When learning a language, you gotta know what you really wanna say.
The role of authentic communicative intent and speech acts in language learning
The single most important thing that I try to make my students understand during our lessons is that what you wanna say comes first and then the elements of language (grammar, vocabulary, etc). Often times I see that my B1/B2 level students are still stuck in wanting to learn the nuts and bolts of language, which keeps them stuck, than focusing on the true desire to communicate something.
The nuts and bolts of a language such as the alphabet, parts of speech, tenses, etc, do have a place in language learning— it gets us started! But we have to know when to switch gears after we’ve learned just enough of those nuts and bolts and start thinking “How do I express doubt about [insert topic]?'“ rather than “I need to make a subjunctive sentence.” This is what authentic communicative intent is about.
Start thinking “How do I express doubt about [insert topic]?'“ rather than “I need to make a subjunctive sentence.”
It’s here where one’s native language comes in handy because now the brain has to get used to juggling the two in a meaningful way. Advancing in your target language then becomes about how to use grammar in order to get your point across rather than just understanding the grammar to pass a test or the gratification than you understand the grammar.
This kind of meaning-driven learning prioritizes
▶ Message of medium - How do I express a complaint to my landlord?
▶ Context over isolation. - What do I need to know about the language of renting?
▶ Purpose over practice. - What do I need to know to come off
So what is the message, context, or purpose when communicating? Oftentimes, they can be categorized as speech acts. Speech acts are the things that we do with words such as apologize, critique, encourage, argue, defend, etc. If you stop and think about it, we learn our own native language not by grammar or spelling, but the basic speech act of asking for comfort from mom and dad or saying we’re hungry or thirsty.
🗣️ Common speech acts include but are not limited to
Expressing preferences, wants, and desires
Describing and sharing past experiences
Expressing intentions and making plans
Expressing doubt and concern, asking for and giving advice to others
Disagreeing and arguing with others
Agreeing and showing moral support to others
📝 Workshop Exercise: Let’s figure out what you want to say
You will identify gaps in your knowledge and then identify your personal interests. You just need a pen, two sheets of paper, and a bit of time.
1️⃣ Identify gaps in knowledge of speech acts
Jot down all the different grammar and vocabulary you have already learned in your target language. You can go a step further and write down the things you know how to say.
Pause and take a look: do you notice a pattern? Could you group your knowledge into different speech act buckets? (For example, knowing the past simple would go under describing and sharing past experiences.)
Which speech acts do you notice gaps in? Maybe you know how to express preferences but not doubt. Maybe you know how to disagree but not agree. If you have any other notes, you can grab them and start categorizing them.
2️⃣ Identify what you wanna say in your target language
Take the other sheet of paper and brainstorm all your personal interests. If you like music, movies, certain actors, specific political causes, someone you dislike, etc. Write down anything and everything you want.
Now, you can cross-reference them with the other sheet where you wrote down everything you know in your target language and categorized them to identify speech acts.
For example, let’s say you care a lot about recycle plastic and reducing our use of plastic in our daily lives (personal interest). You could run with that topic and ask yourself if you know how to express your preferences (speech act) about reducing plastic waste. So on and so forth.