2/12/13 communicative competence - definition and examples of communicative competence
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Definition:
Both the tacit knowledge of a language and the ability to use it.
The concept of communicative competence (a term coined by
linguist Dell Hymes in 1972) grew out of resistance to the concept
of linguistic competence introduced by Noam Chomsky (1965). Most
scholars now consider linguistic competence to be a part of
communicative competence.
See also:
Linguistic Competence
Linguistic Performance
Pragmatic Competence
Applied Linguistics Handbook of Communication
Competence, e dite d by Ge rt
Communication R ick he it and Hans Strohne r
English as a Foreign Language (De Gruyte r Mouton, 2010)
English as a Second Language
Grammaticality
Pragmatics
Sociolinguistics
What Is Linguistics?
Examples and Observations:
"Why have so many scholars, from so many fields, studied communicative competence within so many relational, institutional, and cultural
contexts? Our hunch is that scholars, as well as the contemporary Western societies in which most live and work, widely accept the following tacit
beliefs: (a) within any situation, not all things that can be said and done are equally competent; (b) success in personal and professional
relationships depends, in no small part, on communicative competence; and (c) most people display incompetence in at least a few situations, and a
smaller number are judged incompetent across many situations."
(Steven Wilson and Christina Sabee, 2003, quoted by Gert Rickheit, Hans Strohner, and Constance Vorwerg in "The Concept of Communicative
Competence." Handbook Of Communication Competence, ed. by G. Rickheit and H. Strohner. Walter de Gruyter, 2010)
"By far the most important development in TESOL has been the emphasis on a communicative approach in language teaching (Coste, 1976; Roulet,
1972; Widdowson, 1978). The one thing that everyone is certain about is the necessity to use language for communicative purposes in the
classroom. Consequently, the concern for teaching linguistic competence has widened to include communicative competence, the socially
appropriate use of language, and the methods reflect this shift from form to function."
(Christina Bratt Paulston, "Introduction: English Teaching as a Foreign or Second Language." Linguistic and Communicative Competence. Multilingual
Matters, 1992)
Hymes on Competence
"We have then to account for the fact that a normal child acquires knowledge of sentences not only as grammatical, but also as appropriate. He or
she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner. In short, a child
becomes able to accomplish a repertoire of speech acts, to take part in speech events, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others. This
competence, moreover, is integral with attitudes, values, and motivations concerning language, its features and uses, and integral with competence
for, and attitudes toward, the interrelation of language with the other code of communicative conduct."
(Dell Hymes, "Models of the Interaction of Language and Social Life," in Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication, ed. by J. J.
Gumperz and D. Hymes. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1972)
Canale and Swain's Model of Communicative Competence
In "Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing" (Applied Linguistics, 1980), Michael Canale and
Merrill Swain identified these four components of communicative competence:
(i) Grammatical competence includes knowledge of phonology, orthography, vocabulary, word formation and sentence formation.
(ii) Sociolinguistic competence includes knowledge of sociocultural rules of use. It is concerned with the learners' ability to handle for
example settings, topics and communicative functions in different sociolinguistic contexts. In addition, it deals with the use of appropriate
grammatical forms for different communicative functions in different sociolinguistic contexts.
(iii) Discourse competence is related to the learners' mastery of understanding and producing texts in the modes of listening, speaking,
reading and writing. It deals with cohesion and coherence in different types of texts.
(iv) Strategic competence refers to compensatory strategies in case of grammatical or sociolinguistic or discourse difficulties, such as the use
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2/12/13 communicative competence - definition and examples of communicative competence
of reference sources, grammatical and lexical paraphrase, requests for repetition, clarification, slower speech, or problems in addressing
strangers when unsure of their social status or in finding the right cohesion devices. It is also concerned with such performance factors as
coping with the nuisance of background noise or using gap fillers.
(Reinhold Peterwagner, What Is the Matter With Communicative Competence?: An Analysis to Encourage Teachers of English to Assess the Very
Basis of Their Teaching. Lit Verlag, 2005)
Also Known As: communication competence
Top Related Searches Communicative Approach In Language Communicative Approach In Language Teaching Dell Hymes Walter De Gruyter
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