FTCE Professional Education Practice Exam

Which language function involves satisfying a person’s desires?

1. Instrumental Function

2. Interactional Function

3. Regulatory Function

4. Personal Function

The correct answer is: Instrumental Function

The instrumental function of language is focused on using communication to achieve specific goals or fulfill desires. This function includes expressing needs and wants in a direct manner, and it often involves requesting, instructing, or informing. When a person uses language to satisfy their desires, whether for information, assistance, or an emotional response, they are employing the instrumental function. For instance, when someone asks for help with a task or expresses a wish for something, they are clearly seeking to meet their own needs or to obtain something they desire. This function is crucial in both everyday interactions and formal communications, as it drives the action-oriented aspect of language use. The other options, while important aspects of language, do not specifically focus on the act of satisfying desires through communicative intent.