UNIT 4

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
1. Introduction
2. THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: ORIGINS & DEVELOPMENT.
a. On defining communicative competence.
b. Main theories.
i. Saussure, Chomsky and Dell Hymes.
ii. Canale and Swain.
3. AN ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE COMPONENTS.
a. Linguistic competence.
b. Discourse competence.
c. Sociolinguistic competence.
d. Strategic competence.
4. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. INTRODUCTION

Language acquisition is a complex process that has been researched for many
years. There is such a wide range of theories that the only reasonable conclusion is
that there is no clear conception on how language is acquired. Mary Finnochiaro
(1989) once said that there is no better method for teaching a language than that
which takes into consideration all the participants in the process: the students, the
school, the teacher and the environment.

There has been constant evolution on how to teach a second language, leading to
what is now known as the “communicative approach”, which is the main method used
in English. According to Swan (1985), “under the influence of the communicative
approach, language teaching seems to have made great progress”.

In this topic, we will deal with the importance of communicative competence in the
learning of a language. With the development of the new curriculum in Secondary
Education, the main objective of English as a subject in this educational stage is to
acquire an appropriate communicative competence of the foreign language, so as
to allow students to understand, interact and express the language effectively.

To continue with, it is important to justify this topic in the English curriculum. The
Organic Law 3/2020, 29th December (LOMLOE), has proposed a new communicative
approach to foreign languages. It implies not only the consideration of grammatical
aspects and vocabulary, but cultural, historical and social characteristics of the
English language too. Therefore, the present topic has a relevant role in the
development of the English curriculum as it deals with linguistics and it can be a tool
to teach our students some of the basic and fundamental competencies such as
Communicative Competence or Learning to learn Competence.

To carry out this unit, the topic will be presented through different chapters. In first
place, an overview of the communicative competence will be explained; then, in second
place, the topic will be focused on the different theories and authors; and last, in third
place, it will be centred on communicative competence components. To sum up, a
conclusion, as well as some references to bibliography, will be provided.

2. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

2.1. On defining communicative competence

Communicative competence in discussion of second or foreign language proficiency

dates from the early 1970s. The concept of communicative competence, as expressed
in the words of Savignon (2017), is “if the purpose of language study is language use,
then the development of language proficiency should be guided and evaluated by
the learner’s ability to communicate”.

The early history of this concept of language teaching emerged from the mid 20th
century. History says that there was an appreciation for the revolutionary impact of
early proposals for language teaching that would reflect an underlying construct of
communicative competence. In the 1940s, linguists at the University of Michigan were
engaged in developing materials for teaching English to international students
studying in the United States. Dissatisfied with prevailing grammar-translation
materials for their purpose, they looked instead to the dominant language and
learning theories of the time: structural linguistics and behaviourist psychology.
Language was seen as a set of grammatical structures––phonemes, morphemes, and
syntax—that could be learned through extensive drilling of grammatical patterns and
pronunciation. At about the same time, the US entry into World War II had resulted in
the military need for speakers and interpreters of a wide range of native languages,
some of them unwritten. The result was the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP),
an oral-based program involving intensive study and drill. Commercialization of the
“army method” and materials for wider use in US schools took place during the Cold
War period that followed World War II, giving birth to the concept that now falls under
the title of communicative competence (Savignon, 2017).

2.2. Main theories

2.2.1. Saussure, Chomsky and Dell Hymes

Starting with Saussure, he was the first linguist who established a difference between
the language as a system, that he called “langue” and the act of speaking, that he
named “parole”. He is considered one of the founders of linguistics in the 20th C.

Similar to this theory was that of Chomsky, who, when speaking about language, said
that each user has a subconscious knowledge of the grammar rules of his/her
language. That is what Chomsky called “linguistic Competence”. But each person uses
his/her own competence to repeat, understand and produce new utterances, and this
is the “linguistic Performance”.

So, according to him, the proper object of study is not language as it is produced in
everyday situations (that is performance), but the inner knowledge of grammar that
everyone has in his/ her mind (that is competence).

To study language, we need to turn away from real usage and look to the knowledge
of grammar all speakers possess, and which has nothing to do with the social
situation within which they happen. From the beginning, this concept of the linguist´s
task had criticism and one of the most telling critiques was made by the sociolinguist
Dell Hymes.

Dell Hymes first developed his ideas on communicative competence in a conference

paper published as “Competence and Performance in Linguistic Theory” in 1971, and
later in a more elaborated article called “On Communicative Competence”, in 1972.

Hymes criticised Chomsky's theory, but what were these critiques about? Hymes was
concerned that Chomsky´s notions of competence and performance were incomplete
for the fact that one of the things that people know about language is how to use it
appropriately depending on the situation.

Hymes thought that a knowledge of the system and the production of grammatical
sentences were not enough to define communicative competence and he introduced
a social component to develop his theory. Native speakers know more than just
grammatical competence. Users know when, where and how they can use the
language and to whom. He called it “Communicative Competence”.

Hymes´communicative competence theory includes the following features:

● Systematic potential: Similar to Chomsky's linguistic competence. It refers to

the possibilities of using the system to create language.

● Appropriacy: given a situation, the speaker knows what is adequate to use,

taking some factors into account: people, place, time, aim,…).

● Occurrence: how often something is said in a language.

● Feasibility: the possible use of some constructions in a language.

As observed, Hymes includes socio-linguistic and psychological factors that address

the fact that communication takes place in a context. He suggests, then, that
linguistic competence is a subdivision of the communicative competence. Language
is one mode of communication among others. Real and full communication includes
gestures, non-verbal elements and visual aids.

2.2.3. Canale and Swain

The notion of communicative competence was taken up by several groups of

researchers like Canale and Swain in 1980. They developed their theory of
communicative competence, and since then, it is one of the most widely accepted.

Before giving a definition of communicative competence, they tried to define the

concept of communication. They established communication as a form of social
interaction that has a high degree of unpredictability and creativity, it takes place in
a socio-cultural context, it is carried out under conditions like memory fatigue, it has
a purpose and finally, it is successful or not depending on the outcome.

According to them, communicative competence is the system of knowledge and skills

required for communication under several conditions like psychological, sociological
or environmental conditions. Communicative competence is made up of four
competence areas: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic.

● Linguistic competence is knowing how to use the grammar, syntax, and

vocabulary of a language. Linguistic competence asks: What words do I use?
How do I put them into phrases and sentences?

● Sociolinguistic competence is knowing how to use and respond to language

appropriately, given the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the
people communicating. Sociolinguistic competence asks: Which words and
phrases fit this setting and this topic? How can I express a specific attitude
(courtesy, authority, friendliness, respect) when I need to? How do I know what
attitude another person is expressing?

● Discourse competence is knowing how to interpret the larger context and how
to construct longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a
coherent whole. Discourse competence asks: How are words, phrases and
sentences put together to create conversations, speeches, email messages,
newspaper articles?

● Strategic competence is knowing how to recognize and repair communication

breakdowns, how to work around gaps in one’s knowledge of the language,
and how to learn more about the language and in the context. Strategic
competence asks: How do I know when I’ve misunderstood or when someone
has misunderstood me? What do I say then? How can I express my ideas if I
don’t know the name of something or the right verb form to use?

In the early stages of language learning, instructors and students may want to keep
in mind the goal of communicative competence: That learners should be able to
make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest. They
should try to avoid confusion in the messag—e (due to faulty pronunciation,
grammar, or vocabulary); to avoid offending communication partners (due to socially
inappropriate style); and to use strategies for managing communication breakdowns.

To repair breakdowns students can do the following: paraphrase, use of

generalisations, use of paralinguistics, use of fillers or simply appeal to help. In
general, willingness, confidence and motivation can compensate for deficiencies in
language. It has been discussed that the teaching of these communicative strategies
is not necessary because they are universal but it is much better if we can help our
students by teaching them in several ways.

3. ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE COMPONENTS.

Communicative language teaching has been an object of analysis for the

improvement of the teaching of a foreign language or a second language. During
many years, it has been studied, not only the grammatical field, but also the
appropriate message in a concrete social context in order to achieve communicative
competence. The four main components which are included in the communicative
competence are:

3.1. Linguistic competence

When creating new meaning, Chomsky stated that learners use their linguistic
competence to match sounds and meanings together to understand and produce
language. Then, the linguistic-communicative component deals with the knowledge of
a language code, which is the knowledge of lexicology, grammar, vocabulary,
semantics, phonetics, orthography and orthoepy (pronunciation). Consequently,
linguistic knowledge is used by learners to understand and produce language to good
purpose. Once the learners have acquired an appropriate linguistic program, they are
able to produce and understand utterances in the foreign language.

On the one hand, linguistic competence helps students to manipulate and combine
information using recursive and oral skills. Manipulation leads them to discriminate
sounds and sequences when received (listening skills) and discriminate grammatical
forms and patterns (reading skills). On the other hand, communicative competence
helps students to raise awareness of the context and functions of speech, social rules
and communicative skills. This implies a more specific approach to language. Context
and function help students to make linguistic choices according to the context and the
communicative purpose.

3.2. Discourse competence

Regarding the creation of meanings, the discourse-pragmatic component deals with

the ability to comprehend and produce utterances in different ways. Then, both
discourse and pragmatics are used to build this component up. Discourse represents
the macro-function of this component because it provides the students with actual
examples (discursive genres) that show them how to combine language structures in a
cohesive and coherent way, so acting as a guideline for their own production of
language.
Pragmatics represent the micro-function of this component because they provide the
students with the interaction schemas, that is, the patterns of organisation to create
conversations. The LCC defines this component from a sociolinguistic point of view,
since it is the adequate production and reception of messages within different social
contexts. Therefore, students are required to deal with oral and written texts using any
skill (speaking, writing, listening or reading) respectively.

3.3. Sociolinguistic competence

In order to create new meanings, literacy stands up for the necessity of contexts to
help students to associate new ideas to the ones they already have in mind. Then, the
socio- cultural component deals with the knowledge of the world and the intercultural
dimension of language. It implies that students need to use language meaningfully,
adapting themselves to the setting of communication, the interlocutors, the place
where they are talking to, the manner of talking or the topic of the conversation.

In the case of foreign languages, it is important to get to know the culture in order to
communicate effectively. Thus, it is important that learners are aware of possible cross-
linguistic problems, such as taboos, and the pragmatic expression and interpretations
that differ between their own native language and the second language.

On the understanding, the most efficient way to acquire a foreign language is to learn
it within a natural environment, this is, within an English-speaking country in this case.
The goal of educational systems should be encouraging the most home-like settings to
encourage language development, since learning is the product of attitude and
identity (considered as the socio-cultural context).

Therefore, class hours should be devoted to enhancing cooperative and practical

tasks rather than theoretical and individual tasks, since a learner who moves to an
English- speaking country does not find a direct guideline to the new language, but
they get to grips with the new language as soon as they get there. Obviously, some
learners may find difficulties at the beginning of the learning process, this has to do
with personal components of the learner, however the final results regarding LCC will
be far more beneficial than using a traditional method.

3.4. Strategic competence

Creating and communicating new meanings require a complex cognitive process,

which is embedded in the strategic component of the LCC. It deals with the tools and
skills that help individuals to overcome difficulties and solve problems that arise while
the communicative act takes place. The communication may be unsuccessful because
of two main factors: problems between interlocutors (the misunderstanding of a
concrete word) or any external factors.

Faerch and Casper argued that when meeting a problem, the learner has two basic
choices to complete a communicative goal when facing a difficulty: either to avoid the
problem by changing our goal (reduction strategy – avoiding risks) or they keep the
goal using an alternative plan (achievement strategy – taking risks) so adjusting our
means to our ends.

In this case, some strategies may be, for example, a request for repetitions, clarification,
slower speech or the use of gestures, among many others. Therefore, despite an
inadequate command of the linguistic and sociocultural code, if learners master the
skills and strategies to handle difficulties, they will be more likely to overcome
difficulties while communicating in a natural and effective way.

4. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

It’s important to emphasise the importance of whatever topic we are developing with
our role as language teachers. Even though there are some topics, especially those
related to literature, that we are not very used to teaching in class, all of them can be
included in our lessons in the form of reading activities, games, role-plays,
cross-curricular activities with other departments, etc.

It’s important to emphasise the importance of whatever topic we are developing with
our role as language teachers. Even though there are some topics, especially those
related to literature, that we are not very used to teaching in class, all of them can be
included in our lessons in the form of games, role-plays, cross-curricular activities with
other departments, etc.

According to Royal Decree 217/2022, by which the basic curriculum of Compulsory

Secondary Education and Upper Secondary Education is established, our main goal
is to develop students’ communicative competence. Considering communicative
competence, its main objective is to reach proficiency, but we cannot forget accuracy.
In our community, the general curriculum is developed by Decree 107/2022.

The aforementioned topic makes it clear that the distinction among written and oral
texts is something basic when developing Communicative Competence, our main goal
as foreign language teachers according to Hymes (1972). Furthermore, Noam Chomsky
created the concept of Generative or Universal Grammar and described the existence
of a capacity for assimilation and analysis of the linguistic input that he called the
Language Acquisition Device that allows us to process and organise the language we
receive. Communicative language teaching involves developing language proficiency
through interactions embedded in meaningful contexts. Comprehensible input is
language input slightly beyond learners’ current level of competence. According to
Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, giving students this kind of input helps
them acquire language naturally, rather than learn it consciously.

In our search for guiding our students in a communicative but still dynamic and
meaningful way, we have to look for the most motivating and integrative
methodologies and resources. Cooperative learning, as well as project based lessons
and Content Language Integrated Learning will be fundamental. As we work in a
cross-curricular context where all subjects are related to each other, cooperating with
Spanish or Valencian departments to deal with written communication would become
a great resource for students to understand the connection between languages and
facilitate the learning process.

Moreover, there is no need to say the importance of ICTs in our lessons. Students have
grown with technologies all around them and the more we include them in their
educational process, the more they will enjoy it. Thus, we can use different platforms
to show them written texts: online newspapers, blogs, Instagram posts,
advertisements, etc. This will allow them to experience the target culture and also to
enhance intrinsic motivation and creativity.

With this in mind, the following activities have been designed to engage students in
meaningful interaction and foster their communicative competence. Just as the
communicative approach to language acquisition states: “the learning of a language
successfully comes through having to communicate real meaning. When learners are
involved in real communication, their natural strategies for language acquisition will
be used, and this will allow them to learn to use the language”.

● 1-2-4: Students first work individually (1), then in pairs (2) and lastly, in groups (4).
This can be applied to any activity and engages students in interaction. An
example of this dynamic in class can be: the teacher plays real-content videos
and the students will reflect on the different communicative components that
they have watched about real conversations. Another idea is that the teacher
provides different dialogues and each student will think about two features of
the communicative components, then students share their causes with their
pair and, finally, students share their ideas in groups.

● Pick up the card: Students are divided into small groups. Each group is given a
set of cards with different roles for each student and instructions about how
communication must go. Then, after interpreting the roles, the rest of the
 groups need to analyse the characteristics of the communicative competence
components in class.

Fostering communication in the classroom through active methodologies is like

forming a symphony orchestra where each student plays a different instrument, but,
together, students create a harmonious and beautiful sound. Just as a symphony
orchestra relies on each musician to contribute with the sound of their instrument, a
classroom relies on each student to contribute with their own ideas, perspectives, and
experiences to create a rich and diverse learning environment. By engaging in
meaningful interaction, such as group discussions, debates, and cooperative
distribution of tasks, students are able to listen to each other, learn from each other,
and create a unified understanding of the music in play.

As appreciated, the aforementioned classroom dynamics have been designed with a

communicative purpose. In addition, the activities offer multiple ways of expressing
what students know, which means that the Universal Design for Learning has also
been considered to adjust to each student’s learning process. When teachers provide
learners with settings that require multiple ways of interaction, students’ natural
strategies for language acquisition are engaged, which is the key principle to develop
their communicative competence and the main objective to consider when designing
any class activity.

Finally, as Jeremy Harmer (1997) stated in his book How to Teach English, teachers are
facilitators. We shall offer support and advice to our students when needed, and
provide the necessary scaffolding and teaching of skills when necessary. All the
rhythms and multiple intelligences will be taken into account in our lessons so as
every student makes the most of his language acquisition process.

5. CONCLUSION

To conclude, it is of paramount importance to highlight the idea that learning English

is not just learning a second language, but discovering a new culture. In this way, it is
very useful for our students to be aware of English linguistics.

Learning a foreign language is necessary nowadays. As the mother tongue is learned

instinctively, in the field of foreign language is where teachers should make the most
to guarantee a good level of language. The first stages are the most recommended to
start the learning of a second language, and providing a good base is essential for
further development that the learner will do in language. For this, communicative
competences have been analysed throughout these pages. The concept of
communication competence has been proved to be of great importance for Second
Language Acquisition. Regarding all the communicative competence components, we
should encourage our students when dealing with the different communicative
components as they will be present in their daily speech.

All in all, the study of English linguistics will be highly useful as our students will be
facing this second language during their whole academic lives. We should not forget
that our students must know that a language cannot be developed in a simple way,
but there are many types of techniques and activities highly useful to understand
and communicate in English.

To put in a nutshell, what has been stated above justifies the importance of this topic
in the English curriculum, not only as part of a specialised training but also as
educators and social protagonists. As Nelson Mandela claimed: “Education is the
most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brumfit, C. (1984). Communicative Methodology in Language Teaching. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Chomsky, N. (1996). New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind. Cambridge
University Press. Cambridge.

Crystal, D. (1985). Linguistics. Harmondsworth, England. Penguin Books.

Hymes, D. (1972). On Communicative competence. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Kortmann, B. (2020). English linguistics: essentials. Cambridge University Press.

Cambridge.

Krashen, S.D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning.
Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Krashen, S.D. & Terrel, T.D. (1983). The natural approach language acquisition in the
classroom. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Richards, J.C. (2006). Communicative Language Teaching Today. Cambridge, UK.

Cambridge University Press.
Swan, M. (1985). Communicative Competence: Some Roles of Comprehensive Input and
Comprehensible Output in Its Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Trujillo, F. (2007). Enseñar nuevas lenguas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.