Language Ability

Language Ability

1. The capability of a person to get involved in different kinds of interaction (Bachman & Palmer, 1996)

   • It is composed by four fundamental elements.
     • Topical Knowledge
       • It is related with the knowledge about the world (Bachman & Palmer)
         • The previous knowledge which allows an individual to establish conversations and learn new information
           • It includes elements like experiences, anecdotes, experiences and attitudes
     • The Affective Schemata
       • Related with two factors which directly interfere wih learning
         • Attitudes
           • Positive or negative towards the target language
             • Both compose the general competences of an individual according to the CEFR: (To know; Know to do; Know how to be; Know to learn)
         • Personality
           • Age, Cognitive style, Learning strategies, Beliefs
     • The Communicative Competence
       • A globalizing construct that encompasses the skills and knowledge which an user must use to effectively interact in diverse social contexts with specific intentions. (Maturana, 2011)
         • According to Hymes, 1971 it is composed by eight elements of the linguistic interaction in order to it be carried out: Setting and scene; participants; ends; act sequence; key; instrumentalities; norms and gender.
           • Then Halliday, 1978, proposed seven function which allows the meaning exchange: Instrumental; regulatory; interpersonal; personal; heuristic; imaginative and representative. But later, these functions were modified by Bachman & Palmer, 1996 in their notion of the communicative competence in only four functions: Ideational; Manipulation; Heuristic and Imaginative.
             • In 1996 Bachman & Palmer proposed a new organization to the Communicative Competence based in two components
               • Organizational Knowledge
                 • The accurate organization of the phrases; the sentences; the text
                   • Composed by
                     • Grammatical Knowledge
                       • Sintax
                       • Spelling
                       • Vocabulary
                       • Phonology
                       • Graphology
                     • Textual Knowledge
                       • Coherence
                         • Main Ideas; Supporting Ideas
                       • Cohesion
                         • Connectors; Punctuation; Prepositions; Capitalization
                       • Rethorics
                         • Narrative; Argumentative; Expository; Descriptive
               • Pragmatic Knowledge
                 • The ability to appropriately use and interpret the social meaning of the linguistic varieties
                   • Composed by
                     • Functional Knowledge
                       • Related to the function of the language proposed by Bachman & Palmer in 1996
                     • Sociolinguistic Knowledge
                       • The correct use of the words regarding to the context and the situation
                         • It Includes variesties; dialects; registers; expressions
     • The Strategic Competence
       • The employment of metacognitive strategies to correctly use the language, in order to understand the communicative intention
         • Supported by
           • Verbal resources
             • Which will serve to activate the interaction among the language areas of the coommunicative competence, or to solve possible communicative
           • Non Verbal resources