Picture discussion and the functions of language

Teaching and learning about grammar dominate our curriculum, and often, we get so engrossed in teaching the word classes that we forget why we are teaching these forms. For example, our students spend a lot of time doing discrete exercises where they fill in the right preposition or join up little sentences into longer sentences all without being aware of the real goal of these exercises. The real outcome of all this teaching is evident when we read our pupils’ writing and when we listen or talk to them during their oral tasks.

I thought about this when I was going through the picture discussion task with my teachers some time ago. Picture discussion is one of the 3 tasks that make up the oral examination at the primary and secondary school levels. Typically, students get a composite picture and they will talk about what is in the picture. If the focus is description, then they can describe what they see there, but unfortunately that’s not it. Instead, students are expected to interpret what is in the picture and to make comments on what they think has taken place before the event in the picture, what will take place after the event, and also what possibly led to the event. Often, they need to make conjectures about the emotions and thoughts of the people in the picture too.

When we think about the language students need in order to do this task, it is hard to just list a lot of grammatical terms. What we need to think about are the functions that students have to put their language to. In other words, what do they need to make their language do? Well, for sure, their purpose is definitely not just to tell the examiner what he or she can already see. Describing what is seen can be regarded as an acceptable use of language because it is a way to test a child’s vocabulary and general proficiency. But, I would say that this is a low level goal and perhaps better suited to the requirements at the foundation level. The picture discussion task can be made more thoughtful, more challenging and more meaningful if we expect our students to interpret what they see.

Understanding the functions of language that are needed for such an oral task helps us to narrow down the language that we need to teach our students. It also helps us be more precise in the kind of input we can give them for the task. And it also helps us to think about teaching students to use the language to do something, instead of thinking about what grammar structures to teach.

In order to make interpretations, one has to use language to

· make suggestions,

· hypothesise,

· predict and

· make guesses.

In the course of doing all these, students may need to ask some questions, make comparisons, hazard guesses, and decide on confirmations. So, what language need we teach our students so that they can carry out these functions during their oral task?

For example, if one has to venture a guess, to suggest or to predict, one may use some of these sentence openings:

· I'd say this is a...

· It might be ...

· He could be out somewhere.

· It looks like a little dog.

· Perhaps it needs food.

· Maybe someone left it in the park.

· It's difficult to say, but I'd guess the owner got tired of it.

· I'm not really sure, but I think the dog may find its way home.

· I think...

· Could it be...?

· I believe that...

If one is bring imprecise or vague or unsure, as might be necessary in some instances, here are some words or phrases that can be helpful:

· about 2 kilos

· approximately six o’clock

· There are a large number of people in the park.

· It's a kind of scoop for picking up dog poo.

· It's the type of place that people visit with their families.

They're the sort of people who expect everyone to follow the law.

The ability to use the right language functions, not just the right grammatical structures, contributes to more sophisticated discussion of the contents in a picture. Let’s imagine a picture in which a man is in the act of pouring some water out of a glass. Compare these utterances made about the picture:

1. The man is pouring away some water from his glass.

This is a statement of certainty. Saying this does not allow any room for dispute or further conjecture because there is an element of finality in this pronouncement. After making this statement, the issue of what else should one say, will arise. In other words, such a statement does not easily lead on to further thought.

2. The man could be pouring away the water from his glass. Perhaps the man is pouring the water from his glass. I think he is pouring away the water from his glass.

These sentences suggest that the speaker is uncertain and is making a suggestion or a guess. By doing so, the speaker is also paving the way to say more about why he or she has made such a conjecture. The speaker is then talking about possibilities and reasons for the man’s action and in doing so, he or she will come much closer to the whole notion of discussing.

Discussion is not a matter of stating the facts or describing what is obvious. Discussion involves exploring a topic, weighing its different aspects, examining the available alternatives, and all these are done through arguments, comments, questions, suggestions and reasons.

So in the picture discussion task, teachers would do well to teach pupils not just words and correct grammar, but also the suitable functions that students need to put their language to use in.

Our neglect in teaching these aspects of language use is perhaps also fuelled by the less than clear criteria set out for assessing oral tasks. Often, a main criterion is grammaticality, but we all know that in speaking, we should be more tolerant of grammatical slips, and that communication is more than just the right tenses or the correct subject-verb agreement. Knowing what is important in such tasks help us be more precise in setting out the criteria (and rubrics, since this is the flavour of the month) for assessment. Otherwise we risk prioritising the wrong criteria.

Our goal in teaching grammar must go beyond merely filling in blanks with the right words. If we do not focus on the use that the language structures can be put to in real life, there is a real danger that for all our marvellous examination results, we will end up with a population who are unable to communicate effectively. But they will all be very grammatical. Or will they?