CC BY
25
UDC 81.23
DOI 10.1555/2409-3203-2017-0-12-212-214
DEVELOPING ELLs' COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE THROUGH DIALOGUES
Robyn North
Sydney College of Business and Information Technology Australia
Sydney, Australia north_robyn@hotmail.com
Abstract: This paper discusses the term 'communicative competence' which linguistically refers to the speaker's ability to use the appropriate language in the right context for the right purpose. Many language courses and programmes are now designed for achieving English language learners' (ELLs') development of their communicative competence. However, this goal seems to be very-far reaching in foreign contexts if this concept is to be interpreted in terms of native speaker's level.
Key words: linguistic and communicative competence, communicative failures.
This article is written as a follow-up thought on a series of online seminars "Life Abroad" which we have held this term in cooperation with the lecturers of Achinsk branch of Krasnoyarsk state agrarian university. The aim of the seminars is to arouse the students' awareness of the need for foreign language learning and overcoming difficulties (psychological as well as linguistic ones) in communication. The task is to encourage using English in a natural context and to promote the desire of students to overcome communication failures, if any. It has been commonly recognised in the language teaching profession that it is not enough for students to master grammar, lexis and phonology of a foreign language; they must also acquire the ability to use the language culturally and socially in appropriate ways.
Communicating effectively in a language requires the speaker's good understanding of linguistic, sociolinguistic and socio-cultural aspects of that language. This understanding will enable him to use the right language in the right context for the right purpose and then he can be referred to as communicatively competent. However, the realization of this level of knowledge and understanding is always a challenge for foreign language learners. They often struggle through their journey towards the achievement of this goal and are often met with many obstacles and so-called communicative failures.
It should be noted that dialogical speech is much more difficult to master than monological, because you need to be prepared for the spontaneity of the statements. In the seminars we held, the main focus is on fluency more than accuracy so that to increase students' confidence with communication in target language. Nowadays, with the humanization in pedagogy, mistakes are treated differently. Mistake is regarded not as a result of incorrect action that comes from poor judgment, inadequate knowledge, or inattention, which is based on the unwillingness or inability of the student to work. Mistakes are considered as a fact indicating that the student needs help and extra practice. Thus, for a teacher in the educational process, it is important to help the student break free from the fear of mistakes and treat them as temporary, as a stimulus to the efforts to achieve personal meaningful goals.
When analyzing the results of the seminar, we identified the following difficulties that caused the violations, and in some cases, rejection of the foreign language communication. They are: lack of language means typical for the target socioculture; lack of skills of discussion and argumentation; lack of conversational skills; fear to show one's own lack of knowledge of a foreign language; embarrassment to speak English in front of the audience. This practice has led
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us to conclusion that, when teaching dialogue, more attention should be paid to teaching spontaneous responses to cues of a partner, as well as the ability to implement the function of speech through various language and speech means.
The failures, which are fixed by us in the students' speech as interlocutors, are linguistic communicative failures. This, in turn, leads to low motivation of learning a foreign language and as a result, insufficient volume of foreign language communicative competence, which does not allow ELLs to realize their potential to the fullest.
Students learning English are typically engaged with a number of activities that encourage their use of the four main language skills: speaking, listening, writing and reading. These skills aim to develop their communicative competence, but can also encourage their cross-cultural awareness and understanding. Communicative competence means being able to use a linguistic system appropriately and effectively in the target language and culture. For successful communication it is also necessary to have some sociocultural knowledge, the basic rules of behavior in standard situations. The interlocutor must always be ready not only to know and accept the culture of another country, recognizing its right to exist, but on the basis of this knowledge to represent their country and its culture. The ability to constructively defend their own position, not humiliating others and falling into dependence on other people's priorities, is an important factor in the development of communication skills.
Recent publications emphasise the significance of the intercultural dimension in language teaching because it helps language learners to communicate or interact with people of other languages and to be aware of their own identities and those of their interlocutors. According to Fred (1996), language learners who become 'intercultural speakers' will be successful in communicating information and also in developing human relationships with individuals of other cultures and languages. According to Rus (2003), developing intercultural communication in language teaching means identifying the following aims: firstly, to give students intercultural competence and linguistic competence; secondly, to prepare them for interaction with speakers of other cultures; thirdly, to enable them to accept and understand individuals from other societies as individuals with other distinctive values, behaviours and perspectives; and finally, to help them view such interaction in a positive light.
The seminars we held are aimed to assist in developing speaking skills with a special focus on intercultural components. These activities include face-to-face communication and thinking up questions for a native speaker and role-playing. Face-to-face communication with the speakers of different languages is an activity especially appropriate to developing the intercultural communicative competence of foreign learners as students are engaged in face-to-face discussions on particular cultural topics. Thinking up questions for a visiting native speaker is an interesting and productive activity. Students work in groups to formulate questions that they then use to 'interview' the native speaker. Questions must be relevant to a particular topic such as education, social life or everyday habits in the native speaker's country. This activity can help foreign learners to get an insight into life in a foreign country thus minimising cultural shock when the students travel abroad.
Thus, within the model communication there is an opportunity to overcome failures, especially socio-psychological ones, that hinder the development of the student's individuality and do not allow the successful building up of a foreign language communicative competence. Such constraints include shyness, self-doubt, fear of communication. Students, especially freshmen, find it difficult to adapt to the new social environment. The learning process will be more effective if the teacher takes into account the personal characteristics of the students in the learning process and makes sure that students gain self-confidence through communication in a foreign language. Strengthening the self-esteem of trainees is one of the main tasks of a teacher. Providing timely and thoughtful psychological and methodological assistance in overcoming communicative failures in foreign language communication, lecturers eliminate various kinds of
difficulties in the learning process, allowing students to achieve higher scores in learning a foreign language.
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