Exploratory task 1.2
Descriptive approach studies the ways language is used in the real world situations. Match the following conjunctions and sentences, in which they are best used
| Sentences | Conjunctions |
| 1. … hard he tried, he still couldn’t open the door 2. Even … he was reluctant at first, he joined in the fun. 3. … her illness, she decided to go to the concert 4. … he wasn’t keen on the idea, he agreed to go 5. I arrived on time … of the chaos on the roads | A. Although B. Despite C. However D. in spite E. though |
(Flower, J. 1996. First Certificate Organiser. Language Teaching Publications. P. 100)
A mighty wave of pre-communicative linguistics was sent by the ideas of mentalism (Chomsky, N. 1986. Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin and Use. N.Y.) This approach to language drew interest to the rules of the “universal grammar” in the speaker's mind. One of the moor fruitful of all the ideas put forward by linguistic mentalism was that of linguistic competence and performance (compare this dichotomy to “langue” and “parole” by F.de Saussure). “Competence” was understood as the knowledge of language grammar. “Performance” was interpreted as the use of language for communicative purposes. It came to be understood increasingly clearly by linguists that the language as an "inventory of items and rules" is not the same as the language in the process of communication. Language competence and performance have become the two distinctive aspects of language studies. This brought language studies very close to communicative linguistic theory.