Brief  Summary  


     
     
    A  language  function  refers  to  what  students  do  with  language  as  they  engage  with  content  and  
    interact  with  others.  Functions  represent  the  active  use  of  language  for  a  specific  purpose.  
    Students  use  language  functions  in  order  to  express  ideas,  communicate  with  others,  and  show  
    understanding  of  content  in  an  academic  setting.      
       
    In  oral  language  some  common  functions  may  include:    
    • giving  instructions    
    • making  requests    
    • defending  an  argument  
     
    In  academic  writing  we  use  a  range  of  specific  functions  in  order  to  communicate  ideas  
    clearly.  These  include:    
    • describing  processes    
    • comparing  or  contrasting  things  or  ideas    
    • classifying  objects  or  ideas    
     

    Language  forms  deal  with  the  internal  grammatical  structure  of  words  and  phrases  as  well  as  
    the  word  themselves.  When  one  compares  boy  and  boys,  for  example,  or  man  and  men,  he  or  
    she  is  considering  the  relationship  between  different  language  forms  or  structures.    
     
    Language  forms  also  include  cross-­‐curricular  academic  vocabulary  -­‐  words  or  phrases  
    frequently  used  across  different  content-­‐areas.  Cross-­‐curricular  academic  vocabulary  words  
    typically  describe  or  are  related  to  academic  processes  and  may  include:    
    • verbs  (e.g.  hypothesize,  analyze),    
    • complex  prepositions,  (e.g.  in  contrast  to,  as  well  as),  and  
    • nouns  (e.g.  comparison,  conclusion,  analysis)    
     
    While  functions  address  what  we  do  with  language,  forms  are  the  language  structures  and  
    vocabulary  that  are  used  to  support  those  functions.    
     
    Language  learners  need  to  acquire  both  the  functions  (uses/purposes)  and  the  forms  
    (structures  +  cross-­‐curricular  vocabulary)  that  make  up  the  English  language  in  order  to  reach  
    higher  levels  of  proficiency.  Teachers  also  need  to  understand  the  language  demands  of  a  task  
    as  they  relate  to  both  function  and  form  in  order  to  best  support  students’  language  
    development.  
     
     
     
     
     
    Examples  of  Language  Functions  and  Forms  
     
     
    Language  Functions  
    • Expressing  needs  and  likes     • Persuading    
    • Describing  people,  places,  and  things     • Defending  
    • Describing  spatial  and  temporal  relations     • Analyzing  
    • Describing  actions     • Describing  Cause  and  Effect    
    • Comprehending  text  or  speech     • Drawing  Conclusions    
    • Retelling/relating  past  events     • Defining    
    • Making  claims   • Explaining    
    • Making  predictions   • Generalizing    
    • Asking  Informational  Questions     • Evaluating    
    • Asking  Clarifying  Questions     • Interpreting    
    • Expressing  and  Supporting  Opinions     • Sequencing  
    • Comparing     • Hypothesizing  and  speculating  
    • Contrasting     • Summarizing  
    • Summarizing      
     
     
    Language  Forms  
    • Indirect/  direct  object,  subject/  verb   • Verb  phrases  
    agreement,  pronouns     • Sentence  structure,  specific  vocabulary    
    • Nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives     • Verb  forms    
    • Prepositional  phrases     • Nouns,  abstract  nouns,  pronouns,  and  
    • Present  progressive  tense  adverbs     adjectives    
    • Past  tense  verbs,  perfect  aspect  (present   • Verb  forms,  indicative  verb,  declarative  
    and  past)     sentences,  complex  sentences,  adverbs  of  
    • Verbs:  future  tense,  conditional  mode     manner    
    • Verbs  and  verb  phrases  in  questions     • Common,  collective  and  abstract  nouns,  
    • Questions  with  increasing  specificity     verb  forms,  nominalizations    
    • Sentence  structure,  modals  (will,  can,  may,   • Complex  sentences;  increasing  specificity  
    shall)     of  nouns,  verbs,  and  adjectives;  correlative  
    • Adjectives  and  conjunctions,   conjunctions    
    comparatives,  superlatives,  adverbs     • Language  of  propaganda,  complex  
    • Comparative  adjectives     sentences,  nominalizations  
    • Descriptive  adjectives     • Adverbs  of  time,  relative  clauses,  
    • Increasingly  complex  sentences  with   subordinate  conjunctions  
    increasingly  specific  academic  vocabulary     • Modals  (would,  could,  might),  compound  
    tenses  (would  have  been)  
     

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