Communicative Competence and Skills in Language Learning
Defining Communicative Competence
To understand the relationship between communicative competence and skills, we first need to define communicative competence and its key characteristics. It emerges when functional or social linguistics intersect with fields like pragmatics, text linguistics, and discourse analysis. This provides a theoretical framework for understanding the social processes involved in language use.
Functional linguistics has developed the concept of communicative competence, which encompasses more than just linguistic competence (knowledge of the linguistic code). It also includes knowledge of language use – what speakers need to know to communicate effectively within a specific speech community. This concept also incorporates communicative practice as a crucial element of classroom procedures.
According to Hymes, adding a communicative element to competence means incorporating rules of use alongside grammar rules (syntax, semantics, and speech). Speakers require all of these to understand and utilize linguistic forms effectively.
Components of Communicative Competence
Communicative competence consists of five essential components:
- Linguistic Competence: This involves knowledge of the language itself, including its form and meaning. It encompasses spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, word formation, and grammatical structure. In English Language Teaching (ELT), grammar and formal accuracy have been central, leading to the design of courses and activities focused on these aspects.
- Pragmatic Competence: This component involves the ability to use language to achieve communicative goals. It includes understanding how to perform specific functions and recognizing the relationship between language and its context of use.
- Discourse Competence: Learners need to understand how discourse operates, particularly concerning cohesive devices used in English. This competence extends to both spoken and written texts.
- Strategic Competence: This refers to the ability to navigate authentic communicative situations effectively, ensuring the communication channel remains open.
- Fluency: This is the ability to connect units of speech smoothly and effortlessly. Teachers often use gambits to help learners improve their fluency.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
CLT emphasizes practicing structures in situational activities. This approach stems from a theory of language as communication, with the following key characteristics:
- Language is a system for expressing meaning.
- The primary function of language is to facilitate interaction and communication.
In CLT, learners play an active role in negotiating meaning and are encouraged to interact in groups. The teacher’s role is to facilitate the communicative process among all participants. Materials used in CLT include textbooks, language practice activities, games, role-plays, and simulations.
Developing Listening Skills
The objective of listening practice is to enable students to function effectively in real-life listening situations. It’s important to recognize that spoken language is often informal and spontaneous, characterized by:
- Brevity of chunks (turn-taking in conversation)
- Variations in pronunciation
- Use of colloquial vocabulary
- Ungrammatical structures
- Presence of background noise
- Redundancy in speech
- Lack of verbatim repetition
Given these characteristics, listeners need prior knowledge of the topic being discussed. The speaker, in turn, should tailor their speech to the listener, considering their intentions and objectives.
Activities should simulate real-life situations and utilize spontaneous discourse. Teachers should be adept at improvising speech and guiding students through various activities like DIY tasks, storytelling, film/video analysis, and song interpretation.
Developing Speaking Skills
Speaking is often considered the most crucial skill in communicative competence. Individuals proficient in a language are often referred to as “speakers” of that language. Effective speaking activities exhibit the following characteristics:
- High learner participation with even contribution
- Strong motivation
- Use of acceptable language levels
- Clear and comprehensible expression
Challenges in Speaking Activities
Despite its importance, speaking activities can present challenges:
- Learner inhibition due to fear of making mistakes
- Lack of topics to discuss, leading to low participation
- Shared mother tongue among participants, hindering the use of the target language
Improving Speaking Skills
Several methods can be employed to enhance learners’ speaking abilities:
- Utilize group work to reduce inhibition
- Employ simple language and expressions
- Carefully select topics and provide clear instructions
Role interaction, including dialogues, plays, simulations, and role-plays, provides valuable opportunities for learners to practice different types of spoken interaction in the classroom.