1. Communicative Competence
Chapter 8

2. What is communicative competence?
Communicative Competence – the ability to communicate
Two kinds of CC:
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) – informal, conversation skills
Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) – understanding academic language
Which is most important to learn first?

3. Factors affecting competence
Context-embedded
When the student knows what the language is about.
Context-reduced
When the student doesn’t know what the language is about.
Which helps students more when understanding and producing language?

4. Types of competence Grammatical Competence – knowledge of grammar
Discourse Competence – ability to connect sentences into conversation
Sociolinguistic Competence – ability to follow sociocultural rules of language
Strategic Competence – ability to use verbal/nonverbal to give a message
Organizational Competence – ability to use forms of language
Illocutionary or Pragmatic Competence – ability to send and receive intended messages; understanding nuance

5. How communication works
Speech Act – different meanings coming from one sentence; actions and meanings conveyed during conversation
Locutionary
Basic sentence
There is a fire in that house. – basic sentence
Illocutionary
Intended meaning
There is a fire in that house. – warning, don’t go near it
Perlocutionary
Actual Response
There is a fire in that house. – listener is frightened and doesn’t go to the house

6. Group Work – What are all of the possible meanings of these sentences?
Where have you been?
You can leave now.
Why weren’t you at the party?
What did your parents say?
You look so hot.

7. Group Work – What are all of the possible meanings of these sentences?
American: What a beautiful necklace! Samoan: Please have it. English Teacher: Would you like to read this paragraph? Russian Student: No, I would not.

8. Styles of Communication
Oratorical – language conventions used in public speaking
Deliberative – impromptu situations in front of an audience
Consultative – formal and words are chosen carefully
Casual – between friends
Intimate/Personal – between family or lovers
Which is utilized in writing? Which is taught in school? Which SHOULD be taught in school?

9. Other factors of communication competence
Kinesics – gestures; different for every culture
Eye contact – looking directly into someone’s eyes or not
Facial expressions – facial gestures
Proxemics – physical distance between speaker and listener
Artifacts – clothing and jewelry
Kinesthetics – touching
Olfactory Dimensions – sense of smell
How do each of these affect communication?

10. Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) – classrooms where teachers teach students to communicate with their language rather than learn grammatical rules
Example: a teacher teaches the topic of traveling and the students role-play as if they are going to the airport and trying to buy a plane ticket. The students describe where they want to go and what they will do.

11. Task-Based Language Teaching
Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) – there is a task to solve when learning language
Task
Meaning is primary
There is a problem to solve
A relationship to real-world activities
An objective that can be assessed or tested
Example: Adult business English language learners are asked to find a business in the community and develop in English a business plan that would create more profit for the business and improve the company.

12. Create a language learning activity
In groups, write down an activity for both approaches:
CLT
TBLT
The activities should teach a specific age level of student.
Be specific and outline how the activity is CLT or TBLT.
Present to the class!