Language Competences

.C. ÇAĞ UNIVERSITY

INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES – M.A. in ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

LANGUAGE LEARNING THEORIES AND ELT METHODOLOGY

2015-16 FALL SEMESTER FINAL EXAM                

Name: Kamil Aksöz              Number: 20158004              Date:26.01.2016                                         

1. Language teaching does not mean teaching merely structures or vocabulary items anymore.

Considering your own teaching context, what are the other competences that your learners might need to develop while learning English? How do you pursue your role in this regard?

2. In the mid-twentieth century theorist put great emphasis on the value of input in eventual success in language learning. However the role of input took the backseat to meaningfulness in the current language teaching methods. What is the assumption that current methods operate on in teaching languages?

According to wikipedia “Language learning (wikiLanguage acquisition) is the process by which the language capability develops in a human”. Language learning consists of many things and requires many competences. Language learning is not learning only vocabulary or grammatical rules. Learners need to develop some competencies in order to learn language effectively and they need to develop some competences in order to use language effectively and appropriately not to offend or offended by taking into consideration surrounding conditions.  In this paper some competences are mentioned in order to learn a language. Nowadays luckily focal point of Language teaching swayed from teaching only rules and vocabularies to equipping learners with competences and skills. Competences make language learning process easier and effective. Language learning requires other skills to be able to learn a language appropriately and use it effectively. I would like to start from communicative competence.

Communicative competence

 Language learners should have communicative competence in addition   to linguistic competence. Communicative competence is a term coined by the linguist Dell Hymes (1970).  Communicative competence is very broad but there are some key points like, a focus on meaning, learner-centered curriculum, emphasis on oral, written, and gestural communication, authentic language samples, and purposeful communicative classroom activities (Hymes, 1970, Lee & Van Patten, 1995) it can be said that Language is a communication tool. To use this tool effectively and appropriately individuals need to learn how to use this tool. Using language appropriately is very important. Using this tool appropriately requires communicative competence.    Language learners need to have communicative competence to use language appropriately in addition to linguistic competence.  “…a normal child acquires knowledge of sentences not only as grammatical, but also as appropriate. He or she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner. In short, a child becomes able to accomplish a repertoire of speech acts, to take part in speech events, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others.” (Hymes 1972, 277)