Functions of a Language as: Means of Communication, Vehicle of Self –expression,

Medium to acquire knowledge.

Thus, skill is a personal quality with three key features:

i. Productive: using skill is productive of value

ii. Expandable: skills are enhanced by training and development.
iii. Social: skills are socially determined.

Skill was characterized by Pear (1927) as being concerned with the quantity and quality of
motor output: ‘skill is the integration of well-adjusted muscular performances’ (Pear, 1948, p.
92). While for Pear the emphasis was on manual, motor skills, his contemporary Hans Renold
in 1928 defined skill as ‘any combination, useful to industry, of mental and physical qualities
which require considerable training to acquire’ (More, 1980, p. 15). While Renold was
therefore introducing a cognitive dimension alongside the manual, his emphasis on training
ignores the fact the skills may equally be acquired through practice, without training. Usually
the term skill is used to refer to a level of performance, in the sense of accuracy and speed in
performing particular tasks (skilled performance).

knowledge and working memory play a major role in acquiring skills (Chase and Ericsson,
1982) including procedural skills (Carlson, Sullivan and Schneider, 1989), problem-solving
skills (Carlson et al., 1990) and complex cognitive skills.

developed a three stage framework for skill acquisition: (i) the cognitive phase of
understanding the nature of the task how it should be performed involves conscious cognitive
processes; (ii) the associative phase involves inputs linked more directly to appropriate
actions and reduced interference from outside demands and finally (iii) the autonomous phase
occurs when actions are automatic requiring no conscious control (see Garvin’s three-stage
model of learning above).

Proctor and Dutta (1995, p. 18) in what is arguably the most authoritative text on skill
acquisition and performance, define skill as ‘goal-directed, well-organized behavior that is
acquired through practice and performed with economy of effort’. Each element of the
definition is important: first, skill develops over time, with practice; second, it is goal-
directed in response to some demand in the external environment; third, it is acquired when
components of behavior are structured into coherent patterns; and finally, cognitive demands
are reduced as skill develops.

(h) ‘skills’ means the ability to apply knowledge and use know-how to complete tasks and
solve problems. In the context of the European Qualifications Framework, skills are
described as cognitive (involving the use of logical, intuitive and creative thinking) or
practical (involving manual dexterity and the use of methods, materials, tools and
instruments);

(i) ‘Competence’ means the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social
and/or methodological abilities, in work or study situations and in professional and personal
development. In the context of the European Qualifications Framework, competence is
described in terms of responsibility and autonomy.

Language as means of Communication:

Language is a means of communication; it expresses thoughts, emotions, feelings, and desires

of human beings. Proverbs play an essential role in cultural, social, didactic, and
psychological aspects in all societies. Proverbs are the essence of popular philosophy. They
form the consensus of folklore and give a true picture of the spirit of the nation.
The English word proverb comes from Latin and Greek, it is one of the etymological terms. It
comes from Latin term "proverbium" with the meaning of "old saying" and "adage" or
"proverb". After that, the term "proverbium" has been modified into the English language to
mean a "short pithy saying in common and recognized use" (Abdul Jabbar, 2008).
Proverbs are regarded as one of the smallest ubiquitous folklore genres. They have been
collected and studied since the beginning of written records. Paremiographers and
paremiologists have been working hard to publish collections and treatises throughout the
world. In human communication trend, proverbs have been playing a major role whether in
oral or written form (Mieder, 2005:1).
Proverbs have been described as bits of ancient wisdom that bear "the impress of the early
days of mankind." But their value and charm is not to be found in the past or in their brevity
and wit only. The Spanish described the proverb as "a short sentence based on long
experience," while the Dutch called it "the daughter of daily experience." To the Germans,
proverbs can be compared to butterflies in that "some are caught and some fly away." For the
Arab, "A proverb is to speech what salt is to food" (Stone, 2006: xiii). The wisdom of
proverbs has guided people in their social interactions for thousands of years. Proverbs
contain experiences of the past decades in brief and formulaic language, making them easy to
remember and use in life as effective rhetorical in oral and written communication (Mieder,
2004: xi).
A proverb may have two different types of meaning, literal and figurative. The Literal
meaning is the one that can be interpreted easily, for example the proverb like father, like son
has a literal meaning since father and son are alike. Whereas, the proverb blood is thicker
than water have a figurative meaning in different interpretations depending on the social
context. In this case the figurative meaning refers to the members of the same family that
share stronger ties with each other than they do with others. In other words, the meaning of
the constitutive parts of proverbs is different from the whole meaning of the proverb (Abdul
Jabbar, 2008:177-178).
Language has been studied from different points of view according to variety of branches of
linguistics. The study of meaning of language has two levels. The first one is the study of text
meaning which refers to the study of the words and sentences in its form. It is also means the
study of meaning of language related to dictionaries or structure meaning of language. This
study called the semantic study of language.
From the other hand, the study of the meaning beyond the form of words and sentences called
the pragmatic study. It deals with the meaning that relates to the component of context. So in
this case, pragmatic meaning looks to the implicit meaning of language with reference to the
speaker implying and hearer intention, whereas semantic meaning looks to the abstract
meaning of the words and sentences that constitute the text. The meaning without the
pragmatic is called the literal meaning which comes under the branch of semantics. While the
branch that consider the context or what the speaker wants to convey is called the pragmatics.
Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics. It can be defined as the study of the language in use or
the study of the invisible meaning of utterances. Pragmatics concerns with the relationship
between what the speaker means by utterance and what the hearer infers from it. Pragmatics
interested with the meaning in context. Understanding the meaning is the essence of
communication, without understanding the meaning we cannot communicate with each other.
The implicit meaning occupies essential role in linguistic forms. Therefore, many researchers
and linguists have interested in this discipline and they tried to scope this from different
perspectives under the pragmatics umbrella. 

Self-expression 
Self-expression is as vital to living as breathing. It is how we interact with others and the
world. It can be supremely fulfilling or irritably frustrating. Self-expression takes place
through communication, body language, artwork, and even our clothes and hairstyles. It
includes how we decorate our homes and the way we drive a car.
Sometimes we don't even think about how we express our inner reality to those outside. It
just happens naturally. At other times, we may strive to express something and
disappointedly fall short of what we meant to get across.
What are some of the issues we may have with self-expression? Sometimes we can't access
inspiration and creativity to know what we want to express. Other times, we have an idea of
what we want to communicate, but we don't know how to make it manifest. Sometimes we
think we don't have the necessary skills or talents required to express ourselves.
Some of us have difficulty communicating because we are shy, insecure or just feel that our
communication skills are lacking. Sometimes we keep our mouths shut because we think that
what we have to say won't make a difference anyway.
Self-expression is a way in which a person can express his or her thought processes through
hand gestures, writing and verbalization. The "Webster’s Dictionary" defines it as
"expression of one’s own personality or emotion." Sometimes, people use hand gestures
when they are trying to express a point. Usually, the person doesn’t realize that they are
moving their hands. Another way a person can "express one’s own personality" is with
writing. Journals or diaries are good examples because writers can say anything they want,
any way they want. Lastly, verbalization is the most common way people express
themselves. 
Do you move your hands when you talk? Do you like to use your hands
when you talk in front of an audience? The answer for most people would be 
yes. When people express an idea or a thought to someone else, they move their
hands. The "Webster’s Dictionary" defines gestures as "a motion of the body made to express
thoughts or to emphasize speech." Some gestures might suggest an emotion or expression a
person feels. For example, if a person clenches his or her hands, it might mean that the person
is mad or angry. Sometimes, when I play a tennis match and I win a big point, I pump my fist
with excitement. If students are really bored or tired, they might put their elbow on the desk
and their hand on their cheek. There are many different gestures that people use in everyday
life to express their feelings.
Another method of expressing yourself is writing. People use journals
and diaries to express their inner thoughts and feelings. Through writing, 
people can record what they feel and can express themselves in a descriptive well thought out
manner. Last week, Mrs. Kelmachter gave the class some time to brainstorm. She chose a
topic and had the class write for five minutes on anything that came to mind. This is another
way people can express their thoughts through writing. Very often, writing helps people
express what they may perceive, feel, think and observe. 
Verbalization is the most common way people express themselves. 
When people work in groups, every person has an opportunity to express his or her idea.
Also, when a teacher asks a question and a student replies, he or she is expressing their
thoughts. Different tones of voices usually represents how a person feels. If someone uses a
low voice, he or she is usually sad or experiencing grief. On the other hand, if someone is
really happy, then he or
she would speak in a high tone with usually a smile on their face. Sometimes, when my mom
or dad get angry at me, they speak with a deep, yet firm voice to get my attention. This is one
conversation in which my mom expressed herself with a deep, yet firm 

Medium to acquire Knowledge:

Many academicians are questioning whether acquisition can be studied in isolation from the
learner's wider social and political context. Increasingly, language is being seen as the interpretive
medium by which we construct knowledge and communicate within and across disciplines, and
which underlies our very social practices, the ways in which power and authority are exercised,
renewed, and protected.

Increasingly, language is seen as the interpretive medium by which knowledge is constructed and
communication is carried out within and across disciplines, as well as the way power and authority
are exercised, renewed, and protected.

The knowledge and skills required for the different are closely connected, so that learning in
any one mode supports learning in the others. However, students need opportunities to learn
every mode of language, and that need is reflected in the structure of these curriculum
guidelines. 
In order to communicate competently, students need to acquire knowledge of specific
language items, such as grammar, vocabulary, and the characteristic features of particular text
types. Effective teachers of te reo Māori help students to develop an understanding of how
the language works in the context of communicative language learning activities, while
integrating students’ language learning with their learning about tikanga. They ensure that
students develop both implicit and explicit knowledge of the target language. 'Implicit
knowledge' is the knowledge that learners acquire and use unconsciously, and 'explicit
knowledge' is knowledge that requires conscious teaching and learning.
Students acquire the system of a language progressively. For example, in the initial stages,
they may produce approximations of a given grammatical structure. These approximations
are often stepping stones to acquiring the correct forms. Even when students know the
structure of a language only partially, they can communicate effectively to some degree by
using approximations. Over time, they gain a range of language learning strategies, including
working out a word’s meaning based on its context, making links to prior knowledge and
experiences, and looking at the parts of unfamiliar words and phrases.

Teachers can scaffold students’ learning of specific language forms by setting well-
constructed communicative tasks that naturally lead them to notice and reproduce those forms
so that they gain implicit knowledge of them. Teachers can also help their students to make
this knowledge explicit, for example by discussing the language forms incidentally.

Research has shown that language learners benefit when their attention is drawn to the forms
of words, grammatical structures, and texts incidentally, in the context of real messages with
meaningful content. Teaching grammatical rules explicitly and expecting students to
memorise them is less effective. An important part of a language teacher’s repertoire is
knowing how to teach language forms in meaningful and effective ways.

References:

 https://www.uniassignment.com/essay-samples/english-language/language-is-a-means-of-
communication-english-language-essay.php
 http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-guidelines/Teaching-and-learning-te-reo-
Maori/Key-understandings-about-effective-language-learning/Language-knowledge
 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED365122.pdf