Abstract
Sociolinguistic competence has been an integral part of communicative competence in that it includes learning pragmatic and sociolinguistic knowledge about how to use language linguistically and socially appropriately. However, a number of studies highlight the lack of such communicative skills among EFL learners regardless of their proficiency level of linguistic knowledge. More specially, learners may not be able to develop socio-pragmatic knowledge of language as much as grammatical knowledge of the language being learnt. Informed by this critical inconsistency and learning challenge, this study reports the perceptions of English teachers about the development of sociolinguistic competence in language classrooms. The purpose is to explore their perceptions about learners’ as well as the non-native EFL teachers’ knowledge of sociolinguistic competence along with any difficulty they may face with the integration of this particular competence in their classroom practice. Both native (n=35) and non-native (n=35) English teachers were administered a questionnaire and were asked to submit written reports revealing their perceptions underpinning the knowledge and practice of sociolinguistic competence as part of communicative competence. The results revealed that the development of sociolinguistic rules can guide learners in the choice of appropriate forms which should be closely integrated in language teaching and learning curricula
Highlights
In today’s increasingly globalized world, the ability to express oneself in a second or foreign language has become a vital skill (Mizne, 2007)
In the light of the literature review presented in the previous section, development of the communicative competence in second/foreign language learners is a vital skill which should be closely integrated in language teaching and learning curricula based on competencies and tasks that focus on meaning, have a goal, emphasize the outcome and reveal a real world relationship by using the definitions and the criteria specified above
In an attempt to find out the perceptions about the EFL teachers with regard to the learners’ knowledge of sociolinguistic competence (SC), both groups stated that the students could only perform and respond to basic language functions, use simple common expressions and follow basic routines
Summary
In today’s increasingly globalized world, the ability to express oneself in a second or foreign language has become a vital skill (Mizne, 2007). An L2 speaker is considered fluent if he or she is able to use the language in a range of situational contexts such as talking in a formal meeting, or making telephone calls. No matter how long the L2 language learner is exposed to the target language, he or she might still have difficulty in expressing that language to a native speaker in different social settings. Participatory Educational Research (PER), 2(3); December, 2015 learner may produce a perfectly grammatical utterance that the listener can understand, but he or she may not know how to convey the social meaning communicated in the target context. The inconsistency between the language teaching methodologies and the specific needs for language use in the real world has become more distinctive than ever. Kramsch (2014) highlights this tension:
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