Discusssions and Articles

Franciszek GRUCZA: On the Ambiguity of the Term "Language", Heterogenity of Referents Associated with it, and on the Essence of Concrete Human Languages

The article is a modified version of the article Language, Human Linguistic Properties, Linguistic Ability of People written in 1986 for a volume prepared by J. Piontek and A. Wierciński Essays in General Anthropology: ManjromBiocultural Perspective (in print).

The article critically reviews the existing definitions and ways of interpreting the term language". It discusses such issues as the nature of human language, its properties, the subject matter of linguistic research. It also deals with the semantic structure of the following terms: language, speech, speech act, linguistic properties of people, linguistic rules. The article presents the author's original concepts on the subject.

Elżbieta Jolanta LELENTAL: Interpersonal Communication and Foreign Language Teaching

The acceptance of the development of communicative competence as the objective of foreign language teaching equires a redefinition of the phenomenon of interpersonal communication. The linear and Jim ;ual-centric" paradigm which now prevails seems too simplified as it does not take into consideration the multichannel character of communication. Non-verbal beha­viour plays a greater role in interaction than once thought. The message can be received and understood even if its verbal aspect is syntactically lacking. It is the non-verbal context that carries the missing chunks of the utterance. Moreover, if the verbal message is incompatible with the non-verbal message, the latter has the decisive role in the interpretation of the utterance. Further evidence in favour of rejecting the view of language as a narrow code and the symmetry of the coding/decoding relation are such elements of utterance interpretation as connotation and implied meaning. The redefinition of the phenomenon of communication may be helpful with such aspects of curriculum development as content selection, material preparation involving the presentation of communicative situations, and - to a certain extent - individual teaching techniques.

Empirical Studies

Ewa TOMCZYK-POPIŃSKA: Dialogues in German Language Textbooks

The article provides a linguistic analysis of dia(poly)logues of colloquial German presented in German language textbooks by German and Polish authors. Literary and authentic dia­logues were employed as a reference material. All dialogues represented the same communica­tion domain. In the part of the article presenting FLT implications, the author postulates the use of the unofficial kind of "gesprochenes Standarddeidsch" in the form of texts approximating the authentic version of the German language in a wider range than usual.

Małgorzata GNYŚ, Bożena G6RSKA-PORĘCKA, Ewa TOMCZYK-POPIŃSKA, Monika ŻELAZOWSKA: FLT Materials in Non-Linguistic Departments of Institutions of Higher Education in Poland

The article is the second part (part one in No 12) of a complex analysis of the current practiceof foreign language teaching in non-linguistic departments of most intitutions of higher education subordinate to the Ministry of National Education. The second part of the study discusses the use of FLT materials in the teaching process of the four languages: German, English, French and Russian.

The part of the questionnaire on which the present analysis is based included bibliographical data concerning basic and supplementary FLT materials, technical aids and materials, (tapes, slides etc.) as well as the origin of the materials (gift, purchase, produced by the institution concerned). For each language a list of 10 most popular textbooks (used by more than 7% of respondents) was drawn up together with a short description of some of them and followed by conclusions. The popularity of each publication in a given type of institution of higher education (university, teacher training college, school od economics, university of technology) was analyzed.

Reviews

Franciszek Grucza, Hans-Jürgen Krumm, Barbara Grucza, Beitrage zur wissenschaftlichen Fundierung der Ausbildung von Fremdsprachenlehrern. Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Warszawa 1993 (Ewa Tomczyk-Popińska)
Franz Eppert, Sprichworter und Zitate. Verlag Klett Edition Deutsch. München 1990 (Czesława Schatte)
Zdzisław Wawrzyniak, Praktyczne aspekty translacji literackiej na przykładzie języków angielskiego i niemieckiego. PWN. Warszawa 1991 (Anna Szczęsny)

Notes and Reports

International Conference on Foreign Language Teaching Methodology" Warsaw, January 26-27 1994 (Ewa Tomczyk-Popińska)

Bibliography

Jadwiga Latusek, Hanna Prejs: Bibliography of Publications in the Field of Teaching Polish as a Foreign Reign Language, Research into the Polish Language Used by the Polish Community Abroad broad, Contrastive Studies for the Years 1990 and 1991

Małgorzata Gnyś, Piotr Kaczmarski, Monika Że1azowskaBibliography of Articles, Papers and other Contributions Publishe in "Glottodidactic Review" in Volumes 1-12 in the Years 1978-1993