Communicative competence: from theory to practice

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE From Theory To Practice

José L. López Caraballo

Sergio A. Meza Padilla

Tuluá, Valle

October 13th, 2012

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Communicative Competence

Ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals. The desired outcome of the language learning process is the ability to communicate competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does. (English Varieties)

The term was first coined by D. Hymes (1972) in his work On Communicative Competence.

Bachman & Palmer’s Model

Grammatical Knowledge

The mastery of the linguistic code (verbal or non-verbal) which

includes:• Knowledge of lexical , morphological, syntactic, semantic, phonetic,

phonological and orthographic rules. • GC enables recognition of grammatically correct sentences as well

as comprehension of their propositional content.• It also enables the speaker to use knowledge and skills needed for

understanding and expressing the literal meaning of utterances.

Grammatical Competence

Organizational Knowledge

E.g.: Will is taller than Tom. Will has curly hair and Tom’s hair is straightLexis: tall, curly, hair (choice of words with appropriate signification)Morphology: tall-er (affixing the inflectional morpheme (-er)Syntax: putting the words in the proper order, to compose the sentencesPhonology: when produced using the phonological rules of English, the resulting utterance is a linguistically accurate representation of the information in the picture

What do Will and Tom look like?

Book Exercise

• Vocabulary: Ss have to match and practice their last vocabulary knowledge (schemata) with the new words by asking and answering questions, and using possessive nouns, and information questions so they will be able to mention not only their intimate family group but also other family members.

Knowledge Of Morphological Rules

• Ss have to recognize and apply the correct rules of conjugation for the simple present tense, so it lets them use the verbs in a meaningful sentence if they start talking about their daily routines.

Knowledge Of Syntactic Rules

• The students unscramble the questions to form correct

statements.

Knowledge Of Phonetic And Phonological Rules

• The students pronounce naturally emphasizing on phonetics and phonology rules

Morphology, Orthography: beginnings and endings – matching parts of sentences. • Spelling bee champion with the new words learned in the

vocabulary • Create semi controlled but meaningful dialogues as a model. Then pair

them up. ( at this stage, accuracy is the goal, not fluency)

T:Where’s your mother now? S: She’s at home.T: Really? What’s she doing? S: Um, I think she’s making lunch.T: Does she make lunch everyday?S: No, she sometimes buys lunch at a restaurant.T : So, she buys food for everybody, huh?. What does she usually buy?S: She buys chicken.

Ideas To Teach Syntax

• Tell me: describe PERSONAL objects or pictures orally for others to guess. The child must give sentence clues (e.g. 'It is black. It is very long.').

• Write a short paragraph (or short sentences) on the board. Include several syntactical mistakes in the paragraph. Have students proofread the paragraph independently or with partners. When everyone has completed the exercise, have volunteers come up to the board and make corrections.

• Use students as if they were words, for example:Migue: I, Pedro: am Vicky: a Sonia: doctor unscramble Ss and another one locate them in the correct sentence order. Each one holding a card with the word.

Phonetics And PhonologySegmental And Suprasegmental Features

• Segmental: vowel and consonant inventory, and in the way these components combine to form words and utterances.

• Suprasegmental: it transcends the segmental level and deals with:– Word stress, sentence stress– Rhythm– Intonation

• Phonetics Ideas:• Rhyming memory: Use pictures of objects that

rhyme, e.g., “bat” “cat” to create rhyming memory games to use in free time and center activities.(warm-up/fillers).

• Rhyming Patterns: have Ss discover the pattern made by rhyming words, using colored squares to indicate sounds in rhyming CVC words.

• Example: cat = red, blue, green• bat = black, blue, green• mat = yellow, blue, green

• “We change the color when we hear the sound change. It stays the same when the sound stays the same. Do you see a pattern in the colored squares?”

Mastery of rules that determine ways in which forms and meanings are combined to achieve a meaningful unity of spoken or written texts.

Cohesion: it helps to link individual sentences and utterances to a structural whole, by the use of cohesion devices (pronouns, conjunctions, synonyms, parallel structures etc.)

Coherence: it enables the organization of meaning, establishing a logical relationship between groups of utterances, and sentences.

Rhetoric: it pertains to the overall conceptual structure of a text, and is related to the effect of the text on the language user. (it includes common methods of development such as narration, description, comparison, classification, and process analysis).

Textual Competence

Textual CompetenceCohesion And Coherence


Four general types of communicative activities are normally described: those related to production, reception, interaction and mediation.

reading a written text aloud.• speaking from a written text or visual aids,• acting out a rehearsed role,• speaking spontaneously or• singing

• completing forms and questionnaires,• writing articles,• producing posters,• writing reports,• making notes,• taking down a message,• writing creatively,• writing personal or business letters.

ORAL PRODUCTION

WRITTEN PRODUCTION

Council of Europe


Four general types of communicative activities are normally described: those related to production, reception, interaction and mediation.

• listening to public announcements,

• listening to media,• listening as a member of a live audience,• listening to overheard conversations.

• reading for general orientation,• reading for information,• reading and following instructions,• reading for pleasure

AURAL RECEPTION VISUAL RECEPTION

• following a text as it is read aloud,• watching TV, video or a film with subtitles,• using new technologies.

AUDIO VISUAL RECEPTION

Council of Europe


Language Functions

Functional Knowledge

Macro-functions

Ideational

Manipulative

Heuristic

Imaginative

Lori doesn’t remember some words and she uses questions to show she needs help

Jin Ho uses his knowledge to help her

Ideational Function

Regulatory FunctionLori doesn’t want him to look at the other guy now, so she uses an imperative to say it.

Manipulative Function


Interactional Function

This is the first time they meet each other and they exchange greetings .

They ask questions to each other to keep the conversation going.

Also, they answer the questions in a friendly way.


Instrumental Function

Ben requested some things in the conversation but in a

direct way.He got what we wanted.


Heuristic Function

Ming – wei is trying to learn about things around him by asking questions.

Imaginative Function

Matt created a homorous environment telling Emily

something that had happened to him.

Sociolinguistic Competence

Knowledge of rules and conventions which underlie the appropriate comprehension and language use in different sociolinguistic and socio-cultural contexts. Dialects and English varieties, register and idiomatic expressions.

DialectsAfrican-American English (Ebonics)


Register


Idiomatic Expressions

I've got a great stereo system back at my crib.

Holy cow! Did you see that!?

Nice shot! High five, dude!


• Watch and analyze the idiomatic expression in movies, TV shows, magazines, songs.

• Interact with native people

• Role play real life situations

‘ Verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that may be called into action to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to performance variables or to insufficient competence’. (Canale & Swain, 1980)

Strategic Competence

Paraphrase and circumlocution, Repetition and reluctance, Avoidance of words and structures or themes, Guessing, Changes of register and style, Modifications of messages etc.

strategy

What´s the word for…?

Type: cooperative

function

Get help from the listener.

Providing an unknown word

STRATEGIC COMPETENCE

strategy

-Wow!, Really? London?Type: repeating words,

Backchanneling

Function

Showing interest


StrategyWhat do you do after work? Do you go straight home?

Type: self correction, paraphrasing

FunctionAsking questions in two

ways

Correcting what you want to ask or say, usually accompanied with

I MEAN


Bibliography

• Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

• Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford University press.

• Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct. New York: Harper Collins• Richards, J. Communicative language teaching today. Cambridge:

Cambridge University press.• Savignon, S. (1983). Communicative competence: theory and classroom

practice. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.• Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford:

Oxford University press.

THANKSJosé Luis López Caraballo

[email protected]

Sergio Alberto Meza [email protected]