Module 4: Knowing the English Language
Knowing the English Language
What is Knowing a Language?
What does it mean to know a language? You might come up with answers such as “knowing lots
of words” or “knowing grammar.” And you would be essentially right: The two main ingredients
in language are words and meaningful combinations of those words. But how many words and
how much structure must you know before you can be said to know a language? Do you know a
language if you can order food in a restaurant using that language? Or must you be able to give a
speech or write an essay about the meaning of life in a language before you can claim that you
truly know it?
There is, of course, no simplistic definition of knowing a language. A four-year-old may know
only 1,000 words in his native language, and yet we would hear him chatter away and say that he
“knows” this language. On the other hand, a businessperson may learn 3,000 words in a foreign
language and yet still be unable to carry on conversations with international business partners.
We would likely say that this person does not know the language very well. It all depends on
context and the purpose for which the language is being used.
How Well Must an English Teacher know English?
So, what does it mean for an English teacher to know English? How many words must an
English teacher know? How much grammar? Again, it depends on the English teaching context.
A teacher of five-year-olds may not need to have a detailed knowledge of specialized vocabulary
or know how to write academic essays. But the teacher of advanced adults would likely need
both of these. A language teacher needs at the very minimum greater language competence than
the students and comfort in using language in classroom interaction.
If I Know English Can I Teach It?
Ah, the native speaker debate again, which we could relabel the proficient speaker debate. We
have already seen in previous modules that, in addition to language competence, teachers need
knowledge about the processes of language learning and teaching. But in this module we deal
with a different question: How much should teachers know about the language they teach?
Let’s suppose a person can easily say a complex sentence like “I had already eaten supper when
my friend came to the door and asked me if I wanted to go out.” This person knows English well,
right? Yes. Can this person teach English? Well, that question requires a little more discussion. If
the teaching will occur in a university classroom, the teacher might not only need to be able to
use such a sentence; she might also need to know that the first verb is past perfect and that the
sentence contains a conditional. In other words, this teacher might need meta-linguistic
competence or the ability to talk about language structures.
1
Copyright  2009 by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)
Module 4: Knowing the English Language
Isn’t This “Grammar”?
Yes and no. A person who correctly says “This is a good book” knows the grammar of that
sentence, whether or not she knows that the sentence comprises subject, verb, article, adjective,
and singular noun. She knows the grammar of that sentence whether or not she can tell you that
English word order is subject-verb-object (SVO) and that an adjective always precedes a noun in
English. In other words, she knows the grammar of English, even if she does not have the
metalinguistic competence to talk about it.
On the other hand, we do frequently talk about “knowing grammar” when we mean having
metalinguistic competence. When someone says, regarding their native language, “I don’t know
grammar!”—a frequent occurrence among native speakers of many languages—the person is
actually talking about metalinguistic competence. Native speakers use the structures correctly in
their native language, but they do not know how to explain those structures.
How Much Grammar (Metalinguistic Competence) Does an English Teacher Need?
As we have already seen, the answer to this question depends somewhat on the language
teaching context. However, it is generally recognized that any kind of a certificate or credential
in TESOL should indicate some metalinguistic competence. And that is our task in this module:
to help you understand some of the structures of the English language.
What Will I Learn in This Module?
At this halfway point through the course, we switch from theoretical learning to more practical
learning. In this module you will acquire understanding and skill regarding the English language,
which will be directly applicable to classroom contexts. In this module you will
•
Understand the place of grammar in language learning
•
Learn more about some specific areas of English grammar that are difficult for learners
(articles, verbs, prepositions)
•
Discover resources for building your own knowledge of grammar
•
Gain practice in explaining the grammar involved in student errors
Of course, a week is not much time to discuss “knowing the English language.” We cannot cover
everything, but I hope that this module will at least point you in the right direction.
TESOL acknowledges and appreciates the work of TESOL member Jan Dormer in developing
and writing this material for the TESOL Core Certificate Program, with additional review
provided by members of TESOL’s Profession Development Committee.
2
Copyright  2009 by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL)