Language and Verbal Communication as Factors in the Educational Process

The aim of this paper is to point out' some basic problems of language and verbal communication in classroom instruction, which have so far been given little attention in pedagogical research. These problems can be roughly divided into three groups: 1. Questions concerning the pupils’ language, especially the level of the acquisition of the mother tongue by pupils in individual age groups, the dependence of this acquisition on various social, cultural, educational and other conditions and the environment in which the pupil is being brought up; then the use of various styles of language in various situations at school and out of school, the influence of mass communication on the acquisition and use of the language by pupils, etc. 2. Questions concerning the teachers’ language, especially the variability, in the use of various forms of language by the teacher in classroom instruction depending on the age, sex, education, personality and other characteristic traits of teachers, then on the type of school, the subject taught, etc. f 3. Questions concerning verbal communication in classroom instruction, especially the characteristics of verbal contacts between teachers and pupils, the influence of various communicative structures on the activity and the performance of pupils, the dependence of communication on location, of subjects, etc. An analysis of the language of pupils and teachers and of verbal communication between teachers and pupils, of communication contacts in class and the like, represents a complex of questions, none of which have so far been part of deeper pedagogical researches, although for instance L. S. Vygotiskij and A. R. Lurija showed as early as in 1930 that ≫a number of practical problems concerning the school, training and education of the child can be solved on the basis of the study of language≪. Of course, the research into the given problems cannot be carried out in isolation, but within the framework of a complex systemic analysis in which pedagogical aspects will be connected with aspects concerning psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, social communication theory and further disciplines.