A Study on the Necessity of Functional Approach in English Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to look through the applicability of how what has been done in linguistic research can be used in language teaching and learning. Instead of investigating linguistic theory or language education in an intensive manner, this study is to explore how a discourse-functional linguistic approach can be applied to actual language education. In other words, it can be said for the current study to be a discussion on the necessity of a functional approach in English education. To this end, we briefly review the flow of linguistic research. First of all, we look at the formal approach that emphasizes rules. Then, our talk mainly takes a closer look at the discourse-functional approach whose linguistic analysis and understanding might be very useful in actual language teaching and learning. We continue to look at the flow of English education. The change from the traditional method to the recent communication-centered one has been briefly reviewed. The former is based on strict rules and the latter on actual language use. Based on the linguistic approach, it is examined how such an approach can be usefully active in communication-oriented language education. To this end, the necessity of a functional approach is dealt with in the following cases: passive voice, there-construction, progressive aspect, and question.