The Importance of Contextual Situation in Language Teaching

Abstract

Every single meaningful oral or written statement is made in a particular situation or context for a particular purpose in order to understand its purpose and respond to it, therefore , it is necessary to know about the situation in which the statement is made . Knowing about the situation is what is meant by contextual orientation. Contextual orientation cannot be escaped in foreign language teaching and learning. Wilkins (1972:144) says that situation could be applied to circumstances where observable features are recognizable even without reference to the language that is produced, Situation is important because it has possible applications to language teaching. Language is used in situations like buying a railway ticket, ordering a meal or making introductions. The context of situation is used as a technical term to mean the situation which serves as an appropriate environment for a given piece of language .There are certain ways of using language which are appropriate to one situation than another. People feel embarrassed when language is used inappropriately. On the other hand, some humours are based on the deliberate borrowing of language features from one context to another which shows the relationship between language and situation. Certain situations lead us to expect a certain kind of language and when language does not meet our expectation we may be surprised, offended, amused or puzzled.