Language and its development are complex processes that continue to evolve and unfold throughout life. There is no single correct approach to language learning, and teachers must take a comprehensive and systematic approach. Anxiety may arise when learning a foreign language of another culture. To avoid this, teachers should pay proper attention to curriculum design. The plan should consider the characteristics of the group and its sociocultural traits, age, native language, and many other factors. The plan should include grammatical and lexical fundamentals of the foreign language, and the teaching methodology itself should be based on linguistic theories. The theories will allow the teacher to find the right approach and structure the learning process appropriately. For Japanese teenage English students, it is advisable to develop a curriculum with the linguistic theories of Halliday and Chomsky in mind.
Noam Chomsky pursued linguistics with a philosophical approach to language, trying to systematize knowledge about language and find a new way to study it. In Syntactic Structures, he put forward the idea of an innate ability to speak the language, which has evolved considerably since then but has not lost its relevance. Chomsky laid the foundations of transformational grammar as a system of rules by which grammatically correct sentences can be composed. Generative grammar treats the ability to communicate in a foreign language as a biological modification derived from the principles of glossematics.
The theory of generative grammar includes a section called Principles and Rules (P&P). For learning groups culturally distant from English, relying on the P&P approach is helpful. This framework helps explain the gap between linguistic competence (speaking, reading, listening) and knowledge (basic vocabulary and grammar). Principles are a universal category common to all languages (Chomsky, et. al., 2019). The rule is expressed, for example, in the structure of a sentence: there must always be a subject, even if it is not pronounced openly. On the other hand, governments define the syntactic variability of languages and reflect linguistic variability. The P&P approach allows us to accumulate the generative linguistics theoretical apparatus and explain language variation.
The teacher should rely on the above approach, as it is possible to build up a powerful linguistic apparatus in students and give insight into the general patterns of languages. Japanese and English belong to opposite groups, so connecting students’ perception of them is essential. According to this theory, language acquisition is a process of tuning the embedded genetic parameters of speaking. Although grammatical constructions remain faithful, the principles act as a framework on which new functions and parameters are built up (Chomsky, et. al., 2019). It is appropriate to mention the rule about the change of places of the summands in mathematics. No matter how unique the regulations of a foreign language may be, it will contain the same syntactic units as the native language. Despite the differences in spelling, pronunciation, and reading, language is a fluid, complex structure organized with the primary goal of conveying information to the interlocutor.
Among the obvious advantages of the theory is simplicity due to the accessibility of the central postulate of the unity of the linguistic structure. According to this theory, language is placed in its mind module. There is no apparent interaction between first language processing and other types of information processing (Chomsky, et. al., 2019). As a result, the new language will act as another structure of the native language, which has changed. Despite the simplification of many aspects of generative grammar, its principles can be easily assimilated by students in a general sense. It will be especially evident at the age of 12-13 when a transition in the psyche is just being made. This age is process of transition from a sign-symbolic consciousness system to an intimate-personal one, so mastering English will be easier. Thus, it is appropriate to use the P&P approach for Japanese adolescent students’ curriculum because it simplifies the attitude towards English and gives a clear demonstration of the similarity of language systems.
Mike Halliday developed systems-functional linguistics, which describes language as a semiotic system for meaning-making. The theory centers on the choices that lie before humans in the social functions of language. The starting point of view is how language works: how exactly language performs its functions and why it acts as a resource of meaning (de Oliveira & Smith, 2020). The theory relies on the fact that any act of communication is a choice, so language also becomes a category of choice.
According to SFL, language grammar is a systemic network, not a list of rules. A systemic network is defined as a theoretical tool for describing the options available in the language. Formally, system networks correspond to type lattices in formal lattice theory, although they are sometimes mistaken for flowcharts or directed decision trees (de Oliveira & Smith, 2020). Such directionality is a property of particular implementations of a general concept and can be created for performance purposes. Systems networks typically use multiple inheritances and “concurrent” systems, or variants that combine to make vast descriptive spaces.
Systems functional linguistics relies on five principles that apply to any language. Paradigmatics describes choosing the variants that arise in a language and assimilating them. Stratification gives an idea of the infinity of speech and the diversity of semantic systems. Meta-functionality of language depicts functional complementarity; language evolves as more and more descriptive spaces need to be represented (de Oliveira & Smith, 2020). Syntagmatic is related to temporal changes or writing; that is, it considers the ranking systems in each layer of the system. Concretization is defined as the formal relationship between the potential and the actual.
In my opinion, a single plan cannot be created for a 12-18 year old group curriculum because of age specificities. Chomsky’s theory is better for the early period up to age 13, so for adolescents, it is better to apply the principle of generality and simplicity without delving into subtleties. The genetic predisposition theory will make it easier for students to understand their abilities and address language anxiety and barriers. However, in older groups, where a specific type of thinking has been formed, or cultural traits and tastes have been more or less assimilated, it will be more challenging to accept the principle of commonality. Therefore, it is worth using Halliday’s theory and relying mainly on the meta-functionality of the language. Older adolescents have a better understanding of how objects interact with each other and can trace the evolutionary nature of foreign languages alongside their native ones.
I would divide a curriculum with this kind of inquiry into two parts. First, I would focus on explaining the commonality of principles of language systems leaning more on the universality theory of grammar. It would deal with the cultural differences between Japanese and English and provide information to children in an accessible way. The second part, which will then move on to the elementary group children, will focus on the comprehensiveness of all language systems and the search for interrelationships between different languages. Through this, students will understand that the native language is not the only tool of communication but also a way to overcome boundaries. Thus, I think it is appropriate to use both linguistic theories for the curriculum, but I find it necessary to divide it into stages for better English language acquisition.
References
Chomsky, N., Gallego, Á., & Ott, D. (2019). Generative grammar and the faculty of language: insights, questions, and challenges. Catalan Journal Of Linguistics, 229-261. Web.
Oliveira de, L. C. & Smith, S. L. (2020, July 19). Systemic functional linguistics in teacher education. Oxford research encyclopedias.