Title: Interpersonal Communicative Goals in Asian English Textbooks: What are Students Learning to Do?
Abstract: The central importance of basic interactive functions (applied speech acts) in the curriculum design of English language textbooks on oral communication is argued for. From the perspective of the syllabus design such functions provide a foundation for universal, communicative behavior in English conversation as an international language upon which specific cultural contexts may be developed. A data base of natural spoken, dyadic discourse (Talk Day Data Base) is used as a yardstick to evaluate the distribution and relative emphasis of such related learning goals in dyadic communication. The dyadic aspects of English textbooks from five Asian countries is examined and found to be biased toward exchange of information or transactional discourse rather than the predominant goals of interactional/interpersonal discourse which would be expected in natural spoken discourse. The textbooks are generally weakly interpersonal, de-emphasizing suasive goals and low on the management of conversational flow.
Publication Year: 1998
Publication Date: 1998-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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