DOMAINS OF LEARNER INPUT
Occupational domain
It is probably in the occupational domain that learners can most clearly make a
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contribution to goal setting (when, at least, their learning goals are related to their working lives).
With the best will in the world, it can be very difficult for someone not actively involved in a given
area of professional activity to reach as close an understanding of the relevant communicative
goals and performance parameters as someone involved in this area on a daily basis. What
learners have to say in a given situation (and, therefore, what they will need to learn) depends on
what they have to do, and it is the learners themselves who are likely to have more insight into
this than the teacher. Within the occupational domain, there are several components, to include:
Conceptual content: This relates to the content or subjects matter that has to be dealt
with in the learners' field of activity and, in particular, in their target situations of use. In a
business context, for example, this could include the structure and goals of the learner's firm,
the specifications and advantages of the products it offers, how they compare with those of
rival firms, or the relative advantages of two production methods. It is this sort of knowledge
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that forms the substantive basis for communica tion in a given field of activity, and is most
readily available to individuals working in this field.
Communicative goals and conventions: In addition to the conveyance of factual
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information, professional communication involves the establish ment and maintenance of a
variety of interpersonal relationships.
Textual component: Communication, especially in professional and educational fields,
frequently turns on a set of textual materials. These materials provide a conceptual reference
point and thus play a role in the target interactive situation. Textual material can take a
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variety of forms, depending on the professional domain and on the goals of the interaction
product descriptions or contract forms in a business setting, medical reports in health care, or
the text of an article and experimental results in academic life. Learners actively involved in a
given profession will obviously have more direct access to such materials (either in the TL or
in their L1) than language teachers. Using these materials, albeit alongside standard
language teaching materials, can enhance the relevance of learning activities and increase
learners' involvement, both real and perceived, in shaping the content of their study
programme.
Interactive domain
For many learners, the TL is seen as an enabling medium which will allow them access to
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a potentially wide range of interactive situations. In broad focus learning programmes of this
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type, the contribution learners can make to goal setting will be based on their familiarity with the
conventions of social interaction and on their interactive intentions. Two main points merit
consideration.
Communicative awareness: The ability to use a language to achieve one's
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communicative goals involves knowledge not only of the gramma tical and lexical systems
of the language, but also of the socio-pragmatic conventions of the TL community. These
conventions certainly do differ between speech communities, but such differences should be
