Model Of Communicative Competence Research Articles

Integrating the Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in a Foreign Language Program: Faculty Considerations upon Leaving the Haven of Native Speakership

<p>This action research study presents the perspectives of two language faculty who integrated the principles of the Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) model in their teaching. The professors shared their understanding of intercultural communicative competence through a learning log. These reflections were mainly about the challenged notion of native speakership, particularly in foreign language teaching contexts. The faculty also developed a teaching sequence that integrated the ICC criteria. The study offers some of the faculty considerations on their integration of the ICC model together with their students’ perspectives. The research results show that students could get involved in language learning beyond the customary linguistic aspects of language teaching, and they could embark themselves upon the understanding of the intercultural aspects that permeate any classroom negotiation where two languages happen to meet and interact through the lived experiences and the identity of their speakers.</p>

Communicative Language Teaching: Exploring Theoretical Foundations and Practical Challenges

The genesis of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) can be traced back to the 1970s when researchers and language practitioners began reflecting and discussing the notion of communicative competence. In practical terms, however, there has been such a gap between theoretical foundations of CLT on the one hand and its implementation in classroom environments on the other hand. This article explores and discusses the theoretical foundations of CLT based on the existing models of communicative competence and continues with identifying CLT's practical challenges commonly persisting in second/foreign language teaching and learning contexts.

Metaphorical Competence: A Neglected Component of Communicative Competence

The ability to comprehend and use metaphors in L2 which is referred to as metaphorical competence is an important issue in second language acquisition. Metaphors are so pervasive in our life that we might not realize their presence and simply neglect them even in our first language. Different models of communicative competence have been suggested in the literature; however, the model of Bachman and Palmer (1996) is the one considered in the present study. It includes two major nodes of organizational and pragmatic competences. Under the organizational competence are grammatical and textual competences, and pragmatic competence includes illocutionary and sociolinguistic competences. In this paper it is argued that among the many competences required to be considered proficient in a language, metaphorical competence is also central. As such, after illuminating the concept of metaphor and metaphorical competence, some models of communicative competence (CC) are presented. Moreover, in line with Littlemore and Low (2006), it is emphasized that metaphorical competence which is present in most of the components of CC should receive more attention in L2 classrooms. In fact, it is concluded that having an acceptable metaphorical competence contributes to the learners’ overall communicative competence. Keywords : Metaphor, Metaphorical competence, Communicative competence, L2

Foreign Language Teaching with Integration of Cultural Content

The author of the paper deals with the concept of teaching a foreign language with integrated cultural element. She derives her knowledge from the model of communicative competence and the latest model of intercultural communicative competence. On the basis of professional publications in the given area the author defines the goals of foreign language teaching and tries to specify the content of teaching which should be focused on support and development of students´ communicative competence. Speaking about the integration of cultural content into foreign language teaching we also have to deal with the form of such integration. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1s1p299

The importance of being critical – Polish EFL teachers' beliefs and practices

Sooner or later, countries like Poland will have to welcome immigrants from the Middle East and successfully communicate with the immigrants from different cultural backgrounds. I would like to argue that critical cultural awareness proves to be a cornerstone of the model of Intercultural Communicative Competence (Byram, 1997) and should be considered a prerequisite for developing the rest of the components comprising the model. The main aim of the present research paper is to investigate, analyse and discuss Polish EFL teachers' beliefs on the idea of including critical cultural awareness, a crucial component of intercultural competence, in the EFL lessons, teachers' teaching practices with reference to developing particular elements of intercultural competence in the EFL lessons and the possible discrepancies between their beliefs and practices. A questionnaire administered to 125 Polish EFL teachers and a case study of three practitioners, who were observed, interviewed and confronted in a focus-group discussion, were used to collect the relevant data. The results of my research study suggest that a lot of Polish EFL teachers declare that they consider Byram's intercultural communicative competence model (Byram 1997) relevant to foreign language teaching and learning in the present-day and seem to be willing to implement it in their lessons, yet many of those teachers appear not to prioritize intercultural competence in their teaching practice. This apparent discrepancy between language teachers' beliefs and their practices may stem from teachers' lack of sufficient intercultural training during their professional education. A need for implementing critical cultural awareness into the pre-service teacher trainings was identified. Keywords: intercultural competence, critical cultural awareness, EFL teaching and learning

Justification of structure and content of social-communicative competence

The article analyzes the scientific approaches to understanding and defining the structure of social, communicative and complex social and communicative competence. The author makes an attempt to give their own definition of this concept and create a structural model of social and communicative competence. Author describes each component of social and communicative competence in the final table on the basis of common understanding of the structure of the competence and of its own structural model

CHALLENGES IN ASSESSING CHARACTER EDUCATION IN ELT: IMPLICATIONS FROM A CASE STUDY IN A CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

In this article I examine some challenges of assessing character education in the context of Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia (TEFLIN). Major sources of character education in Indonesia (e.g., Kurikulum 2013) seem to be religious values. However, there are two salient problems. First, in religiously inspired character education, there are concerns about religious values imposition. Second, it is oftentimes vague what types of, and how, character education can be evaluated in English language teaching and learning settings. In the context of an EFL teacher education program in a Christian university that I studied, one Christian student showed her religious dogmatism in classroom interactions or elsewhere in which peers having different religious views were present. Students’ communicative competence in expressing religious values can be assessed by examining their growing self-reflexivity (which problematizes dogmatism), among others, in their discourse. Character education assessment rubrics are developed from the cases reported here, in light of: (1) the Indonesian government’s guidelines for assessing character education; (2) critical ELT; and (3) Celce-Murcia’s (2007) model of communicative competence.

Fostering Inter-Cultural Communication Skills among Learners through Teaching English as an International Language

Inter-Cultural Competence (ICC) is a topic of hot debate in the educational circles since 1960s. The traditional models of Communicative Competence which focus on native speaker models fall short of making learners adjustable in the international settings. Fostering ICC through English Language Teaching (ELT) is a norm in the current scenario of globalization rather than exception, which the teachers and researchers in Applied Linguistics are trying to establish since quite some decades. This case study is the part of an empirical research taken with the objectives to explore the implications of developing ICC in the learners through teaching EIL. This paper draws on the need of EIL for the Saudi learners for which interviews with the selected teachers from English Language Centre of Jazan University (KSA) provided data. The results show a wide array of concerns for the learners and teachers, and the policy makers. Teachers are the most important factor in developing modalities of ICC in the learners. A locally modified curriculum is needed to implement EIL in the class room.

Development of Technical College Students’ Communicative Competence

The role of communication has increased in modern society due to the growth and expansion of interpersonal, inter-regional and international relations in politics, economy, science and culture. In this regard, one of the priorities of educational policy is a radical improvement in the system of vocational education aimed on training of highly qualified personnel for the country's economy. The main result of the educational institutions activities should not be a system of knowledge and skills, but a set of core competencies as the expected learning outcomes. The effective solution of this problem in a technical college depends not only on the training of future engineers for using production technologies and working with modern technology, but also on the development of specialists’ culture of communication. Dynamic character of life and professional activity requires communication skills, the ability to rapidly integrate into the production team, willingness to adapt to new working conditions and regulate the relations between people in the process of joint activities. The article reveals the essence and the basic characteristics of communicative competence, characteristics and development model of technical college students’ communicative competence. It also considers creating educational communicative space as a leading factor in the development of students' communicative competence. The study identified and disclosed criteria indicators (organizational and cognitive, emotional, behavioral and speech) and levels (high, medium, low) of students’ communicative competence. The results of the experimental work suggest the viability and validity of the educational environment to develop effectively the students’ communicative competence.

MODELLING THE PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE FORMATION PROCESSES

In this report the author presents a model of professional communicative competence of future teachers, psychologists, as well as its indicators, components and results of application.

A critical discussion of Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence in the light of bildung theories

Inherently concerned with the personal and cultural development of individuals, intercultural competence can be regarded as an inseparable aspect of Bildung. However, while scholars have acknowledged the affiliation between these two concepts, what remains to be investigated is the extent to which notions of Bildung are incorporated in theoretical models of intercultural competence. This is an important aspect to study because such models constitute the foundation for how intercultural competence is understood as an educational goal. The present article examines Byram’s model of intercultural communicative competence, which has been particularly influential within the field of foreign language didactics. The article investigates how this model corresponds to Bildung theories in its description of the ideal encounter between Self (own culture) and Other (foreign cultures), and discusses the learning processes which may be involved. Relying on the theoretical perspectives of Gadamer, Bakhtin, Ricoeur and Klafki, the article argues that, while central aspects of Bildung are evident in Byram’s model, they are downplayed through its emphasis on harmony and agreement. The article further stresses the importance of regarding conflict, ambiguity and difference not solely as challenging aspects of the intercultural encounter, but as potentially fruitful conditions for profound dialogue between Self and Other.

An exploration of the communication strategies used when culture-laden words are translated from Japanese to Arabic in ELF interaction

The purpose of the study described in this paper is to support the development of intercultural ELF pedagogy by connecting Kirkpatrick's (2007a) lingua franca approach to English language education with Byram's (1997) model of intercultural communicative competence through action research. Conducted in an English language course at a university in southern Japan by a British and a Libyan teacher-researcher, it explores the communication strategies used during the translation of culture-laden Japanese words into Arabic in real-time interaction using English. Audio-recorded data of five dialogues in which ten Japanese students attempted to teach the Libyan teacher-researcher culture-laden Japanese words in English to elicit translations into Arabic were transcribed and analysed by extending and adapting Kirkpatrick's (2007b) list of ELF communication strategies. Ethical issues were duly considered. A range of communication strategies will be presented that can be incorporated into materials and methods, which may potentially be expanded upon by drawing on existing communication strategy research. The implications of such an approach will be considered in relation to the setting of learning objectives, task and syllabus design, and the role of teachers and students as intercultural mediators. The appropriateness of the approach in different cultural contexts will also be considered.

Mismatch: Globalization and Native Speaker Models of Linguistic Competence

Although the paradigm shift towards English as an International Language (EIL) has been generally accepted within the academic community, a valorization of native speaker norms continues to be prevalent among many non-native speakers (NNSs). Through data drawn from a qualitative questionnaire and proficiency assessment results (TOEIC), this mixed methods study investigates the degree to which native speaker models of communicative competence affect the linguistic self-confidence (LSC) and performance (LP) of 83 Japanese employees of a large, international corporation. Although the results were inconclusive for the latter inquiry, they show that participants who lack experience using English in international contexts have a greater tendency to valorize Native Speaker norms, a belief which, in turn, negatively affects their linguistic self-confidence and attitudes towards the target language (TL). Supplementary data were also collected by interviewing the participants in person or by e-mail in order to discern deeper insights into this particular psycho-linguistic phenomenon, and responses indicated that employees with greater experience using English for their work were much more articulate in explaining or justifying the reasons for their attitudes towards native-speaker norms.

A Performance-oriented Model of Intercultural Communicative Competence

The article proposes a model of intercultural communicative competence. The need for further reflection on this topic derives from two facts: existing models are not built on Dell Hymes’ model of communicative competence (cc), although they use Hymes’ term ‘cc’ is used; our discussion in this essay starts from a definition of cc in Hymes’ tradition and studies what changes are needed to make it fit to describe intercultural cc; most models are, in fact, not ‘models’. According to the theory of models, models aim at being universal, based on formal logic rather than empirical evidence, and this is extremely important in ICC studies where empirical research is always partial. The result is a new instrument to analyse, describe and teach ICC.

The Links between Intercultural Communication Competence and Identity Construction in the University of Western Cape (UWC) Community

This paper is part of a longitudinal research in which we investigate the challenges to intercultural communication competence in the use of English as a second language (L2) at a tertiary institution; a higher education learning space characterized by diversity. The paper focuses on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It further looks at spatiality where movements (migration) account for the creation of new spaces and language trajectories that culminate in the construction of new identities. The paper makes use of an integrative model to determine where misunderstanding comes from in interactions. Finally, Author’s (2013) concept of integrated intercultural communication competence model is also used to signpost the central role of theorizing in this investigation. Our principal objectives of this portion of the ethnographic study wasto investigate/explore how an L2 or foreign language is used to construct identities among the diverse participants of the UWC community. The participants include students and staff from this institution. The main tools that we used for data collection were interviews, questionnaires and participant observation. The significance of such a study is to achieve/promote competence in intercultural communication and language learning where we see language learning could thrive as a social practice. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p376

English

This study focuses on specific elements of local and international cultures in two of the most widely used textbook collections for Catalan as a second language (CSL). Adapting a methodology used by Ramirez & Hall (1990), the study first gives quantitative analysis of the geographical references to Catalonia and the rest of the world in form of a large text (more than 50 words) or an image. The results show that Catalan culture is favored over international cultures, but that, in most cases, textbooks give a simplified view on both Catalan and international cultures. Catalonia and several other countries are often presented from a tourist-consumer point of view, without any substantial cultural information. Furthermore, the study suggests that textbooks avoid cultural comparisons therefore, giving little space for cultural understanding. The results presented in this paper form part of a wider research about the sociocultural models that current CSL textbooks transmit. Local and International Cultures in Catalan as a Second Language Textbooks 208 Local and International Cultures in Catalan as a Second Language Textbooks The aim of this article is to examine how local and international cultures are presented in textbooks designed for adult learners of Catalan as a second language (CSL). As its starting point, this study takes the view that the textbooks are never neutral (Apple, 1999) and that CSL textbooks give learners a biased version of a culture international and their host country’s culture. Since Canale and Swain’s (1980) model of communicative competence, cultural aspects have increasingly been incorporated to second language (L2) pedagogy. The relation between L2 learning and culture has been acknowledged in the works of Kramsch (1993), Byram (1997), and Moran (2001), among others. The increased emphasis on teaching culture in recent decades has led to the introduction of cultural elements in most textbooks (Santos, 2007). Several researches (Alptekin, 1993; Batteman & Mattos, 2006; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Ramirez & Hall, 1990; Risager, 1991; among others ) have analyzed the cultural component of second language textbooks. However, textbooks for learning Catalan as a second language have rarely been a subject of any kind of analysis, especially one that takes a sociocultural perspective. Statement of the problem This article is just an initial step in the direction of analyzing constructions of culture in CSL textbooks following the four dimensions of analyzing culture proposed by Byram & Esarte-Sarries (1991): • analysis at the micro-social level of the social identity of individuals, of their social environment, of their personality. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics 209 • analysis at the macro-social level of socio-economic, geographic and historical representations. • analysis of the viewpoint taken by the author, either explicitly or implicitly. • analysis at the inter-cultural level of mutual representations and recognition by the nature and foreign cultures (p.180). In this paper, the focus will be on the macro-social level of socioeconomic, and more specifically on geographic representations that appear in textbooks. To this end, this study will try to answer the following research questions: 1. What type of representation of local and international culture appears in large texts and images that refer to a geographical reference? 2. What are the differences and similarities in representations of local and international cultures?

Observed communication between oncologists and patients: A causal model of communication competence

Observed communication between oncologists and patients: A causal model of communication competence

(Re)Introducing Communication Competence to the Health Professions

Despite the central role that communication skills play in contemporary accounts of effective health care delivery in general, and the communication of medical error specifically, there is no common or consensual core in the health professions regarding the nature of such skills. This lack of consensus reflects, in part, the tendency for disciplines to reinvent concepts and measures without first situating such development in disciplines with more cognate specialization in such concepts. In this essay, an integrative model of communication competence is introduced, along with its theoretical background and rationale. Communication competence is defined as an impression of appropriateness and effectiveness, which is functionally related to individual motivation, knowledge, skills, and contextual facilitators and constraints. Within this conceptualization, error disclosure contexts are utilized to illustrate the heuristic value of the theory, and implications for assessment are suggested.Significance for public healthModels matter, as do the presuppositions that underlie their architecture. Research indicates that judgments of competence moderate outcomes such as satisfaction, trust, understanding, and power-sharing in relationships and in individual encounters. If the outcomes of health care encounters depend on the impression of competence that patients or their family members have of health care professionals, then knowing which specific communicative behaviors contribute to such impressions is not merely important – it is essential. To pursue such a research agenda requires that competence assessment and operationalization becomes better aligned with conceptual assumptions that separate behavioral performance from the judgments of the competence of that performance.

Segmental Features of English modeled by selected professors in a state university in the Philippines: Implications in teaching English

This paper is a case study that identified the segmental features observable among and modeled by three professors in a state university in the Philippines (where Tagalog is the native language), in their reading of a poem. In reference to General American English (GAE) which Filipino speakers of English attempt to approximate, generalizations out of the data and pedagogical implications were offered. The sociolectal approach in describing phonological features of a particular speech community was employed in this paper. Results revealed that substitution, addition and deletion of sound segments are governed by the interference of L1 and caused by the fossilization of pronunciation “lapses” of the participants. These lapses can therefore be regarded as defining features of the variety of English spoken by speakers in the area and perhaps its neighboring provinces since the participants serve as models in the community. In view of this, teachers of English should strengthen the Communicative Competence Model in the teaching of the language in order to make students be sensitive and appreciative of varieties of English such as the one noted in this paper.

Reverse discourse completion task as an assessment tool for intercultural competence

This paper proposes a prototypic assessment tool for intercultural communicative competence. Because traditional discourse completion tasks (DCTs) focus on illocutionary competence rather than sociolinguistic competence, a modified version of a DCT was created to target sociolinguistic competence. The modified DCT employs speech acts as prompts and asks respondents to write about a situation in which a given speech act would be appropriate. This new tool is named a reverse discourse completion task (R-DCT). The task was given to learners of Turkish as a second language. Data from 12 participants were analyzed for their provision of sociopragmatic factors such as power, distance and imposition and also with respect to whether the situation was relevant to a given speech act. Responses from the participants show that R-DCTs can be used to assess intercultural competence as they help reveal respondents’ knowledge of sociolinguistic context in which a given speech act may be appropriate. By removing the need for comparison with native speaker data and the limitations that emerge from the lack of linguistic formula at respondents’ disposal, R-DCT is a promising elicitation task to assess sociolinguistic competence, an integral part of Byram’s (1997) model of intercultural communicative competence.