Geoff Thompson

School of English, University of Liverpool

Training TEFL trainees to think functionally

Language teachers clearly have an important role to play in promoting literacy amongst their students; and in order to do this they themselves need an understanding of how language works. However, it is a common complaint nowadays that native speakers – even those who have completed a first degree in English - typically have little or no conscious awareness of language forms and functions. Embarking on a programme of language awareness with students on an initial training course for teachers of English as a Foreign Language is therefore often a difficult and painful process. Experience suggests that a survey of the major grammatical structures of English is the most obviously economical method with such a group, since it can be argued that this confronts them immediately with the aspects of language that they are least conscious of. However, this can result in a narrowly form-oriented focus which is at odds with a functional approach (and which is likely to be reinforced in many of the textbooks that they will use). In this paper I will explore the problems and opportunities involved in taking a more functionally-oriented approach, using the experience gained on teaching on an initial TEFL training course in my university. I will outline a possible programme which starts from meaning rather than form, while taking into account the severe limitations of time, previous knowledge, attitudes and future teaching contexts.