Students learning English as their second, third, or fourth language, need support in understanding the language functions and forms in English. The functions or purposes of language could be things such as describing, explaining, or informing. The forms include the grammatical structures such as prepositions, verb tenses, and complex sentence patterns. It is important to understand the progression of how we acquire grammatical structures. For example, students understand and use present tense verbs before they understand and use past tense verbs.

The contrast between form and function in language can be illustrated through a simple medical analogy. If doctors studied only a limited portion of the human system, such as anatomical form, they would be unable to adequately address their patient’s needs. To fully treat their patients, physicians must understand the purposes of the human body and the relationships between organs, cells, and genes (Pozzi, 2004). Similarly, ELLs need to understand both the form (structure) and the function (purpose) of the English language in order to reach higher levels of proficiency.

Bibliography:

http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/krashen.htm

http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/real/standards/sbd.aspx