"Competence: the knowledge that enables a person to speak and understand a language — compare performance: the ability to speak another language" Merriam-Webster
After the readings I learnt that to include knowledge of the sociolinguistic perspective alongside linguistic competence helps learners to become competent communicators in real-life settings. The nature of communicative competence is not static but dynamic, it is more interpersonal than intrapersonal and relative rather than absolute. It is also largely defined by context. (Savignon, 1972:8) There can be a complexity to language because it conveys the complexities of adult's thoughts and feelings. When people want to talk of abstract ideas such as love and hate they need more than linguistic skills. Linguistic competence is limited because of its literal meanings in a language. Linguistic competence is too absolute and misses out on the nuances and subtleties in language communication. These are definitely the first steps in language development but not the end of the journey for an adult learner. For example: When someone sees a movie they not only want to say"I saw The Artist last night at Grant Park theatre." A person also wants to communicate what they thought and felt about the movie. This is when a conversation becomes dynamic when the other person agrees or disagrees with your perceptions of the movie. Hymes belief in sociolinguistic competence of appropriate comprehension and language use in different sociolinguistic and sociocultural contexts is interesting. I can see bringing these concepts of appropriate responses in a social context to the classroom as challenging considering the number of ways language can be interpreted. You can take this idea even further with sociopolitical influences in language development. A national language policy and national standards could have a great impact on your curriculum and assessment of student performance and proficiency.
A concept new to me was Canale and Swain, strategic competence to compensate for breakdowns in communication. These strategies include paraphrase, guessing, avoidance of words and are related to adult learner's ability to deal successfully with lack of competence in other fields. Self-confidence and willingness to take risks were part of these strategies. I find the role of instructor is to build up a student's self confidence by effective feedback and recognition. Also it would make sense to start with easy tasks and move on to harder tasks building on self esteem and competencies. An instructor role is also to create a classroom atmosphere where it is okay to make mistakes when taking risks. Hopefully this helps students to transfer their knowledge and skills in real-life situations and they become competent communicators.
Thank you so much for your insight! Your example of the person who viewed a film and talk about not only the fact that they saw it, but also what they thought or felt about it is so apropos. It is a very concrete example of how linguistic competence alone is not enough.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is very useful to become more aware of the strategies we use to compensate for breakdowns or for lack of competence. As a language learner, I notice myself doing some of these things almost automatically or subconsciously. It would be so useful to teach these strategies to language learners so they have the tools when they need them.
Thanks for the great post!
I appreciate your thgouthful comments, and inclusion of references from our course texts.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in hearing more about your thoughts on the 'sociopolitical influences in language development' in Canada. How do you think our policiies influence our language teachign? On a related topic, you may be interested in reading 'Discover Canada'; it's the citizenship guide that students need to pass before becoming Canadian citizens. (You can view it here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/index.asp)
I think because English is one of the two official languages in Canada it is given a high priority and is considered for immigrants as learning a second language as opposed to a foreign language. The methods of teaching would be different because students have many more opportunities to practice outside the classroom with native Canadian speakers. The current trend is that people are immigrating in higher numbers to the western Provinces. I think this will have an influence on politics and the balance of federal power for the future. Will French our second official language be secure of it's status in the West? French is the language of Quebec with a strong sociopolitical influence in the language development of the province. The question of safeguarding our languages is part of our Canadian history. Will bilingualism remain strong through immersion programs even if demographics are changing?
DeleteI found the study guide "Discover Canada" varied and detailed and that the study questions were far from easy. When national language programs are planned do they take into consideration the competency level a student needs to pass the citizenship test?