TEMA 5: Los procesos de aprendizaje y enseanza de lenguas extranjeras.

El papel de
los textos, las actividades y las tareas. La utilizacin de estrategias
comunicativas. Desarrollo de las competencias comunicativas.

1. INTRODUCTION
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first or mother
tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second
languages or lingua francas (such as Esperanto).
A person's first language may not be their dominant language, the one they use
most or are most comfortable with. For example, the Canadian census defines first
language for its purposes as "the first language learned in childhood and still spoken",
recognizing that for some, the earliest language may be lost, a process known
as language attrition. This can happen when young children move, with or without their
family (because of immigration or international adoptation), to a new language
environment.
According to some researchers, the defining difference between a first language
(L1) and a second language (L2) is the age the person learned the language. For
example, linguist Eric Lenneberg used second language to mean a language consciously
acquired or used by its speaker after puberty. In most cases, people never achieve the
same level of fluency and comprehension in their second languages as in their first
language. These views are closely associated with the Critical Period Hypothesis.
2.- PROCESSES FOR TEACHIG AND LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES
In acquiring an L2, Hyltenstam found that around the age of six or seven seemed
to be a cut-off point for bilinguals to achieve native-like proficiency. After that age, L2
learners could get near-native-like-ness but their language would, while consisting of
few actual errors, have enough errors to set them apart from the L1 group. The inability
of some subjects to achieve native-like proficiency must be seen in relation to the age of
onset (AO). The age of 6 or 8 does seem to be an important period in distinguishing
between near-native and native-like ultimate attainment... More specifically, it may be
suggested that AO interacts with frequency and intensity of language use.
Later, Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson modified their age cut-offs to argue that after
childhood, in general, it becomes more and more difficult to acquire native-like-ness,
but that there is no cut-off point in particular. Furthermore, they discuss a number of
cases where a native-like L2 was acquired during adulthood.
As we are learning more and more about the brain, there is a hypothesis that
when a child is going through puberty, that is the time that accents start. Before a child
goes through puberty, the chemical processes in the brain are more geared towards
language and social communication. Whereas after puberty, the ability for learning a
language without an accent has been rerouted to function in another area of the brain
most likely in the frontal lobe area promoting cognitive functions, or in the neural
system of hormone allocated for reproduction and sexual organ growth.]Similarities and
differences between L2 and L1.
Acquiring a second language can be a lifelong learning process for many.
Despite persistent efforts, most learners of a second language will never become
fully native-like in it, although with practice considerable fluency can be achieved.
However, children by around the age of 5 have more or less mastered their first
language, with the exception of vocabulary and a few grammatical structures.
Acquiring a second language occurs in systematic stages. Much evidence has
been gathered to show that basic sounds, vocabulary, negative phrases, forming
questions, using relative clauses, and so on are developed. This development is
independent of input (we do not hear nor read language in this order) and learning
situation (in the classroom or on the street). It is also generally applicable across a
spectrum of learners (from different language backgrounds). This is similar to the
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learning stages that babies go through when acquiring the first language: babbling
(bababa), vocabulary (milk then later milk drink), negation (no play), question forming
(where she go), and so on.
Error correction does not seem to have a direct influence on learning a second
language. Instruction may affect the rate of learning, but the stages remain the same.
Adolescents and adults who know the rule are faster than those who do not. In the first
language, children do not respond to systematic correction. Furthermore, children who
have limited input still acquire the first language.
Learners in the first or second language have knowledge that goes beyond the
input they received, in other words, the whole is greater than the parts. Learners of a
language are able to construct correct utterances (e.g. phrases, sentences, and questions)
that they have never seen or heard before.
Success in language learning can be measured in two ways: likelihood and
quality. First language learners will be successful in both measurements. It is inevitable
that all first language learners will learn a first language and with few exceptions, they
will be fully successful. For second language learners, success is not guaranteed. For
one, learners may become fossilized or stuck as it were with ungrammatical items.
(Fossilization occurs when language errors become a permanent feature. The difference
between learners may be significant. Finally, as noted elsewhere, L2 learners rarely
achieve complete native-like control of the second language.
Similarities and differences between L2 and L1
X

L2

L1

speed

NA

acquisition is rapid

stages

systematic stages of development

systematic stages of
development

error correction

not directly influential

not involved

depth of
knowledge

beyond the level of input

beyond the level of input

success (1)

not inevitable
(possible fossilization*)

inevitable

success (2)
rarely fully successful
Second language acquisition

successful

The distinction between acquiring and learning was made by Stephen Krashen as
part of his Monitor Theory. According to Krashen, the acquisition of a language is
a natural process; whereas learning a language is a conscious one. In the former, the
student needs to partake in natural communicative situations. In the latter, error
correction is present, as is the study of grammatical rules isolated from natural
language. Not all educators in second language agree to this distinction; however, the
study of how a second language is learned/acquired is referred to as Second Language
Acquisition or SLA.
Research in SLA focuses on the developing knowledge and use of a language by
children and adults who already know at least one other language... [and] a knowledge
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of second language acquisition may help educational policy makers set more realistic
goals for programmes for both foreign language courses and the learning of the
majority language by minority language children and adults.
SLA has been influenced by both linguistic and psychological theories. One of
the dominant linguistic theories hypothesizes that a device or module of sorts in the
brain contains innate knowledge. Many psychological theories, on the other hand,
hypothesize that cognitive mechanisms, responsible for much of human learning,
process language.
2.- THE ROLE OF TEXTBOOKS, ACTIVITIES AND TASKS
2.1 Textbooks. Textbooks are a key component in most language programs. In some
situations they serve as the basis for much of the language input learners receive and the
language practice that occurs in the classroom. They may provide the basis for the
content of the lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language practice the
students take part in. In other situations, the textbook may serve primarily to supplement
the teacher's instruction. For learners, the textbook may provide the major source of
contact they have with the language apart from input provided by the teacher. In the
case of inexperienced teachers textbooks may also serve as a form of teacher training they provide ideas on how to plan and teach lessons as well as formats that teachers can
use. Much of the language teaching that occurs throughout the world today could not
take place without the extensive use of commercial textbooks. Learning how to use and
adapt textbooks is hence an important part of a teacher's professional knowledge.
Advantages and limitations of textbooks The use of commercial textbooks in
teaching has both advantages and disadvantages, depending on how they are used and
the contexts for their use. Among the principal advantages are:
1. They provide structure and a syllabus for a program. Without textbooks a program
may have no central core and learners may not receive a syllabus that has been
systematically planned and developed.
2. They help standardize instruction. The use of a textbook in a program can ensure that
the students in different classes receive similar content and therefore can be tested in the
same way.
3. They maintain quality. If a well developed textbook is used students are exposed to
materials that have been tried and tested, that are based on sound learning principles,
and that are paced appropriately.
4. They provide a variety of learning resources. Textbooks are often accompanied by
workbooks, CDs and cassettes, videos, CD ROMs, and comprehensive teaching guides,
providing a rich and varied resource for teachers and learners.
5. They are efficient. They save teachers' time, enabling teachers to devote time to
teaching rather than material's production.
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6. They can provide effective language models and input. Textbooks can provide
support for teachers whose first language is not English and who may not be able to
generate accurate language input on their own.
7. They can train teachers. If teachers have limited teaching experience, a textbook
together with the teacher's manual can serve as a medium of initial teacher training.
8. They are visually appealing. Commercial textbooks usually have high standards of
design and production and hence are appealing to learners and teachers.
However there are also potential negative effects of the use of textbooks. For example:
1. They may contain inauthentic language. Textbooks sometimes present inauthentic
language since texts, dialogs and other aspects of content tend to be specially written to
incorporate teaching points and are often not representative of real language use.
2. They may distort content. Textbooks often present an idealized view of the world or
fail to represent real issues. In order to make textbooks acceptable in many different
contexts controversial topics are avoided and instead an idealized white middle-class
view of the world is portrayed as the norm.
3. They may not reflect students' needs. Since textbooks are often written for global
markets they often do not reflect the interests and needs of students and hence may
require adaptation.
4. They can deskill teachers. If teachers use textbooks as the primary source of their
teaching leaving the textbook and teacher's manual to make the major instructional
decisions for them the teacher's role can become reduced to that of a technician whose
primarily function is to present materials prepared by others.
5. They are expensive. Commercial textbooks may represent a financial burden for
students in many parts of the world.
Both the benefits and limitations of the use of textbooks need to be considered,
and if the textbooks that are being used in a program are judged to have some negative
consequences, remedial action should be taken, e.g. by adapting or supplementing
books or by providing appropriate guidance and support for teachers in how to use them
appropriately.
Commercial textbooks can seldom be used without some form of adaptation to
make them more suitable for the particular context in which they will be used. This
adaptation may take a variety of forms.
1. Modifying content. Content may need to be changed because it does not suit the
target learners, perhaps because of factors related to the learners' age, gender, social
class, occupation, religion or cultural background.
2. Adding or deleting content. The book may contain too much or too little for the
program. Whole units may have to be dropped, or perhaps sections of units throughout
the book omitted. For example a course may focus primarily on listening and speaking
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skills and hence writing activities in the book will be omitted.

3. Reorganizing content. A teacher may decide to reorganize the syllabus of the book,
and arrange the units in what she considers a more suitable order. Or within a unit the
teacher may decide not to follow the sequence of activities in the unit but to reorder
them for a particular reason.
4. Addressing omissions. The text may omit items that the teacher feels are important.
For example a teacher may add vocabulary activities or grammar activities to a unit.
5. Modifying tasks. Exercises and activities may need to be changed to give them an
additional focus. For example a listening activity that focuses only on listening for
information is adapted so that students listen a second or third time for a different
purpose. Or an activity may be extended to provide opportunities for more personalized
practice.
6. Extending tasks. Exercises may contain insufficient practice and additional practice
tasks may need to be added.
The ability to be able to adapt commercial textbooks in these ways is an
essential skill for teachers to develop. Through the process of adaptation the teacher
personalizes the text making it a better teaching resource as well as individualizes it for
a particular group of learners. Normally this process takes place gradually as the teacher
becomes more familiar with the book since the dimensions of the text which need
adaptation may not be apparent until the book is tried out in the classroom. When a
number of teachers in a program are teaching from the same textbook it is useful to
build in opportunities for teachers to share information about the forms of adaptation
they are making.
No matter what form of materials teachers make use of, whether they teach from
textbooks, institutional materials, or teacher-prepared materials, they represent plans for
teaching. They do not represent the process of teaching itself. As teachers use materials,
they adapt and transform them to suit the needs of particular groups of learners and their
own teaching styles. These processes of transformation are at the heart of teaching and
enable good teachers to create effective lessons out of the resources they make use of. It
is useful therefore to collect information on how teachers use course books and other
teaching materials in their teaching. The information collected can serve the following
purposes.
To document effective ways of using materials
To provide feedback on how materials work
To keep a record of additions, deletions, and supplementary materials teachers may
have used with the materials
To assist other teachers in using the materials
Monitoring may take the following forms:
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1. Observation. Classroom visits to see how teachers use textbooks and to find out how
materials influence the quality of teaching and interaction that occurs in a lesson.
2. Feedback sessions. Group meetings in which teachers discuss their experience with
textbooks.
3. Written reports. The use of reflection sheets or other forms of written feedback in
which teachers make brief notes about what worked well, what didn't work well, or give
suggestions on using the materials.
4. Reviews. Written reviews by a teacher or group of teachers on their experiences with
a set of materials and what they liked or disliked about them.
5. Students' reviews. Comments from students on their experience with the materials
2.2.- Activities. The work of James Gardner and associates characterizes this
conceptualization of motivation. As defined by Gardner, integrativeness is one of two
major factors that influence overall motivation. It is a complex construct that reflects an
interest in learning a foreign language in order to become closer to the L2 community.
Thus, the term denotes not only attitudes towards learning foreign languages and
towards the L2 group generally, but also the learners willingness to interact with
members of that L2 community. Attitudes towards the learning situation constitute the
second component of Gardners two-pronged theory of motivation.
Gardner explains that, in a classroom context, this term subsumes attitudes
towards the teacher, classmates, coursework, activities associated with the course, and
all other facets of the situation in which the language is learned. Integrativeness and
attitudes towards the learning situation together contribute to overall motivation to learn
the language. In this conceptualization of the term, a motivated individual makes an
effort to learn the language (i.e. does their homework, participates in class, etc.), wants
to learn the language, and will enjoy learning the language.
The theories of motivation developed during the cognitive-situated period,
although certainly distinct from those described above, nevertheless do not negate that
socialpsychological work. Rather, those foundations are still accepted, and the newer
perspectives about how motivation functions in the real world (e.g. in classrooms) can
be studied in conjunction with the earlier models.
Self Determination Theory (SDT) is not specific to the study of motivation as it
pertains to language. Rather, it is a more general psychological theory which suggests
that intrinsic motivation and internalization, and ultimately identity development, are
molded by three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. La
Guardias account of the theory explains that autonomy refers to actions that a learner
initiates and regulates himself. Autonomous actions are willingly engaged in, whereas
participating in nonautonomous behaviors make the learner feel compelled or
controlled. Competence refers to a learners feelings of content mastery or intellectual
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challenge, and is expressed in curiosity, exploration of new or difficult material, etc.

Relatedness is the need to feel acceptance by, and importance to, others (e.g. teachers,
parents, peers). SDT as a whole suggests that people are likely to devote their energies
to activities that promote these three psychological needs; in other words, they are likely
to be motivated by people, situations, and undertakings that support those needs.
Within this SDT framework arise the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation, based in autonomy and competence, describes a
situation in which material is engaged in for its inherent interest and the satisfaction and
enjoyment it engenders. An example would be a person who enjoys learning a language
because of the satisfaction felt when new concepts are mastered (competence) or
because of the inherent interest and joy associated with learning the language.
Extrinsically motivated activities, on the other hand, are engaged in in order to
accomplish some goal that is separate from the activity in and of itself: for example, a
person who wishes to learn a language because they believe bilingualism to be a
valuable job skill, or because they believe it will make travel easier and more enjoyable.
Activities can be initiated extrinsically and later be internalized to become intrinsically
motivated, or they can begin out of intrinsic interest and be perpetuated in order to
obtain other (extrinsic) outcomes. Thus, there is a continuum of behaviors, ranging
from those that are completely extrinsically to completely intrinsically motivated. On
the controlled, extrinsic end of the scale, externally regulated behaviors are done in
order to avoid punishment or obtain reward. Introjected behaviors are somewhat more
internalized and are performed not to avoid punishment or gain reward per se, but rather
to avoid the shame or guilt one would feel if the behavior were not done or to feel pride
and worth in the eyes of others. More internalized, autonomous, and intrinsic, identified
behaviors have been accepted and are valued as ones own (e.g. because a student
understands their usefulness), and integrated behaviors are the most intrinsically
motivated. An integrative orientation such as that described above is most closely
correlated with intrinsic motivation.
Noels, Pelletier, Clment and Vallerand extend this model to language learning
specifically and expand upon the traditional intrinsic-extrinsic categorizations with their
sevenpoint Language Learning Orientations Scale. In this characterization, amotivation
is characterized by a feeling that there is no point, or that material is beyond the
students interest or capabilities. External, introjected, and identified regulation have
definitions consistent with those above. Intrinsic motivation is then broken into three
separate parts: intrinsic motivation for knowledge (doing the activity for the intrinsic
pleasure of exploring ideas and learning new things), for accomplishment (the pleasure
associated with mastering a task or achieving a goal), and for stimulation (feelings such
as fun and excitement).
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2.3.- Tasks. The approach called task based learning is the logical outcome of theories
of second language learning associated with the communicative approach. They all
underline that there are three essential conditions for second and foreign language
learning:
(1) Learners need regular exposure to the target language in meaningful social
(communicative) contexts. They need a lot of comprehensible language input.
(2) Learners need frequent opportunity for the active use of the target language in
communicative situations. They must learn to produce comprehensible output.
(3) Learners need a strong motivation for language learning for else they will not
make the long and sustained efforts needed for coming to grips with the lexical and
grammatical system of the target language.
Compared to these three essential conditions instruction (explicit rule teaching)
is not essential. It may help, however, if the instruction is well timed in form and
content to help a learner take the next step in her/his language acquisition process. The
tacit model of task based learning are second language acquisition processes supported
by instruction in a target language environment. In such an environment learners are
constantly faced with many practical tasks which they must learn to cope with for
survival purposes. That is a strong learning motivation and forces them to focus
attention on linguistic forms and their social (communicative) function (meaning).
In FLT, which takes place in a first language cultural and linguistic environment
and under extreme time limits, there are no equivalent learning conditions. The
challenge is, therefore, to find near equivalents to real world tasks and to provide
learners with the kind of linguistic input and learning objects as well as feed back which
put them in a position to (a) create their own hypotheses on the meaning and function of
the lexico-grammatical forms of the target language, and (b) critically check if their
hypotheses are correct or need to be amended. The magical trick is to manoeuvre
learners into a situation in which they feel like saying something and in which what they
want to say requires the use of exactly those lexico-grammatical forms which the
syllabus prescribes they should learn to use. In classrooms that creates many practical
problems and has, in reality, led to comprise solutions which combine a basically form
focused grading of course content with its methodological presentation and practice in
real or simulated task based activities.
TBL has also boosted a call for promoting learning strategies because learning
how to learn is more important from that perspective than a docile memorizing of long
lists of vocabulary, rules of grammar and tables with declensions and conjugations. This
comes across vividly if we look at the table of contents of the latest generation of FLT
textbooks which feature a separate column on learning strategies in addition to the
three traditional columns (structures, themes, speech intentions).
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Compared to traditional form oriented approaches which divide the learning

process into the three phases presentation practice production (the PPP-Model), in
TBL the role of the teacher changes from that of an instructor and prosecutor of errors
to that of a supporter and inventor of tasks which her/his learners enjoy doing. It proved
useful to divide the learning process in TBL in three phases: The pre-task phase,
the the doing of the task, and the post-task phase. Taken together they form a task
cycle. The major role (task) of the teacher changes from phase to phase. It also has a
different focus in work with beginners than in work with advanced students.
In a first language environment, which is typical of FLT, the major task of the
teacher in the pre-task phase is to find language materials (texts, videos, tapes, etc.)
which are (a) from a lexico-grammatical perspective not too difficult to understand, and
(b) from a content and general knowledge of the world perspective that considers the
learners age and pre-knowledge interesting enough to motivate the learners to work
with the materials. This must (c) be accompanied by an attractive and clearly phrased
task which motivates learners to get involved with it. In a learner oriented approach like
TBL the learners are welcome, of course, to themselves make suggestions for objects
and aims of tasks. Ideally tasks should involve learners holistically.
Tasks motivate and promote language learning processes if they afford learners
with a feeling of success when doing them. For teachers it is essential, therefore, to
make sure that their learners have the skills and strategies necessary for successfully
dealing with a given task. This frequently requires that teachers first give the learners
examples of how other people competently deal with the given task type; alternatively
they can themselves demonstrate in class, setting a practical example, strategies for
coming to grips with the type of problem immanent to the given task.
The pre-task phase frequently ends with the teacher and learners deciding if the
task is best tackled in groups or partner work or with everyone working for
herself/himself. Also a time limit should be set for the work to be done in the upcoming
task phase.
In the actual task phase the teacher steps back and lets the learners
autonomously do their work. Her/his role now is that of a monitor and advisor. S/he acts
mainly when asked for support, and the support should be of the type which shows
learners how to strategically tackle the given problem rather than giving them final
answers which tend to suppress their active involvement with the linguistic and nonlinguistics aspects of the task. S/he should intervene, however, if some learners fail to
actively work on their task.
In the task phase the learners must use and further develop their ability to come
to grips with a given task. They must learn to autonomously plan and execute suitable
task solving strategies. To give their work a sense of direction the aim must be to finally
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report the results of their activities to the other learners and to share their knowledge
with them. The teachers task is to make sure that everyone works on her/his task to the
best of their abilities.
The post task phase is both content oriented and form focused and has
important psychological and linguistic functions. It is content and meaning oriented
because it gives learners the opportunity to report what they found out on the given
topic. They discuss it with other learners. That honours the content of the work done by
them, which is important in psychological perspective. In this phase formal linguistic
errors are of minor interest. The report and its discussion will generate lexicogrammatical questions, however, which give reason to also turn to formal aspects of
language.
The results of the joint discussion of content and form oriented issues must find
their way in a final review and clean copy of the issues discussed, and that must aim to
be linguistically correct. That again puts the focus on form oriented aspects of voicing
and writing down speech intentions. The clean copy can also serve for later revisions of
the work done.
Several theories and categorizations contribute to an understanding of academic
motivation generally and second-language motivation specifically. These include the
theory of integrative motivation introduced during the social-psychological period, as
well as Self Determination Theory, its extensions, and the general categorizations of
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation developed during the cognitive-situated period.
As mentioned above, the social-psychological period posited that L2-learning
motivation is profoundly impacted by attitudes towards the L2 group. Although
positive attitudes towards the people who natively speak a language can positively
influence a learners motivation to learn that language, negative attitudes towards the
group can likewise negatively influence motivation.
3.- THE USE OF COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGIES
I am going to list the most importantones:
Psycholinguistic problem-solving
Although Faerch and Kasper are noted for their psychological problem-solving
view of communication strategies, these researchers, in fact, recognise that planning can
take place to alleviate potential communicative problems and to bring about a higher
degree smoothness and overall fluency in the speech. Advanced learners, who are
capable of planning longer units, can often predict a communication problem well in
advance and attempt to solve it beforehand, as part of the normal planning process.
This notion of advanced planning formed the basis for Clennells pragmatic discourse
perspective of communication strategies.
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 Interactional
Tarone defines communication strategy as a mutual attempt of two interlocutors
to agree on a meaning in situations where requisite meaning structures do not seem to
be shared. The central concept is the joint negotiation of meaning. Tarones typology
comprises the following categories: paraphrase (approximation, word coinage,
circumlocution), transfer (literal translation, language switch), appeal for assistance,
mime and avoidance (topic avoidance and message abandonment).
Discourse
The discourse perspective classifies strategies defined by Faerch and Kasper as
serving a short-term conversational repair role, and proposes three strategies that
operate as facilitators or enhancers of the message lexical repetitions plus tone to
indicate topic prominence, appeal for assistance, request for clarification and discourse
and topic maintenance; and topic plus comment syntactic structures to parcel up
information; and tonicity, which is a systematic use of stress and pitch to mark given
from new information. Clennell pointed out that the non-native texts in his study
showed evidence of lexical repetition and topic fronting, acting in the same way as the
use of tonicity by native speakers to mark salience of information.
Non-native speakers have to use substitute strategies to show informational
significance because they use more or less equal stress and pitch. This observation was
supported by Ting and Laus findings on the frequent use of lexical repetition by
learners in a simulated telephone enquiry interaction, particularly by those with higher
linguistic ability. In view of this, Clennells discourse-based message-enhancing
communication strategies are included in the typology used in this study.
The restructuring strategy from Faerch and Kasper can been added to Tarones
typology to take account of the reformulation of the syntactical structure of the message
in the absence of linguistic means or difficulty in retrieving the relevant item or rule.
This psycholinguistic perspective defines communication strategies as potentially
conscious plans for solving what to an individual presents itself as a problem in
reaching a particular communicative goal.
To compensate for the linguistic means that are not available or accessible, the
productive strategies that language users may have recourse to are categorised as:
reduction strategies (eg topic avoidance, message abandonment, meaning replacement)
achievement strategies, which include cooperative strategies (eg appeals)
uncooperative strategies (eg mime, restructuring, language switch, borrowing, literal
translation, exemplification, word coinage).
Cooperative strategies involve the participation of interlocutors in solving the
communication
problem,
whereas
uncooperative
strategies
do
not.
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4.- DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCES

Historical overview of the development of the notion of "communicative
competence".
1.1. the model development came with Chomsky (1965) in "Aspects of the Theory of
Syntax." He developed the concepts of competence and performance. Competence is
the perfect knowledge of an ideal speaker-listener of the language in a homogeneous
speech community. The linguistic knowledge is separated from sociocultural features.
"Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker-listener, in a completely
homogeneous speech community, who knows its language perfectly and is unaffected
by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitations, distractions, shifts
of attention and interests, and errors (random or characteristic) in applying his
knowledge of the language in actual performance. (1965 p.3)".
Then Hymes (1972) points out that Chomsky's competence/performance model does
not provide an explicit place for sociocultural features. He also points out that
Chomsky's notion of performance seems confused between actual performance and
underlying rules of performance. Thus we have that "Communicative Competence":
1. Whether (and to what degree) something is formally possible;
2. Whether (and to what degree) something is feasible in virtue of the means of
implementation available;
3. Whether (and to what degree) something is appropriate (adequate, happy, successful)
in relation to a context in which it is used and evaluated;
4. Whether (and to what degree) something is in fact done, actually performed and what
its doing entails. It can be said that these four represent the four aspects of language
user's knowledge and ability by Munby (1981):
1. grammatical; 2. psycholinguistic; 3. sociocultural; 4. de facto.
After that, Halliday (1971,72) rejects dichotomy of competence/performance
"meaning-potential" covers both knowing and doing the notion of language functions
macro- and micro- functions. Macro-functions: 1. ideational; 2. manipulative: 3.
heuristic; 4. imaginative. (Firthian view of language) affected by Malinowski language
is as a mode of human behavior (social interaction) the context of situation provides a
first approximation to the specification of the components of the communication
situation.
Then came Widdowson (1978) with use and usage: usage --- manifestation of
the knowledge of language system; use --- realization of the language system as
meaningful ` communicative behavior both are the aspects of "performance". The
distinction of "usage" and "use" is based on the notion of "effectiveness for
communication" This means that an utterance with a well-formed grammatical structure
may or may not have a sufficient value for communication in a given context. Whether
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an utterance has a sufficient communicative value or not is determined in discourse.

This is why Widdowson's approach is considered as discourse-based approach.
Cohesion and coherence --- emphasized discourse. Munby (1978) classified all these
proceses in: 1. linguistic encoding; 2. sociocultural orientation; 3. sociosemantic basis
of linguistic knowledge; 4. discourse level of operation.
Canale and Swain (1980), Canale (1983) made the following a list:
1. grammatical competence; concerned with mastery of the language code itself; 2.
discourse competence; concerns mastery of how to combine grammatical forms and
meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text in different genres; 3.
sociolinguistic competence addresses the extent to which utterances are produced and
understood appropriately in different sociolinguistic contexts depending on contextual
factors; 4. strategic competence is composed of mastery of verbal and non-verbal
communication strategies that may be called into action for two main reasons: (a) to
compensate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting conditions in actual
communication or to insufficient competence in one or more of the other areas of
communicative competence; and (b) to enhance the effectiveness of communication.
Savignon (1983) introduced interactional approach, that is, the development of
learners' communicative competence is defined as "expression, interpretation, and
negotiation of meaning involving interaction between two or more persons or between
one person and a written or oral text". The central characteristics of competence in
communication are associated with:
1. the dynamic, interpersonal nature of communicative competence and its dependence
on the negotiation of meaning between two or more persons who share to some degree
the same symbolic system.
2. its application to both spoken and written language as well as to many other symbolic
systems.
3. the role of context in determining a specific communicative competence, the infinite
variety of situations in which communication takes place, and the dependence of
success in a particular role on one's understanding of the context and on prior
experience of a similar kind.
4. communicative competence as a relative, not absolute, concept, one dependent on the
cooperation of all participants, a situation which makes it reasonable to speak of degrees
of communicative competence.
Finally Bachman (1990) made the following tree model of CC:
1. Language Competence:
a. Organizational Competence
(i) grammatical competence
(ii) textual competence
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+ cohesion/coherence
+ conversational analysis
b. Pragmatic Competence
(i) illocutionary competence
+ speech acts
+ language functions
Halliday (1973) macro- and micro-functions
(ii) sociolinguistic competence
sensitivity to differences in (a) dialects, or varieties, (b) register, (c) naturalness ability
to interpret cultural references and figures of speech
2. Strategic Competence. Pointing out that Canale and Swain's and Canale's model did
not describe the mechanisms by which strategic competence operates. It referred to
Faerch and Kasper (1983)'s view on strategic competence
+ interactional view --- CS functions as compensation for communication
breakdowns psycholinguistic view --- enhance rhetorical effect of utterances
+ Faerch and Kasper (1983) drew on the psycholinguistic work (Clark and Clark
1977) and described two phases of communication strategy, which is (a) planning and
(b) execution.
We have three phases (Bachman added assessment phase to F and K's model):
(1) assessment; (2) planning; (3) execution
3. Psychophysiological Mechanisms:
channel --- visual/auditory
mode --- productive/receptive
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