Question:

Submitted by Ali Abdulhussain, Iraq

What is the difference between the language we teach in schools, language institutions, coursebooks etc and the daily language spoken in an English-speaking country?

Dr. Richards responds:

In schools there is a very limited amount of time available to teach English so a very restricted range or words, structures etc can be taught. Obviously native-speaker- English is very different, since it has been acquired over many years and is used in many different contexts and for many different purposes. There will hence be a big gap between the language of the classroom or textbook and the language people use in English-speaking countries. These days media, technology and the internet enable learners to access authentic uses of English outside of the classroom.