(CZ) Vyučování cizím jazykům z hlediska sdělovací funkce
(EN) Foreign Language Teaching from the Standpoint of the Function of Communication

The methodology of foreign language teaching can have a double profit from the theory of information: a direct and an indirect one. The direct profit comes from taking over the results of the research so far as it contributes to a faster attainment of the aims of foreign language instruction. The indirect profit comes from every application of the theory of information on the theory of language, because the new approach to language from the point of view of the theory of information will favourably affect even the methods of language teaching. Further the author ascertains to what extent the present methods of language teaching are in accordance with the theory of information and point out to some problems to which the attention of the research workers in pedagogy should be devoted, for example the problems of the meaning of the word, of the conceptual content of the word in foreign languages compared with that of the mother tongue, of the guess of words from the context, etc. The second part of the paper is devoted to the problem of the basic subject matter from the point of view of the theory of information. Quantitative linguistics show that language can be measured and so it is possible to put the question of the basic subject matter on a solid ground. The function of the language being communicative, the theory of communication can greatly facilitate the solution of the problem of the basic subject matter. As the fundamental criterion of the basic subject matter the author regards one of the vital concepts of the theory of information, namely the concept of redundancy: as a rule, that which is redundant is not considered as belonging to the basic subject matter. Equally important, however, are also two other criteria, namely the criterion of functional relevance and the criterion of the frequency of occurrence of a certain phenomenon. Considering these criteria the author distinguishes three components of the basic subject matter, namely the phonetic, grammatical, and lexical minimum. The phonetic minimum contains phenomena that have functional relevance on phonological level, but also some phenomena that are seemingly redundant but necessary (e. g. stress, intonation), if the utterance in a foreign language is to meet the requirements of a communication devoid of distortions. Discussing the criteria of grammatical minimum the author puts on the first place the criterion of the frequency of occurrence of grammar phenomena and the criterion of applicability of grammar phenomena. For the choice of lexical minimum the author considers as most important the criterion of the thematic applicability of the word, i. e. the valuation of words according to their importance for a certain topic determined by the aim of instruction, and the criterion of the requency of occurrence. The choice of words for the lexical' minimum must be done on the basis of the maximum information value of particular words in relation to the whole of particular logical fields the acquisition of which is the aim of instruction.