Teach english new edition r

language function 
(see page 76), e.g. requesting, 
suggesting, etc.
The meaning of language depends on where it occurs within a larger stretch of 
discourse
(see pages 76-78), and thus the relationship that the different language elements have with 
what comes before and after them. In other words, speakers and writers have to be able to 
operate w ith more than just words and grammar; they have to be able to string utterances 
together. The following conversation takes place in the context of two people getting ready 
for their party:
A We can leave the ice here tilt we need it.
B It’s warm in here.
A Is it? OK, then, let’s find somewhere else.
The utterance ‘It’s warm in here’ acts as a rejection of A’s suggestion. A can then use ‘it’ 
to refer to the whole of B’s proposition (‘It’s warm in here’). And ‘OK’ suggests that A has 
absorbed all of the discourse so far (suggestion - rejection - agreement with the rejection)
■ Words together
■ Language functions
■ Text and discourse
■ Language variables
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Chapter 5
and can then move the conversation on with a further suggestion.
O ur ability to function properly in conversation or writing, in other words, depends 
not only on reacting to the context in which we are using the language, but also on the 
relationship between words and ideas in longer texts.
The elements of language
Whatever the sentence ‘It’s warm in here’ is used to mean, the speaker has put together a 
num ber of elements in order to get that meaning across:
Grammar
O ur sentence depends, for its success, on putting a num ber of elements in the correct order, 
in this case 
subject 
(it), 
verb 
(is), 
complement 
(‘warm’ - called a complement because it 
adds inform ation about the subject), and