Download - Search

10 MICHAEL P. BREEN AND CHRISTOPHERTHE CURRICULUM1 Communication\ /The classroomprocessTeacher / learnei ' roles\ 6Role of contentI \7 Of learner Of curriculumFigtire I. 1 Thc c.urriculum1 What is the purpose of the curriculum?The communicative curriculum tlcfincs languagc lcarning as lcarning how to communicateas a membcr of a particular socio-cultural group.Thc social convcntions governing languagcform and hehaviour within the group arc, therefore, central to the process of languagclearning. In any communicative evcnt, intlivitlual participants bring with them priorknowledge of meaning and prior knowledge of how such meaning can be realiscd throughthe conventions of language form antl Iichaviour. Since communication is primarily intcrpersonal,these conventions arc subject to variation \vhilc they are being uscd. In cxploringshared knowledge, participants \fill he modifying that knowlctlgr. They typically exploit atcnsion between the conventions that are cstahlishcd and the opportunity to modify theseconventions for their particular communicative purposes. Communicating is not merely amattcr of folloning conventions hut also of negotiating through and ahout thc convcntionsthcmselvcs. It is a convention-creating as well as a convention-follo\ving activity.In communication, speakers and hcarcrs (and writers antl readers) are most oftenengaged in the work of sharing meanings \vhich arc 110th dcpendcnt on the conventions ofinterpersonal hehaviour antl created by such Iiehaviour. Similarly, thc itleas or conceptswhich are communicated about contain differcnt potential meanings, and such potentialmeanings are expressed through antl tlerivctl from the formal system of text during theprocess of communication .To understand the conventions which underlie communication,therefore, we not only have to understand a system of ideas or concepts and a system ofinterpersonal bchaviour, we have to understand how thcse itlcas and this interpersonalbchaviour can be realiscd in languagc ~ in connectcd texts. Mastering this unity ofideational,interpersonal and textual knowledge allows us to participate in a crcative mcaning-makingprocess and to express or interprct the potential meanings within spoken or written text(Hallitlay, 1973).There is an additional characteristic of this unificd system of knowletlgc. The social orinterpersonal nature of communication guarantees that it is permeated liy personal andsocio-cultural attitudes, values and emotions.These different ufects will determine what wechoose to communicate about and how we communicate. The convcntions governing ideasor concepts, interpersonal hehaviour, and their realisation in texts all scrve and createattitudes, judgements and feelings. Just as communication cannot be affectively neutral,