12 c. The third function is the representational function. It is the use of language to
make statements, convey facts and knowledge, explain or report. d. The fourth function of language is the interactional function. People use
interactional function of language in order to ensure social maintenance. e. The fifth function of language is the personal function. People usually use this
function when they want to express feelings, emotion and personality. f. The sixth function of language is the heuristic function, which is used to acquire
knowledge and to learn about the environment. Heuristic functions are often conveyed in the form of question that will lead to answer.
g. The last function of language is the imaginative function. People will use imaginative function to create imaginary system or idea. People use this function,
for instance, when they are telling fairy tales, joking or writing a novel, which require their imagination to create a fantasy.
By knowing the functions of language, people are intended to be able to recognize each of the language function. Halliday also would like to give information
to people so that people may know the basic theory of language functions and also its description.
3. Classroom Language Functions
The seven functions of language which were stated by Halliday 1973 are quite general, because they do not refer to any specific setting. Each of setting will
13 need a different language function. For instance, language functions which are used
by people who speak in traditional market are different with those students who speak in office because the communication purposes are also different. That is why
it is important to classify language functions into its specific category based on its setting. Those seven functions of language also cover some language functions
which are used in teaching and learning process with classroom as the setting. That is the reason why teachers should be able to know which kind of language functions
are appropriate to be used when a teaching and learning process occur in class and how to use them appropriately. As it is used in class, hence, the language function is
commonly recognized as classroom language functions. Classroom language functions refer to “the purpose for which teachers and learners use language in the
classroom” Spratt et al., 2005. So, the quality of language that teachers use will effect on their understanding level towards materials that they share through the
arranged activities. Spratt et al. 2005 and Davies and Pearse 2000
describe classroom language functions that teachers often use during teaching and learning process occur as
follows: a. Greeting and closing
After entering classroom, it is better for a teacher to greet students or ask whether there are any absent students or not. The teacher greets students in the
beginning of the meeting by saying, for example: “Good morning. How are you today?” or “How do you do?”, etc. In the end of the meeting, the teacher also says a
14 farewell or closing, for instance, ”See you tomorrow”, “That’s all for today”, “We’ve
run out of time. So…”, “I’m afraid it’s time to finish now”, etc. Based on the theory of seven language functions stated by Halliday, this classroom language included in
interactional function since the function are to ensure social maintenance between one and others.
b. Eliciting According to Gower et.al 2005, “Eliciting is when a teacher brings out
students’ knowledge, suggestions and ideas. The teacher can do this by asking questions and by encouraging and guiding”. While, Borich 1996 says that eliciting
has a similar meaning with probing which is done by questioning that immediately followed by students’ response in order to ask for new information to extend or build
upon the student’s response and to redirect or restructure the student’s response in a more productive direction. In relation to Borich’s statement, Spratt et al. 2005 state
that “eliciting is when teacher achieves information from students rather than giving it to them”. Through eliciting, a teacher will be able to get the students involved and
interest, for instance, when a teacher asks a question to a student “Any question?”, “Do you understand?”, “What can you see in the picture?”, “What do you think about
the story? Do you have any other opinion about the theory?” and many more. One more important thing that a teacher can achieve by doing eliciting in class
is that the teacher will be able to get crucial information about what students already know. It helps the teacher to avoid teaching what the students already know and helps
15 the teacher to assess how far the students are with them as they go through the lesson.
Besides, eliciting may become a way to increase the amount of students talk and help students take responsibility for their own learning.
Language function which exists in this classroom language is heuristic function. The aim of this function is to acquire knowledge. Eliciting has a main
purpose to gain information from students related to the clarity of teacher’s explanation.
c. Conveying the meaning of new language It is very often for students in every grade to meet confusion in finding the
meaning of a new word or phrase during the learning process. When this situation happens, the teacher should help his students clarify the meaning. According to Spratt
et al. 2005, teachers need this function to explain a meaning of a word, phrase, or new structures. This function can be applied by translating, giving demonstration, or
bringing an object into the class to be explained. Ridell 2003 suggests that those are some activities that teachers may use to explain new meaning of language. Pictures or
any others actual object realia could be as media for teachers to facilitate them and make them easier in conveying a new meaning of language. Teachers also may use a
mimic to explain a particular meaning and then let students guess what it is about. By the time a teacher is conveying a meaning of a new language, it shows that
he is also applying a certain language function namely representational function. The
16 teacher not only shares his knowledge but also explain a meaning of a particular term
to his students.
d. Instructing Instruction giving also becomes one important technique for a teacher to
acquire students’ attention when the teaching and learning process is taking place. The example of this action is when a teacher is giving a command to hisher students
to do a particular activity Spratt et al., 2005, for example, “Listen to me” or “Open your book on page 24”
Ridell 2003 also provides some guidelines for successful instructions giving. His suggestions are:
1 If students are getting confused with the teacher’s instructions, the teacher should adjust his language as he speaks to be more understandable.
2 In the middle of giving instructions process, the teacher has to make sure that his students are paying attention at him.
3 Once the teacher’s instructions are over, he is supposed to tell his students to begin and they should check whether everyone is doing the activity correctly or not.
Through these guidelines, teachers are intended to be able to give their instructions clearly and effectively by using a different way of instructing with some
specific situations given. In addition, based on the theory of language functions, giving instructions is included in instrumental functions because the purpose is to
give a command or to get things done.
17 e. Narrating
Narrating can be one example of language function which is considered as imaginative function since the speaker will use his imagination in telling his story. In
the language classroom, sometimes, a teacher feels that he should tell a particular story or experience to his students in order to provide a real explanation so that the
students are able to imagine the concept being explained. This kind of method is called as narrating. Spratt et al. 2005 state that this function is the same as telling a
story that has happened in the past in a chronological order. There are some requirements which teachers should know when they are
narrating a story as described by Knapp and Watkins 2005. When sequencing people and events in time and space, narrating typically uses action verbs, such as
went, ate, slept, etc and also temporal connectives, such as after, when, and, then, therefore, next, etc.
f. Prompting There is a big possibility for learners to have a problem with their memory
system or they may forget to do a particular activity in a right way, so that teachers’ role is needed to guide them. Spratt et al. 2005 describe that a teacher may give a
clue to the learners to help them in memorizing words or difficult idea so that they will be able to understand or do a particular task.
The teacher can use three categories of prompts to shape the correct performance of the learners as said by Borich 1996. Those three categories are:
18 1 Verbal Prompts
Borich 1996 says that verbal prompts can be in the form of cues, reminders, or instructions to learners that help them perform correctly the skill teachers are
teaching. For example, saying to a first grade student of elementary school as he is writing, “Leave a space between words,” reminds him what the teacher previously
said about neat handwriting. Verbal prompts also help guide the student to connect performances and prevent mistakes and frustration.
2 Gestural prompts Gestural prompts are related to any model or demonstration of a particular
skill that a teacher wants his students to perform Borich, 1996. For example, there are students and teacher who are to make point to the fine adjustment knob on the
microscope. Then, the teacher makes a turning gesture with his hand. 3 Physical prompts
Borich 1996 says that teacher may use physical prompts when he finds a student who has a lack ability of following a demonstration which is being told and
also the action being modeled. For example, a teacher might verbally describe how to form the letter “A” correctly. In such a case, the teacher might use his hands to guide
student’s hand as he is writing. Through physical prompt, the teacher uses hand-over- hand assistance to guide the student to correct performance.
In the verbal prompts, the teacher reminds the students by uttering an instruction. Based on the theory of language functions spelled out by Halliday, every
19 utterance which is aimed to make a kind of instruction is considered as instrumental
function of language. For this reason, prompting belongs to instrumental function.
g. Explaining Most of teachers use this technique to clarify a certain question or theory to
their students. Besides, teacher also uses this language function to explain to students how to do an activity, how to organize a project they are doing and to clarify the
meaning of vocabulary or a particular concept Spratt et al., 2005. Wragg 1984 shows that explanation has three main orientations, they are to answer a question
started by what, which is known as interpretive explanation; how and where, which is known as descriptive explanation and the last is why, which is known as reason –
giving explanation. For instance, there is a teacher who gives an explanation about narration to his students by saying, “In a narration, we write an event
chronologically” or “A topic sentence in a paragraph is a sentence that contains the main idea of a paragraph”.
According to Harmer 2003, one of the clearest ways of explaining the meaning of something is to show it. For example, when a teacher holds up a map of
West Java, he should point to it while saying “This is the map of West Java”, its meaning will instantly clear. Harmer also adds if teachers want to explain a particular
action they may use mime. For example, when a teacher wants to explain someone who is running, they may mime someone running. At other times they are allowed to
use gesture as well as mimic.
20 Based on the theory of language functions formulated by Halliday, giving
explanation can be categorized as representational function. According to Halliday 1973 as cited by Brown 1987, representational function has a purpose to convey
facts or explain a particular thing.
h. Checking learning The teacher needs to check the learners’ understanding especially after
teaching new vocabularies, concept, theory, or after giving a summary of materials which have just been given before Spratt et al., 2005. They also state that the
teacher may use concept questions to check learners’ understanding. Borich 1996 also states that “reviewing and checking at the beginning of the
lesson are also the most efficient and timely ways of finding out if their students have mastered task-relevant prior knowledge sufficiently to begin a new lesson: if not then
teachers may repeat the explanation of the missing content”. One alternative way of checking students’ understanding is by questioning
them. After that, teacher will be able to decide the next step of leaning because it is impossible for a teacher to continue explaining the materials while some students are
still in confusion. In this classroom language, the teacher employs heuristic function.
i. Correcting When a teacher is correcting his students’ mistake, he should show his
students that something is wrong and that his students have made a mistake.
21 According to Ridell 2003, “mistakes are part of the learning process as such should
be treated positively, assuming that students probably will learn from their mistakes and not to repeat them again”. So, when a teacher corrects students’ mistake, it is also
a chance for a teacher to measure his students’ understanding Ridell 2003 states that there are three kinds of corrections based on the
subject who gives the correction; those are teacher correction, self correction, student- to-student correction peer correction. In this part, the focus is on the teacher
correction method. A teacher should make an effort to correct students’ mistake through a
particular way by motivating them without making his students losing their enthusiasm. Thus, a teacher may use such an expression as “Great effort, but you still
need more practice with these words”, “Go ahead, you were almost right.” Besides, the teacher needs to make a correction so that the students are able to know how the
mistake could happen and in which part that a mistake occurs Spratt et al., 2005, for example, “You still have some troubles with pronunciation”.
Teachers may employ facial gesture, facial work, verbal prompts etc, to help with correction, such as “Again” or ”Sorry?” or a gesture for the student to stop their
sentences, thus indicating a problem. By asking student to repeat hisher answer, it means that teacher uses instrumental function of language. However, he also applies
representational function when he explains the correct answer to the students.
22 j.
Giving Feedback In order to reinforce students’ performance, the teacher needs to give them
feedback. This function of language is also aimed to motivate students and appreciate their courage in producing a particular action. For example, “That’s interesting,
Maria. Very good.” While a teacher is giving feedback to a student, he also shares his opinion based on what his student did. In this case, the teacher employs personal
function of language.
4. Teacher Talk a. The definition of Teacher Talk
