Communicative Competence. What is it?

Until the early 60s, the idea of competence was always regarded as a matter of grammatical and structural knowledge when the issue was language acquisition. Among many linguists of his time, Hymes brings to light out the idea of cultural interference. He states that structure is not enough to define a speaker’s competence in the process of language learning. Knowing what to say, to whom, when, where and in what circumstances plays a very important role in a communicative process.
Later, Savignon suggested that communicative competence employs different levels or degrees which classify competence in the process as relative, not absolute and depending on different contexts involving mutual cooperation of participants in the communication process. It is played out in specific contexts in a infinity variety of situations and success will depend on one’s understanding of the context. Competence requires adequate choices of register and style in terms of the situation the interaction involves.
All these features may be applied to both written and spoken language and it was Canale and Swain in the early 80s who came up with a framework which tells us about the notions of communicative competence relating it to four areas of knowledge and skills. According to them, competence can be: grammatical, sociolinguistic, discursive and strategic. These four features of communicative competence will help us enhance our views over the process of language learning in different contexts of ESL and EFL classes. So what are these competences?
The Grammatical Competence works our structural knowledge and linguistic comprehension of a language. It deals with the recognition of vocabulary, the rules of word and sentence formation, verb tenses, pronunciation and spelling. Hymes would say that the rules of grammar are useless without the rules of language, whereas Canale and Swain would state the opposite is also truth; language rules may be useless without grammar.
The Sociolinguistic Competence brings the idea of production and appropriacy. It enables the speakers to vary their language according to the context and addressee. It points out different levels of politeness and formality or informality to establish credibility. It works the learner’s language repertory in different situations.
The Strategic Competence is about strategies the learner can use in order to compensate for possible breakdowns in communication which may occur due to limiting factors such as insufficient skill in one or another component of communicative competence. It allows, for example, speakers to keep the interaction and communication flow in order to satisfy interlocutors at a given situation.
All these aspects of communicative competence should vary according to a function of the particular learners. For instance, vocabulary may be more important for ESL beginners than grammar is. However, accuracy and grammar structure may become more important as students gain proficiency in English. Teachers should take into account a number of learners’ variables such as motivation, interests, age, learning style and the students’ personality. These may shape which communicative teachers should stress with different classes. A way to do it is to create activities that promote students’ exposure and use of diverse components of the communicative competences discussed here.