Teaching intercultural communicative competence through the four skills

Abstract

Nowadays, the most accepted instructional framework in second or foreign language (L2) programs is Communicative Language Teaching, whose main goal is to increase learners' communicative competence. This theoretical term means being able to use the linguistic system effectively and appropriately in the target language and culture. However, the implementation of a communicative methodology is not an easy task since it requires an understanding of the integrated nature of the theoretical concept of communicative competence (Celce-Murcia and Olshtain, 2005). Therefore, it is the main goal of this paper to help language teachers better understand such a theoretical concept for improving their classroom practices. In so doing, we first provide an explanation of the theoretical concept of communicative competence. Then, a current framework of communicative competence, which aims at highlighting the function of the four macro-skills to build discourse competence for communicative purposes and reflects our conceptualization of language teaching is briefly discussed (Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor, 2006a). Finally, on the basis of this framework, and taking the intercultural component as the point of departure, a variety of activities in the four language skills are presented for teaching learners intercultural communicative competence. 158 Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses

Some Aspects of Culture Teaching in Foreign Language and ESP Classes: Cultural Scripts and Small Talk

“…The current paper adheres to the classifications of three scholars - Byram (1998) and Usó-Juan andMartínez-Flor (2008) -andcompares them. Byram (1998) distinguishes three components of the communicative competence: linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse, whereas Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor (2008) single out two more abilities which are intercultural and strategic competences.…”

“…In the 1970s, the communicative approach to foreign language teaching, whose main goal was to develop learners' communicative competence, was introduced. In 1972, Dell Hymes (discussed in Hyde 1998;Usó-Juan, Martínez-Flor 2008), a sociolinguist and an anthropologist, was the first to assert that language and culture were inseparable. He viewed language as a medium to express culture of a particular cultural group.…”

“…However, as soon as a new communicative methodology was proposed, the foreign language learner had to know how to appropriately use both rules of grammar and rules of language in a given context (Usó-Juan, Martínez-Flor 2008). In a similar vein, many other linguists and scholars admitted that a good command of the vocabulary and grammar does not necessarily lead to good mastery of a language.…”

“…Through the years, many researchers such as Canale andSwain (1980), Canale (1983), Bachman (1990) and Celce-Murcia (1995) et al attempted to determine the specific components of the construct of the communicative competence (Usó-Juan, Martínez-Flor 2008).…”

“…The linguistic competence is referred to the ability to apply the rules of the language to produce and interpret a spoken or written text. The sociolinguistic competence, or pragmatic as suggested by Usó-Juan and Martínez-Flor (2008), is defined as the speaker's knowledge of how to express appropriate messages within the social and cultural context of communication in which they are produced. The discourse competence is the ability to select and sequence utterances or sentences to produce a cohesive and coherent spoken or written text given a particular purpose and situational context.…”