This document discusses elements of functional English and how to teach and learn it effectively. Functional English focuses on developing practical communication skills for everyday situations rather than academic perfection. It emphasizes using authentic materials, learner-centered activities like group and pair work, and assessing learning over teaching. The objectives are to communicate confidently in a variety of contexts and become independent English users. Grammar is taught functionally by focusing on meaning and real-world usage over rules. Interactive tools like discussions, games and thoughtful questions are recommended for functional language learning.

1. ELEMENTS OF
FUNCTIONAL
ENGLISH
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2. WHAT HAVE YOU
IN COMMON?
Icebreaker
• Group A - Handout
• Group B - Instructions
WHAT HAVE YOU
IN COMMON?
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3. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
WHAT AILS
ENGLISH LEARNING?
# Content Materials Method
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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4. WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS
LOOKING FOR?
Communicative abilities to
• listen with comprehension
• articulate clearly
• receive and send messages
• read, understand a variety of documents
• write fluently and accurately
• use accepted business conventions of
format, spelling, grammar and punctuation
• deal with customers effectively
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5. WHAT IS ‘FUNCTIONAL’?
•enough to serve a purpose
•just ‘adequate’
•In the context of a foreign
language, it shows that one knows
enough to be understood and to
understand others
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6. mnRAJU
becoming functional is
• using English to meet everyday needs such
as appointments, invitations, plans, filling
out forms, thanking people, seeking
information, following instructions etc.
• communicating confidently, effectively
and independently
• becoming functional is neither acquiring
knowledge nor being perfect
BECOMING FUNCTIONAL

7. OBJECTIVES OF
FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH
• to become functional in English
• to choose appropriate communication methods
• to suit the needs of the audience and the situation
• to apply English skills in a variety of contexts
• to become increasingly independent, competent
and confident
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8. GRAMMAR
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FORMAL GRAMMAR
LANGUAGE
Set of rules
PRIORITY
Grammaticality
MAIN CONCERN
Form and structure
MATERIALS
Made up sentences
FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR
LANGUAGE
System of communication
PRIORITY
Appropriacy
MAIN CONCERN
Function and meaning
MATERIALS
Authentic texts

9. HOW TO LEARN
FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH?
1. Take a course
2. Watch TV
3. Make English speaking friends
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10. FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH –
SUPPORTIVE PRACTICES
• learning through application
• learner-centred approach
• active learning
• problem-solving approach
• partnership learning
• assessment for learning
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11. mnRAJU
Teacher Centred
Teaching Time
(Less TTT)
Student Centred
Learning Time
(More STT)

12. mnRAJU
1. Teacher Talk
2. Choral Response
3. Close-ended Teacher Questioning
4. Open-ended Teacher Questioning
5. Full Class Interaction
6. Student Initiated Questioning
7. Group Work
8. Pair Work (Collaboration)
9. Individual Work
10. Self Access
Least
Most
INSTRUCTION PATTERNS

13. FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH –
INTERACTIVE TOOLS
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1. Pair work
2. Group work
3. Elicitation
4. Good instructions
5. Thought provoking questions
6. Activities & Games
7. Authentic materials

14. AUTHENTIC MATERIALS
What?
• Real, natural language materials
appropriate to learner needs
Why?
• Interesting, lifelike, useful
Types?
• Printed, audio, visual, multimedia
Criteria?
• Interest, purpose, appropriateness, quality,
language level
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15. BEING ‘UNSURE’
• There are about 300 teachers working in this college.
• There are approximately 5000 students studying here.
• A large number of students are interested in this course.
• Management predicts up to 50% growth next year.
• There are so few buses plying to the campus.
• They are far fewer than they used to be earlier.
• Almost half the students went off the campus.
• Not even half of them were anywhere near.
• It's difficult to say, but I'd guess a majority stayed away.
• I'm not really sure, but I think half of them wanted to stay.
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16. BEING ‘UNSURE’
Quiz
Which exercises promote functional
skills and which do not? Why?
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17. Send your comments to
lionnagaraju@gmail.com
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