by The Open University
Available in 32 free installments
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In this section, you have begun to explore your knowledge about what language is and how you use it in your everyday life. In particular, you have seen that:
language (including literacy) is an inescapable part of everyday life;
language is a highly developed and specifically human system for making meaning;
using language involves coordinating a wide and complex range of knowledge of:
formal elements like sounds, words and phrases, and the rules or patterns of how they are put together;
paralinguistic behaviour that accompanies speech;
how language and context support each other;
how to use language in a way that is appropriate to context.
As speakers, we have both implicit and explicit language knowledge:
we are confident of our implicit knowledge, even if we are not fully aware of it;
schooling has traditionally concentrated on areas of explicit language knowledge and literacy, where we may be less confident;
the term ‘grammar? may apply to both implicit and explicit knowledge, and is not just about speaking and writing ‘correctly?.
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