Communicative Competence

Communicative Competence

1. Origin and Definition

   • The ability to use language, or to communicate, in a culturally-appropriate manner in order to make meaning and accomplish social tasks with efficacy and fluency through extended interactions.
     • Synthesized Definition
       • L2 speakers must have the ability to use language itself, including the ability to form grammatically possible and feasible locutions
         • L2 speakers must demonstrate the inclusion of the socio-cultural component of cultural appropriateness
           • L2 speakers must be able to make meaning, not merely regurgitate memorized phrases or answer correctly on discrete grammar point tests
   • Chomsky (1965) distinguishes between “competence (the speaker-hearer’s knowledge of his language) and performance (the actual use of language in concrete situations) [emphasis in original]” (p. 4).
     • Chomsky’s view is that any errors in production may therefore be related one of many elements, including competence, that affect performance.
     • Hymes (1972) reacts against Chomsky’s definition, because he feels that Chomsky “omits almost everything of sociocultural significance”
       • 1) Possibility refers to whether a locution is grammatically possible.
         • 2) Feasibility refers to whether the interlocutors can make use of the locution, due to psycholinguistic factors such as memory limitations or inability to process multiple nested clauses.
           • 3) Appropriateness refers to whether the locution meets the cultural expectations for the desired interaction in that context
   • Value of Communicative Language Teaching
     • The communicative approach seeks to personalize and localize language and adapt it to the interests of the students.