Accommodating appropriate Socio-cultural Contexts for Effective Language Teaching in English Classes

Abstract

With the rejection of the Behaviourist Theory of language which treated language learning as a matter of habit formation Chomsky (1957) introduced Transformative generative Grammar and the Theory of innate ability of producing infinite number of sentences with an inborn capacity of language learning called competence. The categorization of competence and performance by Chomsky is criticized by Hymes (1972) because Chomsky excluded the competence of using language in real time contexts and failed to account for socio-cultural aspects. In a way, this use of appropriate contexts in second language teaching would provide a meaningful learning situation. Hymes’ theory of communicative competence stresses communicative competence of a learner in a speech community. In the communicative approach students are expected to relate language to the social meanings and as a vehicle for social interaction (Littlewood, 1981). Therefore, the notion of communicative competence must be enlarged to include appropriate contexts. In this paper, the researcher analyses how socio-cultural contexts could be accommodate in the curriculum of English Language classes in Sri Lanka with a preliminary study of ethnographical nature made for three weeks with a group of students at the Vavuniya Campus. They were engaged in group work using functional contexts and socio cultural contexts to bring out communication and their written productions made after the performances were analysed. It was proved that the language proficiency of the students improved better when they used socio-culture contexts rather than functional contexts for communication.