LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

( FROM COOK, G. Applied Linguistics. Oxford: OUP, 2003. cap. 5, pag 40-48)

 Conceptualizing the idea of knowing a language well

 depends on the perspective of the person being
asked
 Traditional grammar-translation teaching  knowing
the rules and being able to use them were the same
thing.
 speed of use;
 understanding the point but not being able to
respond;
 stilted or old-fashioned style;
 lack of knowledge of body/facial signals;
 failing to understand the non-literal use of
language.
Prof. Rogério Azeredo 1
 Learning the formal systems of language is a
useful step towards a later deployment of
such rules.
 Chomsky: human capacity for languages is
not a product of general intelligence or
learning ability but an innate, genetically
determined feature of the human species
Universal Grammar (UG)
 Chomsky and AL LA is something more
biological than social( reductive and
constraining effect on the very core of AL)
 COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE (Dell
Hymes, late 1960s)  only linguistic
Prof. Rogério Azeredo 2
 Possibility: what is formally possible in the
language.
“Me go sleep now” x “I’m going to sleep now”
 Feasibility: limitations to what can be
processed by the mind accessibility of
information.
 The cheese the rat the cat the dog the man
beat saw chased ate was green.
 Appropriateness: conformity to social
conventions.
 Callinga police officer “darling”/using slang or taboo
words in a formal letter/answering a cell phone during
a funeral/ not showing respect to an elderly
Prof. Rogério Azeredo 3
For AL this issue is of paramount importance since it deals directly
 with the way
 actual communication takes place .

Attestedness : “ whether…something
is done.’
Chips and fish 
possible/feasible/appropriate…
however it doesn’t occur
frequently ( CORPUS
LINGUISTICS)
 The influence of communicative
competence

 First-language education: mechanicity  communication

 Information design the need for accessibility
 ESL/EFL teaching: the Communicative Approach
 Early CLT: separation of the parameters
 Natural approaches use and exposure
 Idea of appropriateness  abandoning stds’ cultures
in order to acquire the new culture.
 Ironic point  one of the strengths of CC is
the possibility of non-conformity to rules
 The notion of appropriateness has led AL towards two
new areas of enquiry: discourse analysis and cross-
cultural communication.
Prof. Rogério Azeredo 5
Communicative competence
BROWN, H. D Principles in Language Learning and Teaching. 4 ed. New York: Longman. 2000.
cap. 9. pag. 245-248.

 Canale and Swain (1980)

 Grammatical competence: mastering the linguistic
code of the language  Hymes’ linguistic competence
 Discourse competence : the ability to connect
sentences in stretches of discourse and to form a
meaningful whole out of a series of utterances.
 Sociolinguistic competence : “an understanding of
the social context in which language is used”
(Sauvignon 1983: 37)
 Strategic competence ; the ability to make repairs, to
cope with imperfect knowledge and to sustain
communication through paraphrase, circumlocution,
repetition, hesitation, avoidance, and guessing, as well
as shifts in register and style.
Prof. Rogério Azeredo 6
Prof. Rogério Azeredo 7