Mastering Communication in Language Teaching

Posted on Jan 9, 2025 in Other civil servant exams

Communicative Competence in Language Teaching

Communication

Communication is the concern not only of second language teachers but of us all in our daily lives, in whatever language we happen to use. Concern for communication extends beyond school years and into adult life. Body language is also important, conveyed by posture, hand movement, and eyes.

Competence in Communication

  1. Communicative competence is a dynamic rather than a static concept.
  2. Communicative competence applies to both written and spoken language.
  3. Communicative competence is context-specific. Communication takes place in an infinite variety of situations, and success in a particular role.
  4. There is a difference between competence and performance, with performance as the overt manifestation of that ability.
  5. Communicative competence is relative and depends on the cooperation of all the participants.

Functions of Language

Function is the use to which language is put, the purpose of an utterance rather than the particular grammatical form an utterance takes. A language function has to do with what is said as opposed to how something is said: to command, etc. Grammatical categories in school:

  • The imperative is for giving orders.
  • The interrogative is for asking questions.
  • The declarative is for making statements.

Toward a Classroom Model of Communicative Competence

  1. Grammatical Competence: Grammatical competence is sometimes called linguistic competence. It is mastery of the linguistic code, the ability to recognize the lexical, etc.
  2. Sociolinguistic Competence: Sociolinguistic competence is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry having to do with the social rules of language use. Sociolinguistic competence requires an understanding of the social context.
  3. Discourse Competence: Discourse competence is concerned not with the interpretation of isolated sentences but with the connection of a series of sentences or utterances to form a meaningful whole.
  4. Strategic Competence: There is no such person as an ideal speaker of a language. The strategies that one uses to compensate for imperfect knowledge of rules may be characterized as strategic competence.

Oral Communication

A long tradition of how written language is understood and produced. Language requires the negotiation of meanings through interaction. The array of activities chosen to develop oral communication:

  • Oral activity in a curricular design for beginners.
  • The conversation in the foreign language is pre-syntactic.
  • Priority is given to lexical and textual elements.
  • Sequenced following real-life foreign language.
  • Activities must allow contents to be practiced.

A Silent Period: Important Features

  1. A single speaker with a clear voice.
  2. Their voices should be clearly distinguished.
  3. Children involved in the listening task.
  4. Clues to improve the listening skill.
  5. There must be comprehensible input; an exchange of roles is the next step.
  6. It is recommended to create an encouraging atmosphere in the classroom.
  7. The first language can be used as a helping hand to maintain motivation.
  8. Name, family name, etc.

Methodology for the Teaching of Writing

  1. Familiarization: Copying and tracing.
  2. Controlled Writing: Little communicative function.
  3. Guided Writing: Guidelines from the teacher or the textbook.
  4. Free Writing: Subject to a series of conditions or rules.