Applied Linguistics
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The notion of Communicative Competence (CC)
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* ABILITY TO USE LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY IN A GIVEN SPEECH
COMMUNITY
* IT REFERS TO BOTH KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL IN USING THE
KNOWLEDGE
COMPONENTS: 4 AREAS OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL
Task 1. Match the DEFINITION with the TERM
1. Grammatical competence 3. Discourse competence
2. Sociolinguistic competence 4. Strategic competence
A. Knowledge of how to combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a
unified text.
B. Appropriateness in meaning (the right speech act, i.e., complaining, suggesting, etc.)
and in form.
C. Mastery of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that can compensate for
breakdown in communication.
D. Mastery of linguistic code itself.
Task 2. Identify the type of C.C. involved in each of these activities. Justify your
answer.
1. Knowing how to apologize. _____
2. Recognizing paragraph markers in a text. _____
3. Being able to construct conditional clauses. _____
4. Knowing how to use a dictionary. _____
5. Knowing how to interrupt in a conversation. ____
6. Knowing the different possible meanings of the present tense. _____
7. Knowing how to break down the exam material into “studiable” parts. ____
8. Knowing how to structure an oral presentation to be given in class._____
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Based on a previous worksheet created by Emma Dafouz Milne and Begoña Núñez Perucha
(Department of Filología Inglesa I, UCM).
