The exponents of the functional categories given in Chapter 5 consist almost entirely of single sentences, phrases or words. Up to Threshold level, the focus has been placed on enabling the learner to participate effectively in oral interaction using short utterances so as to perform one function at a time, very often reacting to initiatives taken by a more experienced (e.g. native) speaker. Although in fact the resources available to the Threshold and even the Waystage learner enable longer contributions to be made, the psycholinguistic demands placed on a relatively inexperienced speaker make it advisable to break a conversation up into short turns.

At Vantage level, the learner may be expected to have greater control over linguistic resources and to be better able to call on them in order to organise more material into an utterance in real time, both by constructing sentences with a higher information value and by producing discourse in which a number of sentences are produced to form a coherent sequence. The principles by which this is accomplished therefore become of much greater importance than at earlier stages of learning.

Perhaps the simplest form of extension is to use the increased range of alternative exponents given in Chapter 5 in juxtaposition, as is common among native speakers. The effect is natural and, by increasing redundancy, enhances communication. For instance, in reply to Where is my box? The answer might be: Here. On the table, where you left it.