Communicative approach seems to appeal every language teacher nowadays. "Though teachers who are relatively new to the profession may not be familiar with many of the issues raised by communicative teaching methodology" Richards (2006, p1). This setting, in some cases, applies not only to novice teachers in the Colombian context. Besides, the problem is not only being familiar with this theory, but also how it can be translated to practice in the foreign language classroom.

1. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
From Theory To Practice
José L. López Caraballo
Sergio A. Meza Padilla
Tuluá, Valle
October 13th, 2012
¡Formamos profesionales bilingües con Responsabilidad Social!

2. Communicative Competence
Ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to
accomplish communication goals. The desired outcome of
the language learning process is the ability to communicate
competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as a
native speaker does. (English Varieties)
The term was first coined by D. Hymes (1972) in his work
On Communicative Competence.

3. Bachman & Palmer’s Model

4. Grammatical Knowledge
The mastery of the linguistic code (verbal or non-verbal) which
includes:
• Knowledge of lexical , morphological, syntactic, semantic, phonetic,
phonological and orthographic rules.
• GC enables recognition of grammatically correct sentences as well
as comprehension of their propositional content.
• It also enables the speaker to use knowledge and skills needed for
understanding and expressing the literal meaning of utterances.

5. Organizational Knowledge
Grammatical Competence

6. What do Will and Tom look like?
E.g.: Will is taller than Tom. Will has curly
hair and Tom’s hair is straight
Lexis: tall, curly, hair (choice of words with
appropriate signification)
Morphology: tall-er (affixing the inflectional
morpheme (-er)
Syntax: putting the words in the proper order,
to compose the sentences
Phonology: when produced using the
phonological rules of English, the resulting
utterance is a linguistically accurate
representation of the information in the
picture

7. Book Exercise
• Vocabulary: Ss have to
match and practice their last
vocabulary knowledge
(schemata) with the new
words by asking and
answering questions, and
using possessive nouns,
and information questions
so they will be able to
mention not only their
intimate family group but
also other family members.

8. Knowledge Of Morphological Rules
• Ss have to recognize and
apply the correct rules of
conjugation for the simple
present tense, so it lets them
use the verbs in a
meaningful sentence if they
start talking about their daily
routines.

9. Knowledge Of Syntactic Rules
• The students unscramble the
questions to form correct
statements.

10. Knowledge Of Phonetic And
Phonological Rules
• The students
pronounce naturally
emphasizing on
phonetics and
phonology rules

11. Morphology, Orthography: beginnings and endings – matching
parts of sentences.
• Spelling bee champion with the new words learned in the
vocabulary
• Create semi controlled but meaningful dialogues as a model. Then pair
them up. ( at this stage, accuracy is the goal, not fluency)
T:Where’s your mother now?
S: She’s at home.
T: Really? What’s she doing?
S: Um, I think she’s making lunch.
T: Does she make lunch everyday?
S: No, she sometimes buys lunch at a restaurant.
T : So, she buys food for everybody, huh?. What does she usually buy?
S: She buys chicken.

12. Ideas To Teach Syntax
• Tell me: describe PERSONAL objects or pictures orally for others to guess. The
child must give sentence clues (e.g. 'It is black. It is very long.').
• Write a short paragraph (or short sentences) on the board. Include several
syntactical mistakes in the paragraph. Have students proofread the paragraph
independently or with partners. When everyone has completed the exercise, have
volunteers come up to the board and make corrections.
• Use students as if they were words, for example:
Migue: I, Pedro: am Vicky: a Sonia: doctor unscramble Ss and another one locate
them in the correct sentence order. Each one holding a card with the word.

13. Phonetics And Phonology
Segmental And Suprasegmental Features
• Segmental: vowel and consonant inventory, and in the way these
components combine to form words and utterances.
• Suprasegmental: it transcends the segmental level and deals
with:
– Word stress, sentence stress
– Rhythm
– Intonation

15. • Phonetics Ideas:
• Rhyming memory: Use pictures of objects that
rhyme, e.g., “bat” “cat” to create rhyming
memory games to use in free time and center
activities.(warm-up/fillers).
• Rhyming Patterns: have Ss discover the
pattern made by rhyming words, using colored
squares to indicate sounds in rhyming CVC
words.
• Example: cat = red, blue, green
• bat = black, blue, green
• mat = yellow, blue, green
• “We change the color when we hear the sound
change. It stays the same when the sound
stays the same. Do you see a pattern in the
colored squares?”

16. Textual Competence
Mastery of rules that determine ways in which forms and meanings are
combined to achieve a meaningful unity of spoken or written texts.
Cohesion: it helps to link individual sentences and utterances to a structural
whole, by the use of cohesion devices (pronouns, conjunctions, synonyms,
parallel structures etc.)
Coherence: it enables the organization of meaning, establishing a logical
relationship between groups of utterances, and sentences.
Rhetoric: it pertains to the overall conceptual structure of a text, and is related
to the effect of the text on the language user. (it includes common methods of
development such as narration, description, comparison, classification, and
process analysis).

17. Textual Competence
Cohesion And Coherence

18. Textual Competence
Cohesion And Coherence

19. Textual Competence
Cohesion And Coherence
Four general types of communicative activities are normally
described: those related to
production, reception, interaction and mediation.
WRITTEN PRODUCTION
ORAL PRODUCTION • completing forms and questionnaires,
reading a written text aloud. • writing articles,
• speaking from a written text or • producing posters,
visual aids, • writing reports,
• acting out a rehearsed role, • making notes,
• speaking spontaneously or • taking down a message,
• singing • writing creatively,
• writing personal or business letters.
Council of Europe

20. Textual Competence
Cohesion And Coherence
Four general types of communicative activities are normally
described: those related to
production, reception, interaction and mediation.
AURAL RECEPTION VISUAL RECEPTION
•listening to public announcements, •reading for general orientation,
• listening to media, • reading for information,
• listening as a member of a live • reading and following instructions,
audience, • reading for pleasure
• listening to overheard
conversations.
AUDIO VISUAL RECEPTION
• following a text as it is read aloud,
Council of Europe • watching TV, video or a film with subtitles,
• using new technologies.

21. Functional Knowledge
Language Functions

22. Ideational
Imaginative
Macro- Manipulative
functions
Heuristic

23. Ideational
Function
Lori doesn’t remember
some words and she uses
questions to show she
needs help
Jin Ho uses his knowledge
to help her
Manipulative
Function
Regulatory Function
Lori doesn’t want him to
look at the other guy now,
so she uses an imperative
to say it.

24. Manipulative
Function
Interactional Function
This is the first time they meet each
other and they exchange greetings .
They ask questions to each other to
keep the conversation going.
Also, they answer the questions in a
friendly way.

25. Manipulative
Function
Instrumental Function
Ben requested some things in the
conversation but in a direct way.
He got what we wanted.

26. Manipulative
Function
Heuristic Function
Ming – wei is trying to learn about
things around him by asking questions.

27. Imaginative
Function
Matt created a homorous environment
telling Emily something that had
happened to him.

28. Sociolinguistic Competence
Knowledge of rules and conventions which underlie the appropriate
comprehension and language use in different sociolinguistic and socio-
cultural contexts. Dialects and English varieties, register and idiomatic
expressions.

29. Sociolinguistic Competence
Dialects
African-American English (Ebonics)

30. Sociolinguistic Competence
Register

31. Sociolinguistic Competence
Idiomatic Expressions
I've got a great stereo Nice shot! High five, dude!
system back at my crib.
Holy cow! Did you see that!?

32. • Watch and analyze the
idiomatic expression in movies,
TV shows, magazines, songs.
• Interact with native people
• Role play real life situations

33. Strategic Competence
‘ Verbal and non-verbal communication
strategies that may be called into action to
compensate for breakdowns in communication
due to performance variables or to insufficient
competence’. (Canale & Swain, 1980)
Paraphrase and circumlocution,
Repetition and reluctance,
Avoidance of words and structures or themes,
Guessing,
Changes of register and style,
Modifications of messages etc.

34. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE
strategy function
What´s the word for…? Get help from the listener.
Providing an unknown
Type: cooperative
word

35. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE
strategy Function
-Wow!, Really? London?
Type: repeating words, Showing interest
Backchanneling

36. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE
Strategy Function
What do you do after work? Asking questions in two
Do you go straight home? ways
Correcting what you want to ask or say,
Type: self correction, usually accompanied with
paraphrasing
I MEAN

37. Bibliography
• Brown, H. D. (2007). Principles of language learning and teaching.
White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
• Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom.
Oxford: Oxford University press.
• Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct. New York: Harper Collins
• Richards, J. Communicative language teaching today. Cambridge:
Cambridge University press.
• Savignon, S. (1983). Communicative competence: theory and classroom
practice. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
• Stern, H. H. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching.
Oxford: Oxford University press.

38. THANKS
José Luis López Caraballo
jlopez@unicolombo.edu.co
Sergio Alberto Meza Padilla
smeza@unicolombo.edu.co