Learner’s Competences

Learners’ competence can be considered under two main topics: A teacher should know learners’ competences because their competences affect their ability to communicate. Learners’ competence can be considered under two main topics: General Competences Communicative Language Competences

I- General Competences A) Declarative knowledge Knowledge of the world Socio-cultural knowledge Intercultural awareness B) Skills and Know-how C) Existential competence D) Ability to Learn

A) Declarative Knowledge Knowledge of the World: Knowledge gained from experience and formal education Language teachers should not assume that learners have knowledge of the world sufficient for the purpose: Knowledge of the world includes too many things

Related to declarative knowledge, teachers can ask these questions while considering their objectives (using CEFR) What knowledge of the world will the learner be required to possess? What new knowledge of the world will be needed?

Sociocultural Knowledge: Knowledge of the society and culture of the community in which the language is spoken. Some of the features of this knowledge are: Everyday living (food and drink, hobbies…) Living conditions (housing conditions…) Interpersonal relations (relations at work…) Values, beliefs and attitudes (social class, traditions…) Body language Social conventions (punctuality, dressing…) Ritual behavior (birth, marriage, death, celebrations…)

Intercultural Awareness: Knowledge of the similarities and differences between the two cultures (origin and target). Related to declarative knowledge, teachers can ask these questions while considering their objectives (using CEFR) What previous sociocultural experience is the learner required to have? What knowledge and awareness of the relation between home and target cultures will the learner need to develop?

B) Skills and Know-How (Ability) The practical skills and know-how that the learner needs to communicate effectively in the target culture Social skills Living skills Professional/vocational skills Leisure skills

C) Existential Competence Selfhood factors that affect learners Attitudes Motivations Values Beliefs Cognitive styles Personality types

D) Ability to Learn Ability to observe and participate in new experiences and to make connections between the new and existing knowledge Language and communication awareness (principles, the language…) General phonetic awareness and skills (pronunciation…) Study skills (using the learning opportunities effectively) Heuristic skills (creativity, problem solving…)

II- COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE COMPETENCES Mainly has three components A) Linguistic competence B) Sociolinguistic competence C) Pragmatic competence

A) Linguistic Competence Knowledge of diverse language systems Linguistic competence has several classifications. a) Lexical Competence: knowledge and ability to use the vocabulary of a language CEFR p. 112

b) Grammatical Competence: knowledge of and ability to use the grammatical resources of a language. !!! Grammatical competence is the ability to understand and express meaning by producing and recognizing well- formed phrases and sentences (not memorizing and reproducing them as fixed formulae)! CEFR, p. 114

c) Semantic Competence: learners’ awareness and control of the organization of meaning e.g. References Connotation synonym/antonym Collocation (differences with the use of “do” and “make”

d) Phonological Competence: perception and production of sounds For CEFR, p. 117 e) Orthographic and Orthoepic Competence: knowledge of writing conventions (spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, etc)

B) Sociolinguistic Competence Knowledge and skills required to deal with the social dimension of language use. a) Linguistic Markers of Social Relations: e.g. saying “Hello! Good Morning!” when you see someone b) Politeness Convention: e.g. appropriate use of “Please”

c) Expressions of Folk Wisdom: e.g. proverbs, idioms d) Register Differences: e.g. knowledge of formal/informal language e) Dialect and Accent: recognizing different accents of different groups CEFR, p. 122

C) Pragmatic Competence Learners’ knowledge of the principles of the language a) Discourse Competence: ability to arrange sentences and produce coherent language. CEFR, p. 124-125

b) Functional Competence: use of spoken discourse and written text for a particular function. CEFR, p. 129