LANGUAGE BASED

LANGUAGE BASED

Why is language needed?

1. For study
2. For work
3. For training
4. For some other purposes,e.g. examination, promotion

Where will the language be used?

1. Physical setting:e.g. office, lecture hall, hotel, library
2. Human context: alone, meetings, demonstrations on telephone
3. Linguistic context: e.g. in own country, abroad. 

An approach to language training focus on each student’s needs, abilities and interests, placing the teacher as a facilitator of learning.  A language course should train learners in how to learn a language and how to monitor and be aware of their learning, so they can become effective and independent language learners.  As much time as possible should be spent using and focusing on the second language. In Malaysia, our second language is English. Malaysian’s learners should be pushed to produce the language in both speaking and writing. Apart from that, the learners should be interested and excited about learning the language. The most important thing is a language course should be presented so that the learners have the most favorable attitudes towards the language, to users of the language, to the teacher’s skill in teaching the language, and to their chance of success in learning the language as language training geared to your occupation.

There are a few principles of language teaching:

1.  A language course should provide the best possible coverage of language in use through inclusion of items that occur frequently in the language, so that the learners get the best return for their learning effort.
2. The language focus of a course needs to be on the generalizable features of the language.
3. A language course should progressively cover useful language items, skills and strategies.
4. The course should help learners make the most effective use of previous knowledge.
5. The items in a language course should be sequenced so that the items which are learned together have a positive effect on each other for learning and so that the interference effects are avoided.
6. The course should include language-focused learning on the sound system, spelling, vocabulary, grammar and discourse-areas. 
7. There should  be opportunity for learners to work with  the learning material in ways that most suit their individual learning style.
8. Learners should receive helpful feedback which will allow them to improve the quality of their language use. 

(I.S.P Nation & M.John, Language Curriculum Design)

Example:

For example, if we want to train a banker, we need to know how they deal with the customers, what kind of customers that they need to handle and their level of language proficiency.  As a banker, he or she need to use Standard English especially in dealing with foreign customers. Why we need language proficiency? It is because language proficiency will facilitate the ability not only to observe cultural elements, but also will give the user the ability to interact effectively within a culture.