On Register Theory And Cultivation Of Linguistic Competence

Language is always used for certain communicative purpose on different occasions. In order to cater for different communicative needs, we have a lot of language varieties, which form the category of register. According to register theory, we should consider the concrete language varieties under the concrete situation and organically integrate the ideational meaning, interpersonal meaning and textual meaning into one. In that way, we can understand and explain the language varieties correctly. Some foreign language-teaching theorists have recognized the importance of register theory in foreign language teaching since the 1960s. In China, Professor Zhu Yongsheng first introduced the theory of register and its application to foreign language teaching in the 1980s. From that time, many scholars became aware of the importance of the theory of register in that area. However, most books and articles were just the theoretical explorations to the theory of register and its relationship to foreign language teaching. The achievements of how to teach foreign languages by the theory of register, which can be directly applied to classroom teaching, are rare. Accordingly, an effort will be made to solve this problem.This paper consists of six parts, including the introduction and the conclusion. The introduction mainly discusses the purpose and significance of the application of register theory to foreign language teaching and why the author has chosen this subject.For the chapter one, some fundamental concepts of register are introduced. It reviews the framework of register, its three determinants, functions, domains, etc. The idea of the application of register theory to English teaching is put forward.Chapter two presents a critical review of the related literature. It mainly included the general statement to the development of theory and some major findings in the studies and the existing problems of English teaching in China.Chapter three shows an investigation on Chinese English teachers and non-English major in the universities of China. Data and data analysis are shown through tables and figures. Implications and results are discussed according toanswers submitted by teachers and learners to the questionnaires.Chapter four manifests how to promote the competence of interaction from the classroom perspective. The writer mainly explores this problem from three aspects. Those are: culture awareness in English teaching, context analysis in English teaching, and various talks in different situations. There are also other factors affecting the students.The conclusion serves as a summary of the whole thesis: that is to say, by applying register theory to developing interactive competence, i.e. to help the learners speak appropriately, is feasible. In the meantime, the writer points out the deficiency of the research, which should be improved in the future study.