1.
OF

2.
DEFINING COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
1. Hymes (1972) referred to CC as that aspect of our competence that enables us to
convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within
specific contexts.
2. Savignon (1983, p. 9) noted that "communicative competence is relative, not absolute,
and depends on the cooperation of all the participants involved." It is not so much an
intrapersonal construct as we saw in Chomsky's early writings but rather a dynamic,
interpersonal construct that can be examined only by means of the overt
performance of two or more individuals in the process of communication.

3.
Grammatical Competence
is that aspect of CC that encompasses "knowledge of lexical
items and of rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-
grammar semantics, and phonology" (Canale & Swain,
1980, p. 29).
1
Discourse Competence
the complement of grammatical competence in many ways.
It is the ability we have to connect sentences in
stretches of discourse and to form a meaningful whole out
of a series of utterances.
2
Sociolinguistic Competence
is the knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and
of discourse. This type of competence "requires an under-
standing of the social context in which language is used:
the roles of the participants, the information they share,
and the function of the interaction
3
Strategic Competence
Canale and Swain (1980, p. 30) described strategic
competence as "the verbal and nonverbal communication
strategies that may be called into action to compensate for
breakdowns in communication due to performance
variables or due to insufficient competence
4
Michael Canale and Merrill Swain (1980).
In Canale and Swain’s, later in Canale’s (1983),
there are 4 subcategories of CC. The first two
subcategories reflected the use of the linguistic
system itself; the last two defined the
functional aspects of communication.

4.
Language Competence
Organizational
Competence
Pragmatic
Competence
Gramatical
Competence
Textual
Competence
Illocutionary
Competence
Sociolinguistic
Competence
Vocabulary
Morphology
Syntax
Phonology/
Graphology
Cohesion
Rhetorical
Organization
Ideational
Function
Manipulative
Function
Heuristic
Function
Imaginative
Function
Sensitivity to
Dialect or Variety
Sensitivity
to Register
Sensitivity
to Naturalness
Cultural References
and Figures of
Speech
Lyle Bachman’s
(1990)schematization of
Language Competence

5.
KNOWLEDGE STRUCTURES
Knowledge of the world
LANGUAGE COMPETENCE
Knowledge of language
STRATEGIC
COMPETENCE
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL
MECHANISM
CONTEXT OF
SITUATION
COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE ABILITY

6.
LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
In Bachman's model of CC, illocutionary competence consists of the ability to manipulate
the functions of language, a component that Canale and Swain subsume under discourse
and sociolinguistic competence. Functions are essentially the purposes that we accomplish
with language, e.g., stating, requesting, responding, greeting, parting, etc. Functions
cannot be accomplished, of course, without the forms of language: morphemes, words,
grammar rules, discourse rules, and other organizational competencies. While forms are
the outward manifestation of language, functions are the realization of those forms.

7.
Halliday's Seven Functions
of Language
1. The instrumental function serves to manipulate the environment, to cause certain
events to happen, to fulfill the need.
2. The regulatory function of language is the control of events.
3. The representational function is the use of language to make statements, convey facts
and knowledge, explain, or report—that is, to "represent" reality as one sees it.
4. The interactional function of language serves to ensure social maintenance.
5. The personal function allows a speaker to express feelings, emotions, personality, "gut-
level" reactions.
6. The heuristic function involves language used to acquire knowledge, to learn about the
environment.
7. The imaginative function serves to create imaginary systems or ideas. Telling fairy tales,
joking, or writing a novel are all uses of the imaginative function.

8.
Functional Approaches to Language
Teaching
1. Notional-functional syllabuses ("syllabus,' in this case, is a term used mainly in
the United Kingdom to refer to what is commonly known as a "curriculum” in
the United States).
2. Grammar, which was the primary element in the historically preceding
structural syllabus, was relegated to a secondary focus. "Notions" referred
both to abstract concepts such as existence, space, time, quantity, and quality
and to what we also call "contexts" or "situations," such as travel, health,
education, shopping, and free time.
3. The functional part of the notional functional syllabus corresponded to
language functions. Curricula were organized around such functions as
identifying, declining an invitation, denying, reporting, asking permission,
apologizing, etc.

9.
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Berns's (1984) comments
above were prophetic. Two
decades or so later, the lan-
guage teaching profession is
immersed in social,
contextual, and pragmatic
issues in communicative
language teaching
Well begin to unravel the
sometimes tangled threads of
social constructivist views of
CC by first looking at discourse
analysis—the examination of
the relationship between
forms and functions of
language. Discourse is
language beyond the sentence.
Consider the following three
different exchanges:
1. A: Got the time?
B: Ten-fifteen.
2. Waiter: More coffee?
Customer: I'm okay
3. Parent: Dinner!
Child: Just a minute!

10.
Conversation Analysis
Conversations are excellent examples of the social
and interactive nature of communication.
Conversations are cooperative ventures (Hatch &
Long, 1980, P.4). It is related to how do we initiate
topics, how to get someone’s attention, and how to
terminate the conversation.

11.
Conversation Analysis
Hatch & Long, 1980)
(
1. Attention getting
2. Topic nomination (verbal and non
verbal cues)
3. Topic development
4. Turn-taking
5. Topic clarification, repair
6. Topic shifting and avoidance
7. Interruptions and topic termination

12.
Corpus Linguistics
Corpus linguistics, is an approach to linguistic research that relies on
computer analyses of language. The corpus is "a collection of texts—written, transcribed
speech, or both—that is stored in electronic form and analyzed with the help of
computer software programs" (Conrad, 2005, p.393). The emphasis in corpus linguistics
is on naturally occurring language, that is, texts created by users of the language for a
communicative purpose. Corpora can be looked at in terms of varieties of language,
dialects, styles, and registers. Corpora can consist of either written or spoken language
and therefore offer tremendous possibilities for analysis of language across many
different genres, or types of language use within specified contexts (see Johns, 2002, for
information on genre analysis). In written form, corpora can be classified into academic,
journalistic, or literary prose, for example. Speech corpora have been classified into
conversations of many kinds: theater/television scripts, speeches, and even classroom
language.

13.
Contrastive Rhetoric
Contrastive rhetoric starts from the assumption that language occurs
not in isolated syntactic structures but rather in naturally occurring discourses,
whether spoken or written, although admittedly Contrastive Rhetoric has focused
almost exclusively on written varieties" (Kaplan, 2005, p. 375).
In the original article, Kaplan (1966) presented a schematic diagram of how two
different languages and three language families conventionally organize an essay.
English and Russian (languages) and Semitic, Oriental, and Romance (language
families) were described through what have now been dubbed "doodles" to
characterize the strucrure of an essay. So, for example, English was depicted
through a straight line from one point to another, Semitic languages with a jagged
set of lines, and Oriental languages through a spiral. Kaplan's descriptions were
clearly inspired by the Whotfian Hypothesis, as Connor (2002) attests; the writing
conventions of a language may in some ways define a culture.

14.
PRAGMATICS
Implicit in the above discussions of language functions, discourse analysis, conver-
sation analysis, corpus studies, and contrastive rhetoric is the importance of pragmatics in
conveying and interpreting meaning. Pragmatic constraints on language comprehension and
production may be loosely thought of as the effect of context on strings of linguistic events.
Consider the following conversation:
(Phone rings, a 10-year-old child picks up the phone)
Stefanie: Hello.
Voice: Hi, Stef, is your Mom there?
Stefanie: Just a minute. (cups the phone and yells) Mom! Phone!
Mom: [from upstairs) I'm in the rub!
Stefanie: (returning to the phone) She can't talk now. Wanna leave a message?
Voice: Uh, (pause) I'll call back later. Bye.

15.
Sociopragmatics and
Pragmalinguistics
1. Sociopragmatics is the interface between pragmatics and social organization
2. Pragmalinguistics is the intersection of pragmatics and linguistic forms
Variations in politeness and formality are particularly touchy:
American: What an unusual necklace. It's beautiful!
Samoan: Please take it. (Holmes & Brown, 1987, p. 526)
American teacher: Would you like to read?
Russian student: No, I would not. (Harlow, 1990, p. 328)

16.
CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS
Research Findings: Pragmatics includes such contextual skills as
using address forms, polite requests, persuading, and
disagreeing, as Kasper and Roever (2005) show in their review
of research.
Teaching Implications: One pragmatic element of language that
is useful for classroom learners of a foreign language is how to
disagree politely. Have you ever been taught forms such as, "I
see your point, but .. ." and 'I think I understand what you are
saying, but have you considered ..."? What other phrases or
sentences do we commonly use to politely disagree? How
would you teach such classroom language?

17.
Language and Gender
One of the major pragmatic factors affecting the acquisition of
CC in virtually every language, and one that has received considerable
attention recently, is the effect of one's sex on both the production
and reception of language. Differences between the way males and
females speak have been noted for sometime now (Mc.Kay, 2005;
Davis & Skilton-Sylvester, 2004; Sunderland, 2000; Tannen, 1996,
1990; Holmes, 1991, 1989; Nilsen et al., 1977; Lakoff, 1975).
- Women (more standard language, hedge, rising intonations on
declarative, soft voice, taq questions)
- Men (interrupt more, stronger expletive, to the point)

18.
DISCOURSE STYLES
Martin Joos (1967) described 5
levels of formality
1
An oratorical style is
used in public
speaking before a
large audience.
2
A deliberative style is
also used in addressing
audiences, usually audi-
ences too large to
permit effective
interchange.
3
A consultative style
is typically a dialog,
though formal
enough that words
are chosen with
some care.
4
A casual style is typical
of conversations
between friends or
colleagues or
sometimes members of
a family
5
An intimate style is one
characterized by
complete absence of
social inhibitions.

19.
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
- What we convey with body language, gestures, eye contact,
physical distance, and other nonverbal messages.
- Language becomes distinctly human through its nonverbal
dimension, or what Edward Hall (1959) called the "silent language."
The expression of culture is so bound up in nonverbal
communication that the barriers to culture learning are more
nonverbal than verbal.

20.
Non Verbal Communication
Kinesics
1 Eye Contact
2
Is eye contact appropriate between two
participants in a conversation? When is it
permissible not to maintain eye contact?
What does eye contact or the absence
there of signal? Cultures differ widely in
this particular visual modality of nonverbal
communication.
Eyes can signal interest, boredom,
empathy, understanding, and other
messages.
Kinesics. Every culture and language use body
language,
or kinesics, in unique but clearly interpretable
ways.
1. Move heads
2. Blink eyes
3. Move arms and hands
The significance of those movements varies
from society to society.

21.
Proxemics
3
Artifacts
4
Kinesthetics
5
Physical proximity, or proxemics, is also a
significant communicative category. Cultures
vary widely in acceptable distances for
conversation. Edward Hall (1966) calculated
acceptable distances for public, social-
consultative, personal, and intimate discourse.
The nonverbal messages of artifacts such as
clothing and ornamentation are also important
aspects of communication. Clothes often signal
a person's sense of self-esteem, socioeconomic
class, and general character.
Touching sometimes referred to as a
kinesthetic is another culturally loaded aspect
of nonverbal communication. How we touch
others and where we touch them is sometimes
the most misunderstood aspect of nonverbal
communication.
Oldfactory Dimensions
6
The smell of human perspiration

22.
CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS
Research Findings: Common observation and research both point Out
that nonverbal communication is an extremely important, if not
crucial, aspect of face-to-face communication. Edward Hall (1966),
Julius Fast (1970), and Norine Dresser (1996) all bear testimony to this
critical component of communication.
Teaching Implications: To what extent have you been specifically
taught nonverbal language such as gestures, eye contact, and
proxemics? Many language courses fail to attend to this significant
mode of communication, under the mistaken assumption that verbal
forms—sounds, words, phrases, and sentences—are sufficient for a
learner to cope in a foreign language. Which nonverbal aspects would
you teach, and how would you teach them?

23.
CC IN THE CLASSROOM: CLT AND
TASK-BASED TEACHING
As the field of second language pedagogy has
developed and matured over the past few decades,
we have experienced a number of reactions and
counter-reactions in methods and approaches to
language teaching. We can look back over a century
of foreign language teaching and observe the trends
as they came and went. How will we look back 100
years from now and characterize the present era?

24.
Communicative Language
Teaching
The answer may lie in our recent efforts to engage in communicative language
teaching (CLT). The "push toward communication" (Higgs & Clifford, 1982) has been
relentless. Researchers have defined and redefined the construct of communicative
competence (Savignon, 2005). They have explored the myriad functions of language that
learners must be able to accomplish. They have described spoken and written discourse and
pragmatic conventions. They have examined the nature of styles and nonverbal
communication. With this storehouse of knowledge we have valiantly pursued the goal of
learning how best to teach communication.
One glance at current journals in second language teaching reveals quite an array
of material on CLT. Numerous textbooks for teachers and teacher trainers expound on the
nature of communicative approaches and offer techniques for varying ages and purposes. In
short, wherever you look in the literature today, you will find reference to the
communicative nature of language classes.

25.
Classroom goals are focused on all of the components of CC
and not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence.
1
language techniques are designed to engage learners in the
pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for
meaningful purposes.
2
Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary
principles underlying communicative techniques
3
In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have
to use the language, productively and receptively, in
unrehearsed contexts.
4
For the sake of simplicity and directness, I offer
the following four interconnected
characteristics as a definition of CLT.

26.
Task-Based instruction
Among recent manifestations of CLT, task-based instruction has emerged as a
major focal point of language teaching practice worldwide (Ellis, 2005; Nunan, 2004; Skehan,
2003; Bygate, Skehan, & Swain, 2001; Willis, 1996). As the profession has continued to
emphasize classroom interaction, learner-centered teaching, authenticity, and viewing the
learner's own experiences as important contributors to learning, task-based instruction
draws the attention of teachers and learners to tasks in the classroom.
David Nunan (2004), among others (Skehan, 2003; Willis, 1996), is careful to distinguish
between target tasks (uses of language in the world beyond the classroom) and pedagogical
tasks (those that occur in the classroom). Tasks are a subset of all the techniques and
activities that one might design for the classroom, and themselves might involve several
techniques.