COMPETENCE AND LEXICAL COMPETENCE

According to the Oxford dictionary, Competence is the ability to do something

successfully or efficiently.
Weinert (2001) lists nine different ways in which competence has been defined or
interpreted: general cognitive ability; specialized cognitive skills; competence-
performance model; modified competence-performance model; objective and
subjective self-concepts; motivated action tendencies; action competence; key
competencies; meta-competencies.
Hymes (1972) defines competence as “the most general term for the capabilities of
a person.... Competence is dependent upon both (tacit) knowledge and (ability for)
use”( p. 282).
Lexical competence
Dik (1997, p.5-6) defines Lexical competence as the ability to use words in
appropriate and effective ways in verbal interaction, is part of communicative
competence. He states that communicative competence comprises “not only the
ability to construe and interpret linguistic expressions, but also the ability to use
these expressions in appropriate and effective ways according to the conventions
of verbal interaction prevailing in a linguistic community”.

Richards does not use the term lexical competence but of the expression know a
word
Richards (1976). To know a word means:
1) The native speaker of a language continues to expand his vocabulary in
adulthood, whereas there is comparatively little development of syntax in adult life.
2) Knowing a word means knowing the degree of probability of encountering that
word in speech or print. For many words, we also know the sort of words most
likely to be associated with the word.
3) Knowing a word implies knowing the limitations imposed on the use of the word
according to variations of function and situation.
4) Knowing a word means knowing the syntactic behavior associated with the
word.
5) Knowing a word entails knowledge of the underlying form of a word and the
derivations that can be made from it.
6) Knowing a word entails knowledge of the network of associations between that
word and other words in the language.
7) Knowing a word means knowing the semantic value of a word.
8) Knowing a word means knowing many of the different meanings associated with
a word.

After analyzing the two definitions I understand the term lexical competence in the
sense of knowledge that must be possessed to be able to use the word properly
and in the sense of the ability to recognize, learn, recover and relate the different
words at an oral and written level.

“Competence and Performance 1”. Retrieved from:

https://es.scribd.com/document/288218188/Competence-and-Performance-1
García, D. (2007)“Lexical competence and functional discourse grammar”. Retrieved from:
http://piwik.seer.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/viewFile/1442/1150
Jiménez, R. (1993) “El concepto de competencia léxica en los estudios de aprendizaje y enseñanza de
segundas lenguas”. Retrieved from: http://docplayer.es/14165142-El-concepto-de-competencia-
lexica-en-los-estudios-de-aprendizaje-y-ensenanza-de-segundas-lenguas.html
Oxford dictionaries. Retrieved from: https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/