Public Examination (Part II)

[COMMUNICATION BLOCK] What is the difference between language and communication?

Answer explanation

Communication is a broader concept which entails language - exclusively made by humans

Trying to obtain the most proper definition of language was not a straightforward

task, but they share the following criteria:

• involves a sign or symbol

  system

• consists of a way of communication

• is considered as an exclusive social

  phenomenon

• is an instrument

Instead of approaching language through its meaning, most current linguistics

identify its vital defining features. The most widely recognized approach was proposed

by the American linguist Charles F. Hockett, who proposed 13 features which I

would like to highlight:

Answer explanation

ITSSADPC

[COMMUNICATION BLOCK] The Communicative Competence now named as Plurilingual Competence can be mentioned in ANY TOPIC. What are the main topics you should discuss about it?

[COMMUNICATION BLOCK] Stages of oral language development.

The ... stage consists of starting using the “no” word, prepositions, and pronouns.

• 4 – 5 years old

• 18 months to 2 years old

• 2 – 3 years old

• 3 – 4 years old

[COMMUNICATION BLOCK] Stages of written language development.

The ... stage allows children to separate writing from drawing.

• The 2 – 3 years old

• 3 years old

• letters like forms’

• 4 years-old

Answer explanation

[COMMUNICATION BLOCK] Name the 5 elements of a communicative situation. Don't add commas, just write the word (in singular form)

Answer explanation

You can mention the feedback as well!

The study of the main functions -usually called macro-functions- leads to traditional

approaches such as ... – through his work An introduction to

Functional Grammar, he differentiated three macro-functions.

• Halliday (1985)

• Guy Cook (1989)

• R. Jakobson (1963)

• Dell Hymes (1972)

A most recent approach to the classification was given by Guy Cook (1989) by

Language Teaching Discourse. Besides the functions detailed above, Cook establishes

the next functions and related them with the communicative elements of a situation:

Answer explanation

-The emotive function entails communicating the inner states and feelings of

the sender, e.g., “Oh my god, I love it!”.

- The phatic function opens the channel (“Nice weather, isn’t it?”) or checks that

it is working (“Can you see the video at the back?”).

- The poetic function enables the message to focus on the particular form chosen

for the message, considering ellipsis, emphasis, metaphors, among others.

- The referential function carries the information – since we are constantly

communicating among others, new and old information is developed by talking

about past events, people, ideas, etc.

- The metalinguistic function allows the code to concentrate in itself, to clarify

(“Pardon?”) or negotiate it (“What does “large” mean?”).

- The contextual function lets the setting create a specific kind of

communication linked with a particular situation, as “I’d like the pudding for

a starter”.

There exists the performative function which produces utterances that

perform an act. These acts are classified according to the behaviour of the addresser

and addressee through The... (1975)