Carmina B.

Echavia August 31, 2019

MED-LT , English for Specific Purposes

1. Explain the other two functions of language according to Halliday.

Aside from Personal, Interactional, Regulatory, Heuristic, and Imaginative Functions of Language,
Halliday also included:

(1) Instrumental, wherein language is used to communicate preferences, choices, wants, or

needs. The sentence “I want to learn French instead of Spanish” is an example of this
function. In the area of learning and teaching, students usually use this function during
problem-solving, material gathering, self- assessment, etc. These are some of the most
common times when individuals focus on what they want to obtain; and

(2) Representational, wherein language is used to exchange information. It deals with relaying,
conveying facts or requesting information. Take the sentence “Pandas eat only bamboo” as
an example. In education, teachers and students always use this function in conveying
messages, telling about the real world, expressing a proposition, etc.

2. How is Roman Jakobson’s theory about the functions of language used in ESP?

Here is a brief overview of Jakobson’s Six Functions of Language.

 ESP was given birth to help individuals learn the English language in order to perform or
communicate with a specific purpose or function. ESP aims to specify these objectives and deliver
instruction to achieve these objectives. Since the students are learning a language, they may
target giving or asking for information, express emotion, propose an action, demand from other
people, and more. These goals are clearly enumerated and described by Roman Jakobson’s Six
Functions of Language. If students understand these functions, they would know how to recognize
and construct sentences for a particular function. Recognition and construction of sentences are
some of the steps to a greater achievement--- real-world application. This is how they are related.
The theory about functions of language offers the necessary knowledge and key ideas while ESP
turns these ideas into practice.