TOPIC 3.

DEVELOPMENT OF LINGUISTIC SKILLS: ORAL AND WRITTEN, EXPRESSION AND

COMPREHENSION. THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH.

INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION
2.DEVELOPMENT OF LINGUISTIC SKILLS

2.1 ORAL AND WRITTEN COMPREHENSION

2.1.1ORAL COMPREHENSION: LISTENING

2.1.2 WRITTEN COMPREHENSION: READING

2.1.3 A BASIC METHODOLOGICAL MODEL FOR TEACHING RECEPTIVE
SKILLS

2.2 ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION

2.2.1. ORAL EXPRESSION: SPEAKING

2.2.2. WRITTEN EXPRESSION: WRITING

3. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH

4. DIDACTIC IMPLICATIONS

5. CONCLUSION

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. INTRODUCTION

In order to master a language, we need to understand its native speakers and also to make ourselves
understood. It involves being able to encode oral and written messages (speaking and writing) and to
decode oral and written messages (listening and reading). In order to communicate effectively,
communicative competence is essential.

Since the 1970’s, the belief that language is a means of communication has inspired a new approach in
English teaching: the Communicative Approach. Due to its influence, nowadays language is taught and
learnt in a very practical way in the classroom. Our pupils will practise the four basic skills from a
communicative point of view.
We deal with an essential topic since successful communication, which is the basis of understanding
among human beings, depends on communicative competence and the mastery of the four linguistic
skills. The Foreign Language Curriculum for Primary Education emphasizes the significance of this
topic by including in its objectives, blocks of contents and assessment criteria the development of
listening, speaking, reading and writing, as well as paying attention to the components of
communicative competence: the use of strategies, linguistic and socio-cultural aspects, etc
Based on this view, we will focus on analysing the development of the four linguistic skills,
considering the strategies or sub-skills that our pupils need in order to master them, and to the most
appropriate methodology and activities to use in the classroom. the theoretical framework of
communicative competence and some didactic implications. Afterwards we will deal with the
Comunicative Competence according to different linguistics such as Chomsky, Hymes, Canale and
Swaim studies.
Finally, we will compile the main conclusions and bibliography used to develop this topic.

2. DEVELOPMENT OF LINGUISTIC SKILLS.

Our current legislation, RD 1513/06, in the field of foreign languages and following the European Council
suggestions, establishes that the main goal in English area is that students become competent in the four skills or
basic abilities( oral and written comprehension and expression) in order to achieve the communicative
competence.

Teachers tend to talk about the way we use language in terms of four skills, receptive skills -listening and
reading- and productive skills -speaking and writing. In this line, it makes no sense to talk about skills in
isolation since, as Eli Hinkel points out, " in meaningful communication, people employ incremental language
skills not in isolation, but at least in tandem". For instance, when we are engaged in conversation, we are bound
to listen as well as speak because otherwise we could not interact with the person we are speaking to. Lecturers
frequently rely on notes they have written previously, and people listening to lectures often write notes of their
own. Even, reading generally thought of as a private activity often provokes conversation and comment. Much
today's communication is electronic, so when we read what people send to us then we reply fairly instantly by
means of writing. Clearly, it would make no sense to teach each skill in isolation since receptive skills and
productive skills feed off each other in a number of ways.

In the classroom, we will use different materials. In this sense, authentic material is language that is not created
for the teaching of a language. It is normal, natural language used y native or competent speakers of a language.
We must be aware that our students will encounter authentic material in real life. Therefore, it is unlikely to be
simplified or spoken slowly.
Authentic material, which has been carelessly chosen, can be extremely demotivating for students since they
will not understand it. Therefore, we must provide our students with material they are able to understand.
Following Krashen's input+1 hypothesis, input language and material must be roughly-tuned, that is slightly
higher than the level student possess. Therefore, teachers can design reading and listening texts from authentic
materials, however, it is essential these texts to be approximated to authentic language use, where language may
be simplified, but it must not be unnatural.

For the teaching of these 4 skills, Krashen's Natural Order Hypothesis establishes that learning a foreign
language should be similar to the learning of the mother tongue: babies or very young infants listen to the
sounds they hear without understanding, then little by little they can understand words. As they grow up, they
start to speak by imitation and finally they learn to read and write by instruction. In contrast, oral skills come first
and they are naturally acquired.

2.1 ORAL AND WRITTEN COMPREHENSION

2.1.1 ORAL COMPREHENSION: LISTENING

This is the first skill that children develop when learning a new language. Clearly, we cannot expect
our pupils to produce a sound which does not exist in their mother tongue, or to produce a natural
sentence using the stress, rhythm and intonation of a native speaker of the foreign language without
first providing them with a model of the form they are to produce ( = que han de producir). It is not
possible to produce satisfactorily what one has not heard yet. The logical step, then, is to help our
students to achieve oral fluency by first developing their ability to listen.

/***Resumir mucho mucho mucho esto de from hearing to understanding

a)From hearing to understanding

At first sight, we might think that listening is a passive skill, and speaking an active one. But this is not
really true, since the decoding of the message (on the part of the listener) requires active participation.
We might say that “hearing” is a passive condition, but “listening”, which implies understanding, is an
active process. Understanding is usually signalled in a face-to-face conversation by the nods, glances,
body-movements and phatic noises of the listener (sounds such as hmmm, aha! etc). This visual and
verbal signalling confirms to the speaker that the listener is understanding.

The first stage in the listening skill process is ear-training. Ear-training is different from listening.
Listening implies understanding or trying to make sense of what you are hearing, whereas ear-training
is focused on the characteristics of the spoken language. Its main aim is that our students learn about
sound (to distinguish different sounds), stress (how it modifies the meaning), the tone of voice(how
the mood influences meaning) and intonation( to distinguish questions, commands, etc).
Ear-training is a first step in listening comprehension that precedes “listening”. But in fact, the two are
inseparable and whenever we are listening we are also “training our ears” or our “hearing”. For
example, an 9-year old child who has already had several years of English at school needs to be ear-
trained for intonation and stress patterns.
Ear-training as a first stage in listening comprehension refers mainly to the need of ear-training for
sounds. This, of course, is very important since there are a lot more vowels in English (12) than in
Spanish (5).
***/
a)Types of listening
If we want our pupils to be efficient listeners in English we must give them enough practice in both
intensive and extensive listening ( J. Harmer):
Extensive listening is usually chosen by students in order to listen for pleasure and general language
improvement, in a leisurely way. In addition, it normally involves longer audio books, songs in which
students are not required to understand every single word they listen to. This type of listening
frequently takes place when students are on their own.
Intensive listening is close to ear-training. It tends to be more concentrated; less relaxed, and often
dedicated not so much to pleasure as to the achievement of a study goal. For example, if we feel that
our pupils are not producing satisfactorily a certain sound or if they have not encountered it yet, we can
get them to listen carefully for the sound in a given passage, as a first step towards imitation, then
production of the sound. This is often done with the help and/ or intervention of the teacher.

b) Listening strategies
Foreign language learners at lower levels of proficiency need to rely on listening strategies to
assist them in understanding the message. J. Brewster mentions some important listening
strategies:
1. Predicting and guessing information using their prior knowledge: Use pictures to
encourage them to guess the topic, language used, what comes next,...
2. Working out the meaning from context.
3. Recognising discourse patterns and markers.
4. Listening for general understanding or listening for gist: Students get a general view
of the structure and information.
5. Listening for specific information: Students pick the information required.

As regards the role of the teacher, according to J. Harmer, we need to say that it requires patience,
imagination and skill to create an interesting environment for young learners to develop confidence in
listening. The teacher’s role is fourfold:
1. Organiser: we need to tell students exactly what their listening purpose is and give them clear
instructions about how to achieve it.
2. Machine operator: when we use audio material, we need to be as efficient as possible in the
way we use the audio player.
3. Feedback organiser: when students have completed the task, we should lead a feedback
session to check that they have completed it successfully.
4. Prompter: when students have listened to a recording for comprehension purposes, we can
prompt them listen to it again in order to notice a variety of language and spoken features.

2.1.2 WRITTEN COMPREHENSION: READING

Reading or written comprehension can be defined as a complex active process that involves
the recognition of graphemes to identify the lexemes they correspond to.
Reading in Spanish is quite different than reading in English. Obviously, learning to read in Spanish is
easier because Spanish spelling and pronunciation are much more consistent than English spelling-
pronunciation. However, our law on education considers that learning reading skills in one language
does not interfere with a second language. On the contrary, it is supported the idea that the skills learnt
for reading in mother tongue can be applied to other languages and even reinforce them.

Reading strategies

We must realize that reading is not to know the oral form of words but understanding. To
reach understanding it is required the integration of phoneme awareness, phonics, reading
fluency, and reading comprehension strategies. Each of these skills are necessary and none are
sufficient on their own. They must be integrated through consistent and frequent practice.
Learning to read is not a natural process, it requires systematic instruction.

When children are listening to spoken messages they are trying to understand and interpret
information in a similar way to when they are trying to understand and interpret written
messages. This means they will often use similar strategies in listening and reading tasks.
Researches have find out that actively encouraging learners to use strategies helps them
understand both spoken and written passages more effectively. Therefore, prediction,
deduction from context, recognition of patterns, skimming- reading for gist- and scanning-
reading for specific information- strategies must be developed.

The application of these strategies will lead students to evolve in the process of reading
proficiency. The first stage is mechanical reading, which involves the identification of words.
Secondly, understanding reading refers to the comprehension of global and specific
information of the text. The last stage is interpretative reading. At this stage the reader thinks
about the text and adopts a critical attitude towards it.

Extensive and intensive reading.

As reading is a receptive skill, Jeremy Harmer considers the existence of the same two types
of reading -extensive and intensive reading- both with the same characteristics described in the
listening section. Students can read letters, messages, websites, stories, maps, announcements,
books, etc.
The role of the teacher( J. Harmer) in a reading session can be:
1. Organiser: we need to tell students exactly what their listening purpose is and give them clear
instructions about how to achieve it.
2. Observer: While students are reading we can observe their progress since this will give us
valuable information about how well they are doing individually and collectively.
3. Feedback organiser: when students have completed the task, we should lead a feedback
session to check that they have completed it successfully.
4. Prompter: when students have read a text, we can prompt them to notice language features
within it.
5. Controllers since we can direct them to certain features of text construction, making them
aware of text structures, etc.

2.1.3 A BASIC METHODOLOGICAL MODEL FOR TEACHING RECEPTIVE SKILLS

The Communicative Approach emphasizes student centred activities in a way that ensures children’s
motivation and active participation. In this reagard, J. Brewster proposes a learning-centred approach
to receptive skills which uses activities in a three-stage model: Pre-, while- and post-reading.. Reading
practice may also be derived from listening work and vice versa, or may lead to speaking or writing
situations. In this way, reading or listening become integrated with other language skills.

Pre-Listening: This is a preparatory stage or lead-in. It implies an introduction to the text during which
the teacher might elicit what the children already know about a topic by asking them questions, or
create interest by relating aspects of the content to the children’s own experiences. Some strategies
such as prediction, deduction from verbal and non-verbal context, etc. come into play. At this stage,
we use illustrations, drawings, brain storming, discussion, etc.
a) Generate interest and desire to listen/read the text.
b) Activate or introduce vocabulary
c) Predicting possible information

While Listening: The second stage involves the listening task. The purpose may be simply to
listen/read and enjoy a story, song or rhyme. Teacher introduces activities before the listening or
reading in order to make students aware of the purpose of the listening/reading. Consequently, students
use some strategies in order to solve the tasks.
d) The Teacher establishes a task on global comprehension or SKIMMING : sequencing a
story, matching pictures, answering questions etc.
e) Listen or read for the first time: students familiarise with aspects like the pace of the text,
the accent and a general view of the text.
f) Students compare responses between them. In this way, we encourage students to interact
(cooperative learning) and self and co-evaluate classmates. Teacher direct observation takes place.
g) Teacher- students feedback in order to check that the task is correctly fulfilled.
h) The teacher establishes a second task on specific comprehension or SCANNING: specific
search of sounds, words or facts within a context, such as distinguishing stress and intonation patterns,
finding differences between two versions of a story, gap-filling activities
i) Listen or read for the second time in order to obtain the necessary information for the task.
j) Again, students compare responses between them. In this way, we encourage students to
interact (cooperative learning) and self and co-evaluate classmates. Teacher direct observation takes
place. Teacher-students feedback.

Post-Listening: The third stage is concerned with the consolidation the aspects dealt with in
this session. For example, completing charts, drawing based on what they have read,
participating in a role-play based on the text, doing a crossword based on vocabulary taken
from the text, Children can invent dialogues, etc.

To close this epigraph on receptive skills, it is important to quote some suggestions :

- Choose a text which is close to students interest, with a language level slightly higher than
students' level ( Krashen’s Input+1 hypothesis).
- These activities have to be always fun, useful and motivational for the children, in order to
create a relaxed atmosphere ( Krashen's affective filter hypothesis)
 - Prepare different types of activities (general and specific comprehension) and according to
students’ competence.
- Make sure children understand the vocabulary and the tasks, using feedback.
- Use direct observation and give support if needed while they read.

This type of sessions can be connected with the socio-cultural competence as we can use traditional
songs, rhymes, stories.

2.2 ORAL AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION

2.2.1. ORAL EXPRESSION: SPEAKING

The topics students speak about must be varied and related to their interests. In the early stages, much
of the English learnt will be formulaic language which will enable children to communicate: simple
greetings, social English, routines, classroom language, asking for permission or communicative
strategies. As their competence develops, the expressions to be learnt get more complicated: asking for
directions, giving instructions, inviting, offering, expressing likes and dislikes...

Even though the experience our students may have had in their mother tongue may have been very gratifying, in
the acquisition of a second language, learning to communicate orally entails a certain amount of difficulty.
To speak a foreign language is to be understood by its native speakers The main goal of speaking is
fluency, which can be defined as the ability to express oneself intelligibly, reasonably, with enough
accuracy and without too much hesitation. . We need to consider several aspects to speak properly:
1. Phonetic aspect: Students need to know how to articulate the sounds of the foreign language.
Stress, rhythm and intonation are also important.
2. Morphosyntactic aspect: It involves speaking in a clear way, using fluently the basic structures
of the language.
3. Lexical/semantical aspect: It enables the students to use rich expressions.
4. Social aspect: It refers to the acquisition of some rules of behaviour that will facilitate
communication.

Mistakes are normal when we are learning a foreign language. The teacher must correct them when
needed without undermining the student’s confidence, considering what errors are worth the
interruption. Rhythm is very important in speaking activities.

As regards our students of Primary School level, we must take into account that the level of language
input (listening) is higher than the level of language production (speaking) of the pupils. So we have
many speaking activities used in the first levels that enable pupils to participate with a minimal verbal
response. However in the last levels, pupils are encouraged to begin to manipulate language and
express themselves in a much more autonomous and personal way.

As teacher, we must know the possibility that our students only manage to produce messages orally
when they are ready to do so. So, we should understand that there must be periods of silence, which
should be respected.
According to the previous ideas, we can use a series of easily memorised expressions that will allow
our students to communicate with a minimum of linguistic competence. Among these we can refer to
some expressions that deal with simple greetings, routines, classroom language, asking for permission,
communication strategies. Listening to this language time and time again, students will learn and
realise that they are capable of using it, even more if they are reminded of this language by visual
reinforcements in the classroom. Vigotsky talks about the class as a “collective facilitator” since
classmates can help and encourage children to speak and improve this skill.

BASIC METHODOLOGICAL MODEL FOR TEACHING SPEAKING

a) Activities based on repetition and imitation ( también podríamos hablar de deduction)

After students have been exposed to comprehensible input, the first step is the imitation of the
model, either from the teacher or recorded material. Oral drills provide basic practice and
repetition. To be successful, they need to be fun, lively and varied.
Repetition drills; students have to repeat the sample pattern
Substitution drills; students are required to replace a word or phrase
Transformation drills; e.g. putting affirmative sentences in the negative.
Guessing drills are based on the information gap principle. For example, students think of something
they did the previous weekend and then they take turns to find out what it is by asking.

b) Practice

At this stage, activities are normally done in pairs. Pairwork activities provide students with a
greater amount of meaningful practice. There are various types of pairwork activities: model
dialogue, gapped dialogues, cue words (palabras clave), picture cards, language games,
decision-making activities and questionnaires.

CONTROLLED-GUIDED PRACTICE
The teacher establishes a pattern and students use it in pairs. In these activities there is very
little chance that pupils can make a mistake. The purpose is to train pupils to use correct and
simple language within a situation or context. Some examples of activities are telling the time
looking at a clock, or asking questions about pictures.

It will often be done either in pairs or small groups. At this stage the pupils can also be given
some sort of choice, but this choice is limited. They can practice a model dialogue with
possible variations, make surveys, etc.

c) Production or free practice

The last type of speaking activities is related to autonomous interaction. At this stage our students' aim
is to reach free (or almost free) production of language. These are fully communicative activities and
their important lies in the fact that our students are provided of foreign language usage by themselves.
The opportunity to say something has to be given to them, so that they can see the value and usefulness
of what they are learning. The activities must be geared to the learners’ needs and interests. The teacher
should formulate the task purpose in terms that students can understand and ensure that the instructions
are clear. Teacher control is minimal. Moreover, the teacher should:

- make sure that everybody speaks English.

- set up mixed ability pairs/groups because students can learn from one another. According to
Vigotsky, at this phase our student have got the role of collective facilitator.
- elicit or pre-teach the language that students will need during the activity.
- monitor the task discreetly, intervening only if the students cannot manage on their own.
- At this stage, fluency is placed over accuracy.
- Avoid over-correction, as this can interfere with students’ confidence.
Some activities that help us to apply the previous stages and different grouping are:
//**** Podéis resumir un poco esto***/
Songs, chants, and poems, encourages pupils to mimic the model they hear on the CD. This helps
pupils to master the sounds, rhythms, and intonation of the English language through simple
reproduction.
Games and pair work activities, usually based on a given model, encourage the pupils to begin to
manipulate the language by presenting them with a certain amount of choice and autonomy, albeit
within a fairly controlled situation.
BoardGames also give the opportunity to apply speaking in combination with other skills. This type of
activity promotes especially free production and gives the possibility of organizing the class in
different groupings.
Another excellent activity for the development of speaking skill is a role-play. To carry out a role-play
it is necessary a very clear context, a well-defined communication purpose, an adequate size of the
group, roles adapted to the competency levels of the students and that the experience become
motivational. At the end of the activity it is recommended to carry out a feed back with the students.

2.2.2. WRITTEN EXPRESSION: WRITING

 Writing is the productive skill in the written mode. When we write, we use graphic symbols, which
relate to the sounds that we make when we speak. These symbols have to be arranged according to
certain conventions and norms.
In the first stages of foreign language learning, students are learning to write. Pupils are
involved in guided copying with focus on handwriting, spelling, punctuation and using the
correct words and grammar.

When they are able to write properly, they write to learn: It is creative, and includes choosing
the right vocabulary, grammar, sentence patterns, spelling and layout; having ideas and joining
them. These activities have a communicative purpose and a target audience. Keeping in mind
the students’ age and interests, we could make the following classification:
- Personal writing: diaries, shopping lists, recipes, notes…
- Social writing: e-mails, postcards, letters, invitations...
- Study writing: summaries, exams…
- Creative writing: poetry, riddles, stories, songs…

4.1 What kinds of skills are required to learn to write?

Since writing is much more than the production of graphic symbols, our pupils need to master
(dominar) certain subskills. According to Matthews, the main types of writing sub-skills are the
following:
Graphical or visual skills, including graphemes, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.
Organisational skills include, for example, sequencing ideas and division into paragraphs.
Grammatical skills, for example, using a variety of sentence patterns or models.
Rhetorical skills. These include using cohesive devices such as connectors, to link different parts of a
text.

3.2 Planning a lesson on writing skill.

Product Approach:
This task is based on the imitation of models. It is what J. Harmer calls "parallel writing".
1. model texts are exposed and analysed..
2. controlled practice of the highlighted features takes place.
3. Organisation of ideas.
4. individually, they use the skills, structures and vocabulary students have been taught to produce the
product.
Its advantages: it's easy to achieve written expression and there is lack of mistakes and easy
correction. Its disadvantages: it is mainly based on imitation and there is lack of creativity.

Process Approach:
Process approaches to writing tend to focus more on the classroom activities which promote the
development of language use: brainstorming, group discussion, re-writing. Process-driven approaches
show some similarities with task-based learning :
1. Generating ideas by brainstorming and discussion.
2.Students extend ideas into note form, and judge quality and usefulness of ideas.
3. Students organise ideas (mind map, spidergram, or linear form) that helps students with the
structure of their texts.
4. In pairs or small groups, students write the first draft.
5. Students feedback. Drafts are exchanged, so that students become the readers of other's
work.
 6. Drafts are returned and improvements are made.
7. A final draft is written.
8. The final draft is exposed to the class.
Advantages: it emphasises communicative situations, autonomous learning, cooperative learning,
learning to learn strategies, etc.
Disadvantages: it requires longer and there are more mistakes in the final product. However, It is
important to remember that correction of errors is an important part in our students learning process.

To conclude the analysis of this skill, we referred to J. Harmer who divides written communicative
activities into six groups:
Exchanging letters and emails,
constructing stories,
relaying instructions,
fluency writing,
writing games,
writing reports
and advertisements.
But we can add some others. For example, writing a personal diary, or even keeping a class diary. The
most common type of writing activities is perhaps composition writing. At the end of the 6 th year of
primary education children should be able to write short compositions on topics that are relevant to
their interests.

///*****Esto dejadlo fuera, lo pongo porque es bueno que lo sepáis

Working on writing skills, students can practice in different level depending on their age and
command:
 In First cycle writing practice is focused at the word level. For example, making lists,
completing crosswords, matching labels to pictures, classifying words under headings, or making
personal dictionaries. These activities will also reinforce the learning of spelling and vocabulary.
 The second cycle is mostly centred in the sentence level. At this stage, the following types of
activities can be used: writing captions for pictures, and writing speech bubbles for cartoons, matching
halves of sentences and copying, answering questions, correcting mistakes in written sentences, writing
sentences based on questionnaires, etc. These types of activities will enable our students to construct
sentences in English.
 For the next step, third cycle, the paragraph-level, it is convenient to start by providing
“model paragraphs”, so students see a text and then use it as a basis for their own work. We must also
help our students organise their writing clearly and coherently, using cohesive devices, such as links
and connectors.
****///

3. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE IN ENGLISH

Currently, as we referred to at the outset of this topic, our main objective when teaching a foreign language is
that our students achieve what is called as Communicative Competence. In order to reach a better understanding
about Communicative Competence, what it is and why of its importance, we are going to analyse its origin and
evolution.
Behaviourism (Skinner) was based on the beliefs of teaching a language through imitation, reinforcing and
repetition. In this way, a learner could not utter phrases that had not been heard before, since there wasn't
creation but recreation.
Cognitivism ruined the previous behaviorist ideas in the sixties. Cognitivists established that humans possess
cognition, which enables them to understand and make sense of the rules of a language. In this regard, Chomsky
explained, through Generative Grammar, the existence of certain innate mechanisms in the individuals that
allow them to acquire human language:
-Language acquisition Device (LAD): It is a device that facilitates the learning of the maternal
language. The individual is endowed with it when he/she is born.
-Universal Grammar (UG): To learn any language there must be a common pre-structure among
languages. LAD is activated when the individual is in contact with UG, starting to make sense and learn the
language.

According to the former, Chomsky defined the term competence as the ability to create grammatically correct
sentences.
As Chomsky competence only referred to linguistic competence, DELL HYMES coined in 1972 the term
Communicative Competence due to the fact that linguistic competence was not enough, since “these linguistic
rules” don’t provide knowledge about where, how and when to use language. Dell Hymes developed CC as the
ability to use and interpret language appropriately in a variety of situations. The social dimension of language is
taken into consideration, because “language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship
with society” (Firth, 1984). In addition, he also distinguished 4 aspects in C.C:
- Systematic potential: The speaker possesses a system that has a potential to create a lot of
language.
- Appropriacy: S/he knows what language is appropriate in a given situation, according to the
participants, purpose, channel, topic...
- Occurrence: S/he knows how often something is said in the language and acts accordingly.
- Feasibility: S/he knows whether something is possible in the language or not.

In 1980, CANALE AND SWAIM revised and extended the term Communicative Competence.
The idea is that CC is made up of 4 subcompetences that exist in the language:
1. Grammatical competence: It is concerned with mastery of the language code. It includes
knowledge of the lexical items, syntax, semantics, morphology and phonology.
2. Sociolinguistic competence: It is concerned with the appropriateness of communication
depending on the context including the participants, purposes of the interaction...
3. Discourse competence: It is concerned with the coherence and cohesion of utterances in a
discourse.
4. Strategic competence: It is concerned with the mastery of verbal and non-verbal strategies that
are put into practice to compensate for breakdowns in communication or when
communication fails. For example: asking questions, taking turns, using gestures...

This is now the most commonly used point of view and it is the one adopted by our legislation, RD 1513/06
and 230/07 in Andalucia, for FL teaching. However, our legislation complements these four sub-competences
by a fifth subcompetence, socio-cultural competence, which implies the knowledge of certain socio-cultural
factors necessary to understand and develop a tolerant attitude towards other cultures.

//****
Uno u otro, este es Más breve
- Grammar or linguistic subcompetence. To know the rules of language.
- Discourse subcompetence. Able to organize the speech.
- Sociolinguistic subcompetence. To know the variety of languages depending on the group context
- Strategic subcompetence. Able to manipulate, to change the course of a conversation.
- Sociocultural subcompetence. To know the culture of the language to reach a better understanding about it.
***///
4. DIDACTIC IMPLICATIONS
Once finished the linguistic skills and their teaching-practice in the classroom, we can mention certain didactic
principles to be applied in our classroom, in order to help our students’ acquisition of communicative
competence :
We should work on the four skills in combination, in meaningful situations.
We should focused on the oral skills over the written skills.( Natural Order hypothesis)
We should create a meaningful context and motivational atmosphere( Affective filter hypothesis)
We should promote attitudes of cooperative learning and interaction.
We, teachers, should be facilitators, who provide scaffolding, and students active participants of their
own learning process.
We should use self-evaluation and partner-evaluation as an important stage in the teaching-learning
process.
We should use different techniques such as songs, games, stories, etc... according to our student’s
competence level and needs.

4. CONCLUSION

Nowadays, in contrast to the traditional teaching, our legislation has adopted a communicative focus in the
teaching-learning of a foreign language which is based on the idea of learning to communicate by
communicating. Therefore, as teachers, we must create situations that develop meaningful interactions and
communication, more or less guided, that allow them to exchange information according to topics or centre of
interests that are close to their contexts and lives.
In this regard, we can create a student-centred teaching and an engaging, relaxed and motivational atmosphere
that can help the development of the four basic skills in an integrated way.
Puedes ampliarlo un poco si quieres( por ejemplo diciendo de la importancia de fluency sobre accuracy)

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Jeremy Harmer
Jean Brewster
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk