DESCRIBING LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE SKILLS.
- FUNCTION.
The reason or purpose for communication, it doesn’t matter if it is neutral, formal, or informal register. Some examples of functions might be: - apologizing
- advising
- agreeing
- disagreeing
- greeting
- introducing yourself
- inviting
- introducing others
- praising
- refusing
- requesting
- suggesting
- thanking
- etc.
Function word
A word with little semantic meaning that is included in a sentence or utterance mainly to help form its grammatical structure and convey its grammatical meaning e.g. in the sentence ‘Bill was spending the evening at home’, ‘was’, ‘the’ and ‘at’ are function words. BE CAREFUL BECAUSE A FUNCTION WORD IS IS DIFFERENT FROM A FUNCTION, we just mention it in this lesson to make sure you identify the difference.
Exponent
An example of a grammar point, function or lexical set.
Example:
CONTEXT:
A boy wants to go to the cinema with his friend on Saturday.
EXPONENT:
The boy says to his friend: “Let’s go to. the cinema on Saturday.”
FUNCTION:
Suggesting/making a suggestion (about going to the cinema)