Define usage and use as introduced by Widdowson (1978) in the area of language teaching.

These are two ideas introduced by Widdowson (1978) in the area of language teaching to refer to two aspects of communicative performance. He defines usage as ‘the function of a linguistic item as an element of the linguistic system’ and points out that ‘usage is that aspect of performance that makes evident the extent to which the language learner demonstrates his knowledge of linguistic rules’. Usage is the ability of the learner to produce correct sentences.
Use on the other hand is the aspect of performance that makes evident the extent to which the language user demonstrates his ability to use knowledge of linguistic rules for effective communication. In other words use is the ability to use the knowledge of the rules for effective communication. Widdowson gives the following dialogue between teacher and learners as an example of usage.
Teacher: what is on the table?
Students: There’s a book on the table

This exchange between the teacher and learners is unnatural according to Widdowson because, the response is too long. It would be natural to respond “A book”. In addition he argues, if the book is in full view to everyone in the classroom then the teacher’s question is uncalled for and as such the dialogue is unnatural. In this example therefore learners are simply demonstrating their ability to produce correct sentences. On the other hand instances of use occur in situations that are natural to the classroom. Also depending on context, a grammatical structure may be used to focus either on usage or on use. Widdowson observes that “This is a pen” is an example of usage because all the pupils in the classroom will know what a pen is. Therefore the teacher is obviously concerned about the correct production of the sentence. “This is a barometer” is an example of use where the teacher is introducing a new piece of equipment to the students.
Given Widowhood’s idea of usage and use, we can therefore say that when a teacher for example teaches learners the plural formation rules , then this is usage but when he teaches learners how to use ‘polite’ language say in expressing gratitude, asking to be excused, apologizing etc he is focusing on language use. Thus in recent pedagogic development there has been a shift towards language use rather than only usage. This is because linguists have realized that competence not only refers to linguistic competence but also includes communicative competence i.e. application of language in real life situations. It is only possible to talk about a proficient language learner if that person has knowledge of what constitutes “appropriate” as well as correct language behavior. In other words learners must not only know how to produce correct sentences but must also know how to use them in appropriate communicative situations. As Ellis (1994) stresses; ‘learners of a second language must know what constitutes effective language behavior in relation to particular communicative goals’. Since competence includes both linguistic and communicative (pragmatic) knowledge, studies in SLL maintain the distinction between use and usage.

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francis1897 answered the question on March 8, 2023 at 09:06