ABSTRACT
For language teaching, questions about the sentence structures, pronunciation, and vocabulary of the language that the learner is attempting to master have an obvious importance. However, language teaching is not solely concerned with the reproduction of correct sentences by the learners, and despite some misconceptions about the grammar-translation method and audio-lingual method, it never was. Discussing language use is not restricted to impoverished one-off statements about an infinite collection of possible different situations, but is conducted through consideration of general principles of textual organization and the linguistic mechanisms through which the language user's intentions are realized. This chapter selectively reviews linguistic features of text as opposed to items of vocabulary or syntax, as put to use in ordinary discourse. In each case, the applied linguist can see pedagogic questions, and in some cases these have given rise to pedagogic industry, the preparation of syllabi, teaching materials, and teacher instruction, and the means for improving our understanding of teaching situations.
