About this workshop
Introduction
Dr. Thorsten Huth (University of Tennessee-Knoxville) introduces how language use can be thought of in terms of action, and highlights how the context these actions occur in are integral for understanding their meaning. He then defines Interactional Competence (IC) in terms of these actions, and argues that IC can and should be taught in the language classrooms from early on.
Time commitment
25 minutes
Who Should Attend?
New faculty, language instructors…
Before you start
Consider the following questions:
1) How would you define language?
2) If someone were to say ‘thank you’ without you having done something for them, how would you interpret what they said? How would you go about interpreting it?
3) Consider some common sequences that occur in the languages that you know, such as greetings. What are the similarities and differences between how they are conducted in the languages?
Workshop videos
Language as action in context
In this section. Dr. Huth first discusses a number of common assumptions about the nature of language, and then asks the audience to reconsider how important context is for understanding meaning. He then draws attention to how language is used to conduct action within a given context.
Beyond the Sentence