اهمیت توجه به بستر متن در یادگیری زبان انگلیسی

مقالات آموزشی در زمینه یادگیری و آموزش زبان انگلیسی

نویسنده: فرید عبادی

تولید یک زبان در خلاء یا یک محیط ایزوله رخ نمی دهد بلکه در هر زمانی که زبان، حتی کلمه یا جمله ای، تولید و بیان شود، عوامل محیطی بسیار متعددی چه بطور مستقیم و چه بطور غیر مستقیم زبان را تحت تاثیر قرار می دهند. به محیطی که زبان را تحت تاثیر عوامل محیطی قرار می دهد بستر متن یا Context گفته می شود. برای مثال در محیط آموزشی و در سرکلاس، پشت میز استاد فردی قرار می گیرد که سایرین وی را استاد خطاب می کنند و لحن خاص مودبانه تری نسبت به بقیه برای خطاب وی استفاده می کنند. این در حالی است که همان فرد در محیطی دیگر مانند یک فروشگاه از دیدگاه سایرین صرفا یک مشتری محسوب می شود و نه یک استاد. در این مقاله مفید ،که توسط یکی از اساتید خوب و دوستان عزیزم آقای فرید عبادی تالیف و تدوین شده است، قصد داریم در مورد اهمیت بستر متن در یادگیری زبان انگلیسی بطور کلی و بویژه در ایران مطالبی مفید برای شما تهیه کنیم تا دیدگاه روشن تری در یادگیری زبان انگیسی داشته باشید.

Context Cons Text

Written by Farid Ebadi

Source: http://www.commonmistakes.blogfa.com/

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context (TEXT/SPEECH) noun:

the text or speech that comes immediately before and after a particular phrase or piece of text and helps to explain its meaning:

e.g. “In this exercise, a word is blanked out and you have to guess what it is by looking at the context.”

Definition given by Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

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http://commonmistakes.blogfa.com

Language production does not take place in vacuum. Whenever there is an utterance, following that there are great many variables affecting it directly or indirectly. Every single chunk of language has a producer bound within his circumstances, say his gender, surrounding, thought, etc. Therefore, analyzing a piece of utterance, we should as well consider the context in which the utterance takes place. Click here to read the full article.

 

1.What does context consist of?

Before any utterance is uttered, speakers’ or writers’ mind is already predisposed to so much information and background data. Each background data or schemata forms our cognitive pattern which undoubtedly impacts any piece of language produced. Moreover while the utterance is produced, the producers’ mood, physical condition and their addressee are among the factors that very much influence his speech whether written or spoken. After the language is produced, there are still factors that determine and often times veer our understanding and interpretation of the language produced.

 

2.What are the characteristics of each context?

Every single situation where a chunk of language is produced carries its own particularities. A taxi driver asking for the fare has a context of being in a taxi, being in authority, demanding what he claims to be his right. A mother telling off her child is again in authority, feeling responsible or even being fearful. There are very many other examples that one might come up with to illustrate context. Now considering the examples above, it can be said that individuals and individual variables are among the very first factors that define a context. Gender, social status, educational background, and physical condition of the speaker. These individual variables are the first components that form a context.

The second and much more important factor is the physical context where a language is produced. Whether we are in a class or in a taxi, formal or informal situation, and more important than all, the society or, in a larger scale, the country where we live. This is what we are going to zero in the following parts.

 

3.Social Context

Sociologically speaking, society has various components. Education, finance, authority and other factors are some of the main factors that form our social context. In every community, be it Asian, European, etc, these factors will affect the language in a different way. This is not to say that they do not overlap in some aspects, but to say that social particularities play a significant role in the formation of utterance. Considering oriental and occidental context, some striking differences will surf up. Oriental context is more conservative in language. It takes into consideration many variables in production of language and oftentimes it is limited because of the too many considerations that must be made while producing a language. Whereas in occidental context this does not seem to be the case. Producing a piece of language, there are less social barriers and considerations when.

 

3.1 Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Context

Iranian EFL context is one of these oriental contexts where a lot of clashes seem to be inevitable. Iran, considering its history, culture, and civilization has its own social roles and stigmas. However, occidental culture has various clashes with Iranian context. Politeness, choice of words, respect, formality, and frankness are all among many factors that are not identical in both contexts. This creates a very critical issue when a language originated in the West, say English, is brought to be used in the East. It goes without saying that we can not separate the culture from a language. That is to say, every where a language goes, it carries its culture with itself.

 

4.Complexities of context

So far, we have discussed the context in which language occurs. But there is one other aspect to that which needs to be enlightened. Language in itself holds the context of the society where it has evolved. For instance, if you want to speak Mandarin in say, Germany, you can not escape from the Chinese influence in your language and to a larger extent in your conduct. This problem is aggravated when the context that a language carries with itself is not in accordance or at least in alignment with the context where it takes place. This can manifest itself clearly in Iran where you can fine pre Islamic tradition, Islamic tradition and western tradition amalgamated, (sometimes peacefully, and many other times problematically), however English tapes only the last tradition (Western) and takes for granted the other ones.

Some of the examples of Iranian proper social conduct codes might be avoidance of cursing and speaking of gender related matters in language and enforcement of highly formal language in a particular rapport. However English in itself violates some of these codes when used in Iran. This causes some misunderstandings when we use English in highly formal contexts such as university or other educational settings. Take the example of one of my classmates who called the professor “chum” just to be more friendly and got told off later on by the professor for being “rude”.

5.How to tackle context variations

 

5.1.Raising the awareness

Now, it is felt that clashes in context in and out of language will hinder the process of communication and it is needed to be elevated. Exposing the L2 ,the Second Language, context ( here, Iran) to the various language forms used in different settings and encouraging reflective thinking on the appropriateness of theses language types is one of the solutions to decrease, if not eliminate, the sensitivity that context creates for the learners. When students are exposed to one particular type of vernacular, expecting them to adopt this single type of language to different situations is not fair. So giving students the chance to observe and experience different varieties of a language in different contexts will give them the ability of distinguishing the appropriate language to be used.

 

5.2. Avoiding “bookishness’

Due to some political and sociological reasons, Iran’s society is deprived of the close face to face interaction with the native speakers of the target language (here English). Therefore, the main source to acquire or learn a language is the course books available to us. Learning a language via the medium of book will give the language learner the bookishness in word choice, level of formality and so forth. No matter how hard the course books try to provide the learners with the authentic materials, they will still have the tinge of artificiality which will make the language produced by the learner “weird”. Therefore, it is to teachers as well as learners to first recognize this unnaturalness of the language and to avoid it in their production. For example, my own experience in language learning and teaching shows that we (Iranians) are good “lecture givers” or presenters, but when it comes to the production of everyday, usual sentences, we have a tendency to resort to highly formal and less suitable structures which results in unnaturalness of our speech. To sort this problem out, exposing ourselves to natural sources, be it movies, songs or other available materials will do the trick.

 

6. Conclusion

Language is evolved, used, and changed in context. Analyzing and employing a language without considering its sensitivity within a context it occurs and the context it carries with itself will create numerous problems which will finally lead to misunderstandings and breakdowns in communication. Iranian EFL context due to its particularities oftentimes finds contrast with English used in Iran. To improve this problem, giving language learners the awareness of context of the language and the context in the language as well as the various sources will help decrease the frowns, disrespects and miscommunications occurring in communication.

نویسنده: فرید عبادی

منبع: http://commonmistakes.blogfa.com

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