Language Competence What does it mean? Some information extracted from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 3.5, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999LinguaLinks LibrarySIL International

Linguistic Competence The linguistics aspects of communicative competence are those that have to do with achieving an internalized functional knowledge of the elements and structures of the language: The linguistics aspects of communicative competence are those that have to do with achieving an internalized functional knowledge of the elements and structures of the language:

Linguistic competence phonological grammatical lexical

phonological ability to recognize and produce the distinctive meaningful sounds of a language ability to recognize and produce the distinctive meaningful sounds of a language consonants vowels tone patterns intonation patterns rhythm patterns stress patterns

grammatical ability to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication ability to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication syntax word endings irregular verb forms pronoun case

lexical the ability to recognize and use words in a language in a way that speakers of the language use them the ability to recognize and use words in a language in a way that speakers of the language use them Example: chair and what makes it different from a stool, a sofa, or a bench. They also need to know that a chair is a piece of furniture, and that there are various kinds of chairs, including easy chairs, deck chairs, office chairs, rocking chairs and so on. They also need to understand how chair is now used in an extended sense for what used to be termed a chairman, especially when referring to a woman, as in Julie Wright is the chair of the committee.

Communicative competence How language is used in a cultural context: How language is used in a cultural context: Speech acts Acceptable questions Discourse forms

Discourse the ability to understand and construct monologues or written texts of different genres, such as narratives, expository texts, persuasive, texts, descriptions, and others. Each discourse genre has different characteristics; in each genre some elements help make the text coherent, other elements are used to make important points distinctive or prominent. the ability to understand and construct monologues or written texts of different genres, such as narratives, expository texts, persuasive, texts, descriptions, and others. Each discourse genre has different characteristics; in each genre some elements help make the text coherent, other elements are used to make important points distinctive or prominent.

Discourse forms…. Examples of written texts… Examples of written texts… Examples of “monologues”… Examples of “monologues”…

Question: Can one be linguistically competent yet communicatively incompetent? Hmm….