Post-Graduate Programme in Teacher Qualification and New Technologies
Intro to Communicative Functions Task
Task 1: Besides vocabulary, certain grammatical structures are associated with certain functions.
Example: First conditional Match the above sentences to the following function.
1. If you do that again, I’ll kill you! ⇒ A bribe: 2
2. I’ll buy you a new car, if you pass your exam. ⇒ A truth: 3
3. If you turn here you’ll reach a café. ⇒ A threat: 1
4. I’ll do the dishes, if you like. ⇒ A suggestion: 4
Task 2: What’s the message we are communicating (i.e. what do we hope to achieve)?
1. Could you pass me the sugar? making a request
2. Hey! Time to get up! Come on! urging sb to do something
3. Can I help you? offering help
4. Cheers! toasting/celebrating. In England, it can be a way to say goodbye
5. A round trip ticket to Paris, please. buying something
Task 3: Communicative function needs CONTEXT to decide what the function is. Read the examples, then fill
in the missing information.
Sentence Possible Context Who? Possible Meaning
“Phew. It’s cold in here.” At home Husband to wife I (politely) request you to
close the door.
“The fish is very good In a restaurant Waiter to customers looking at I recommend that you order
today.” menu the fish.
“Well, actually I’m a bit busy In the office Businesswoman to a colleague I suggest we could talk
at the moment.” who has just asked a question another time rather than now.
“It’s noon.” At home Husband to wife Reminding him to phone.
“The door is closed.” On a plane Flight attendant to pilot The plane is taking off.
“The zoo is blocked” In a zoo Security guards talking to a The tigers have escaped.
visitor
“That’s the third time.” At home Mother to a son Complaining about the
behavior
“Could you turn the air In a hot TV studio The actress Requesting something
conditioner on?”
Task 4: A Communicative function is not always directly stated. Listeners are accustomed to interpreting what
the exchange means. What is the function of the expressions in Task 2?
1. I _______________ that you pass me the sugar please.
2. I _______________ you with ‘hey’ and ________________ you that it’s time to get up! I _____________
you to hurry up with “Come on!”
3. I _______________ you help.
4. I _____________________ our being together and ______________ you to start drinking.
5. I __________________ you to sell me something.
Task 5: Another factor in function is register and appropriateness. Besides context, we need to understand
the relationship between the speakers to convey meaning properly.
Read the following dialogue and then complete the corresponding tasks.
A: I’m sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you wanted to break for lunch yet?
B: I’m afraid I’m still rather busy. But thank you very much for asking.
A: Perhaps I’ll see you in the restaurant later.
B: Yes. That would be nice.
Post-Graduate Programme in Teacher Qualification and New Technologies
1. What is the relationship of the speakers in the conversation?
2. Keeping in as much of the original meaning as possible, change the dialogue to make it sound like a
natural exchange between (a) two close friends and (b) parent and young child
3. Why is knowing the relationship important to teaching functional language?
(Tasks adapted from Learning Teaching, Jim Scrivener , Macmillan Bookds for TEachers, p. 221-225.)
