COURSE OUTCOME 3: “Competence, Speech Contexts, Styles, & Acts”
➢ LESSON 1 - Communicative Competence
➢ LESSON 2 - Strategies in Various Speech Context
➢ LESSON 3 - Types of Speech Styles
➢ LESSON 4 - Types of Speech Acts
CITATION & REFERENCES
Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.),
Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings (pp. 269–293). Penguin Books.
Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.
Joos, M. (1967). The Five Clocks: A Linguistic Excursion into the Five Styles of English Usage.
Harcourt, Brace & World.
Austin, J. L. (1962). How to Do Things with Words. Oxford University Press.
Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge University
Press.
Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second
language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1–47.
, LESSON 1: Communicative Competence
Communicative competence is the overall ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in
real-life situations. It goes beyond simply knowing grammar rules — it means knowing what to say, how
to say it, when to say it, and to whom.
Linguist Dell Hymes introduced this concept in the 1960s to argue that being a competent
communicator requires more than grammatical correctness; it requires social and cultural know-how as
well.
Communicative competence is generally broken into four components: [Gc-Sc-Sc-Dc]
1. Grammatical (Linguistic) Competence — correct use of vocabulary, grammar,
pronunciation, and sentence structure.
2. Sociolinguistic Competence — the ability to adjust language appropriately based on the
social situation, relationship with the listener, and cultural context (e.g., speaking more
formally to a boss than to a friend).
3. Strategic Competence — the ability to keep communication going and repair
misunderstandings,
such as by rephrasing an idea or asking for clarification when communication breaks down.
4. Discourse Competence — the ability to organize individual sentences into a coherent,
connected, and logical larger message (a well-structured conversation, story, or speech).
A truly communicatively competent speaker can seamlessly combine all four — using correct grammar,
matching the right tone for the situation, recovering gracefully from misunderstandings, and organizing
their ideas clearly.