Linguistic and Communicative Competence of Students in a Spanish/English Bilingual High School Program

Abstract

Students in a high school bilingual program were administered language tests measuring linguistic competence (e.g., knowledge of grammatical forms) and communicative competence (e.g., knowledge of the functional uses of language according to the context) in English and Spanish. The BOLT instrument was used to assess linguistic competence (LC) and three tests – active communicative competence (ACC), receptive communicative competence (RCC), and sociolinguistic competence (SC) – were developed to measure different dimensions of communicative competence (CC). Pupils’ characteristics (sex, home language use, self-concept, cognitive style, and years in the U.S.) were also examined to determine their relation to LC and CC tests and academic achievement. The results indicate that CC (defined as the ability to analyze and convey information effectively) is distinct from LC. LC in English as well as CC (ACC and RCC) in English and Spanish are related to cognitive/academic learning proficiency as well as to a field...