Canale L3

MICHAEL Language III 1. From Communicative Language Pedagogy.

CANALE Competence

to

Communicative

Communicative comp. -> introduced by Hymes in the mid. 1960s. Theoretical framework: Nature of Communication. • • • • • • •

A form of social interaction – acquired and used in social interaction. High degree of unpredictability and creativity in form and message. Takes place in discourse and sociocultural contexts -> which provide constraints on app. Lang use and also clues as to correct interpretation of utterances. Limited by psychological and other conditions (fatigue memory constraints). Always has a purpose. Authentic language. Jugded as successful or not on the base of actual outcomes.

Communication: The exchange and negociation of information bet. At least 2 individuals through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, oral and written / visual modes and production and comprehension processes. Information: Consisting of conceptual sociocultural, affectiva and other content. It´s never permanently worked out or fixed but constantly changing. In this sense communication involves the continous evaluation and negociation of meaning. Palmer (1978) -> Authentic Com. Involves the reduction of uncertainty on behalf of the participants although not the total elimination of it at all levels, just reduction at all levels of information. 1.2Communicative Competence and Actual Communication: C. C: The underlying systems of knowledge and the skill required for communication. Eg: Knowledge of vocab.; Skills in using the cociolinguistic conventions for a given lang. Etc. Actual Com: The realization of such competence (knowledge and skill) under limiting psychological and environmental conditions such as fatigue, nervousness, distractions, interfering background noises, etc.

That´s why although C.C. is an essential part of A.C. it´s sometimes reflected only indirectly and imperfectly. C. C : Knowledge -> What one knows (consciously and uncounsciously) Skill -> How well one can perform this knowledge in AC. Underlying capacities (competence) A.C .-> Manifestation in concrete situations. 1.3Components of C. C. 4 areas of knowledge and skill -> Grammatical C. -> Sociolinguistic C. -> Discourse C. -> Strategic C. It´s assumed that it also interacts with other systems of knowledge and skill (world knowledge, for instance) as well as a theory of Human Action (dealing with factors such as volition and personality) . Grammatical C.: Mastery of the lang. Code (verbal and non-verbal). It focuses on the knowlege and skill to undertand and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances. Sociolinguistic C.: The extent to which utterances are produced and understood appropriately in different socioling. contexts depending on contextual factors such as status of participants, purposes of interaction, appropriateness of form and meaning. Meaning -> The extent to which particular com. functions, attitudes and ideas are judged to be proper in a given situation. Form -> The extent to which a given meaning is represented in a verbal / non-verbal form that is proper in a given socioling. context. Discourse C.: Mastery of how to combine gram. forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text in different genres. Genre: Type of text -> oral / written narrative, scientific report, an essay, etc. Unity of a text is achieved through: Cohesion (form): Deals with how utterances are linked structurally. Coherence (meaning): Refers to the relationships among the different meanings in a text – Literal com. functions and attitudes. Strategic C.: Mastery of verbal and non-verbal C. Strategy that maybe called into action for two main reasons:

a) To compansate for breakdowns in communication due to limiting conditions in actual com. or insuficient competence in one or more of the other areas of C.C. b) To enhance the effectiveness of Communication (paraphrase, for example). These four areas are part of a theoretical framework . They are not a model. A model implies some specification of the manner and order in which the components interact and in which the various competencies are normally acquired. This is a modular view of CC (as oppossed to a single global factor one)i.e. C.C. in the view of this framework is composed of several separate factorrs that interact -> Areas of competence. 2. Applications for 2LT and Testing: 2.1 Knowledge oriented and skill – oriented teaching and testing: 2L pedagogy has often proceeded with a knowledge - oriented view: An assumption that knowledge abt the 2L (and communication in the 2L) is sufficient for effective use of the 2L in actual com. situations. But it is evident that this kind of approaches are not suf. for preparing learners to use the 2L well in authentic situations. But although they are insufficient they are still necessary for the development of effective performance skills. Both knowledge and skill oriented approaches are a crucial part of 2L Learning. 2.2 Guiding principles for a Communicative Approach [5] : a) Coverage of Comp. Areas: The primary goal of a com. Approach must be to facilitate the integration of this 4 types of competenc for the learner. b) Com. Needs:AC approach must be based on and respond to the learners (often changing) communicative needs and interests. c) Meaningful and realistic interaction: The 2L learner must have the opportunity to take part in meaningful com. Interaction to respond to genuine com. Needs and interests in realistic 2L situations. d) The Learner´s native lang. Skills especially at the early stages of 2LL: Optimal use must be made of those com. Skills developed through use of the native lang. e) Curriculum Wide Approach: The programm must provide the learners with the info, practice and much of the experience

needed to meet their com. Needs in the 2L. In addition, the L should be taught abt language and abt the 2L culture.