Communicative competence globally becomes the aim of English language teaching and learning. So far, the aim of any English course should develop students’ communicative competence to the extent that they will be able to express themselves naturally, proficiently and appropriately. This study is conducted to check English language secondary school teachers’ knowledge about communicative competence elements and to what extent they are able to teach communicative competence elements to secondary school students.
The researcher uses a non-probability sampling, taking into account the representativeness of the whole districts of Yaff’ea. Seventy English language teachers (n=70) at secondary schools in Yaff’ea responded to the questionnaire. Moreover, the researcher observed fourteen English language teachers (n=14) to check their classroom practices. The researcher followed the multi-methods research design. Data were collected by using a semi-closed ended questionnaire and a structured classroom observation. Both data were analyzed quantitatively. The validity was checked depending on the pilot study and referees whereas the reliability was checked by using a test-retest method with an interval time of two weeks.
The findings of this study showed that teachers have to some extent good perceptions about communicative competence elements. However, strict contradictions were found between teachers’ perceptions and their actual practice. Moreover, the study revealed that teachers face difficulties in teaching communicative competence with different levels of complexity among its elements. Teachers neglected teaching phonology which is a basic element of linguistic competence as well as they taught vocabulary and grammar using traditional approaches.
With reference to sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence and strategic competence, the study reported similar problems whether in the contradictions between what teachers believe in and what they actually do, or the overwhelmingly neglection of sub-elements. Finally, the study reflects the dominancy that teachers play and the passive orientation for learners.
Table of Contents
1. Chapter One
1.0 Introduction
1.1 English Language Teaching in Yemen
1.1.1 South Yemen
1.1.2 North Yemen
1.1.3 Education System in Yemen after (1990)
1.1.4 English Language Curriculum in Yemen
1.1.5 Crescent English Course for Yemen
1.1.6 Techniques and Procedures Used for Teaching CECY
1.2.1 Challenges of Learning and Teaching in Yemen
1.2.1.1 The Political Conflict
1.2.1.2 Dark Future
1.2.1.3 Cheating
1.2.1.4 Unemployment
1.2.2 Challenges of Teaching English in Yemen
1.2.3 Challenges of Teaching English at Yemeni Secondary Schools
1.3.1 Communicative Competence in Yemen
1.3.2 Communicative Language Teaching in Yemen
1.4.1 Statement of the Problem
1.4.2 Significance of the Study
1.5.1 Objective of the Study
1.5.2 Hypotheses of the Study
1.5.3 Questions of the Study
1.6 Research Methods
1.6.1. Sample
1.6.2 Design and Procedures Used
1.6.3 Description of Data Gathering Instruments
16.3.1 Questionnaire
1.6.3.2 Observation
1.6.3.3 Tools and Techniques of Data Collection
1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Research
1.7.1 Scope
1.7.2 Limitation
1.8 Chapters Scheme
1.8.1 Chapter One
1.8.2 Chapter Two
1.7.1 Chapter Three
1.7.2 Chapter Four
1.7.3 Chapter Five
1.9 Definition of the Terms
1.9.1 Communicative Competence
1.9.2 Linguistic (Grammatical) Competence
1.9.3 Sociolinguistic (Pragmatic) Competence
1.9.4 Discourse Competence
1.9.5 Strategic Competence
1.10 Conclusion
1.11 Works Cited
2. Chapter Two: Literature Review
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Communicative Competence
2.1.1 Definition
2.1.2 Background
2.1.3 Competence and Performance
2.2 Theories on Communicative Competence
2.2.1 Chomsky’s Theory of Universal Grammar
2.2.2 Hymes’ Theory of Communicative Competence
2.2.3 Widdowson’s Theory of Use and Usage
2.2.4 Halliday’s Theory of Potentiality
2.3 Models of Communicative Competence
2.3.1 Canale and Swain’s Theoretical Model
2.3.2 Bachman and Palmer’s Framework of Communicative Language Ability
2.3.2.1Organizational Knowledge
(a) Grammatical knowledge
(b) Textual knowledge
2.3.2.2 Pragmatic Knowledge
(a) Functional knowledge
(b) Sociolinguistic knowledge
2.3.3 Celce-Murcia, Dornyei, &Thurrell’s Model
2.3.3.1 Socio-cultural Competence
2.3.3.2 Discourse Competence
2.3.3.3 Linguistic Competence
2.3.3.4 Formulaic Competence
2.3.3.5 Interactional Competence
2.3.3.6 Strategic Competence
2.3.4 The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
2.3.4.1 Linguistic Competence
2.3.4.2 Sociolinguistic Competence
2.3.4.3 Pragmatic Competence
2.3.5 Usó-Juan &Martínez-Flor’s Framework of Integrating the Four Skills
2.3.5.1 Discourse Competence
2.3.5.2 Linguistic Competence
2.3.5.3 Pragmatic Competence
2.3.5.4 Intercultural Competence
2.3.5.5 Strategic Competence
2.4 Communicative Competence Coverage
2.4.1 Linguistic Competence
2.4.1.1 Graphology
2.4.1.2 Phonology
2.4.1.3 Morphology
2.4.1.4 Syntax
2.4.2 Sociolinguistic Competence
2.4.2.1 Rule of politeness
2.4.2.2 Knowledge of genre
2.4.2.3 Sensitivity to difference in dialects or variety
2.4.2.4 Sensitivity to difference in registers
2.4.2.5 Sensitivity to naturalness
2.4.2.6 Ability to interrupt cultural references and figures of speech
2.4.3 Discourse Competence
2.4.3.1 Cohesion
2.4.3.1.1 Reference: (anaphora, cataphora)
2.4.3.1.2 Substitution/ellipsis
2.4.3.1.3 Conjunctions
2.4.3.1.4 Lexical chains/ Parallel Structures
2.4.3.2 Coherence
2.4.3.3 Conversational Structure
2.4.3.4 Deixis
2.4.4 Strategic Competence
2.4.4.1 Types of communicative strategies
2.4.4.2 Avoidance or Reduction Strategies
2.4.4.3 Achievement or Compensatory Strategies
2.4.4.4 Stalling or Time-gaining Strategies
2.5 Previous Studies on Communicative Competence
2.5.1 Pedagogical Focus for Developing Students’ Communicative Competence
2.5.2 Studies Relating to the Importance of Intercultural Communicative Competence
2.5.3 Communicative Competence and Language Skills
2.5.4 Communicative Competence and Input
2.5.5 Communicative Competence and Motivation
2.5.6 Assessing Students’ Communicative Competence
2.6 Teaching Communicative Competence
2.6.1 Linguistic Competence
2.6.2 Sociolinguistic Competence
2.6.3 Discourse Competence
2.6.4 Strategic Competence
2.6.5 Teaching Communicative Competence through the Four Skills
2.6.5.1 Teaching Listening Skill to Develop Learners’ Communicative Competence
2.6.5.2 Teaching Speaking Skill to Develop Learners’ Communicative Competence
2.6.5.3 Teaching Reading Skill to Develop Learners’ Communicative Competence
2.6.5.4 Teaching Writing Skill to Develop Learners’ Communicative competence
2.7 Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
2.7.1 Theoretical Basis of CLT
2.7.2 Principles of CLT
2.7.2.1 The Goals of Language Teaching
2.7.2.2 How Learners Learn a Language
2.7.2.3 The kinds of Classroom Activities that Best Facilitate Learning
2.8 The Roles of Teachers and Learners in the Classroom
2.9 Curriculum Components of CLT
2.10 Implication of Communicative Language Teaching in Classroom
2.11 Conclusion
2.11Works Cited
3. Chapter Three: Research Methodology
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Research Design and Methods
3.1.1 Research Design
3.2 Sample Design
3.2.1 Nonprobability Sampling
3.2.1.1 Snowball Sampling
3.2.1.2 Quota Sampling
3.2.1.3 Convenience Sampling
3.3 Method Design
3.3.1 Multi-methods Approach
3.3.2 Triangulation
3.3.3 Methods Triangulation
3.4 Quantitative Paradigm
3.4.1 Questionnaire
3.4.1.1 Questionnaire Design
3.4.1.2 Questionnaire Referee
3.4.1.3 Questionnaire Piloting
3.4.1.4 Questionnaire Administration
3.4.2 Classroom Observation Checklist
3.4.2.1 Piloting the Observation Checklist
3.4.2.2 Administrating the Classroom Observation Checklist
3.4.3 Validity and Reliability
3.4.3.1 Reliability in Quantitative Research
3.4.3.2 Validity in Quantitative Research
3.4.3.2.1 Face Validity
3.4.3.2.2 Content Validity
3.4.3.2.3 Criterion (Related) Validity
3.4.3.3 Validity and Reliability of the Questionnaire
3.4.3.3.1 Test-Retest
3.4.3.4 Validity and Reliability of the Observation Checklist
3.4.3.4.1 Inter-rater Reliability
3.5 Ethical Consideration
3.6 Analysis of Data
3.6.1 Quantitative Analysis
3.6.1.1 Preparing the Data for Analysis
3.6.1.2 Analyzing the Data
3.7 Conclusion
3.8 Works Cited
4. Chapter Four: Data Analyses and Interpretations
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Questionnaire findings
4.1.1 Teachers’ Responses to/ or Teachers’ Perceptions about Linguistic Competence Items
4.1.1.1 a) Teaching English grammar rules is necessary to secondary school students
4.1.1.1 b) If you selected a positive answer, what is the best way to teach grammar?
4.1.1.2 a) Teaching new English words is best through:
4.1.1.2 b)Which of the above list do you usually use to introduce new words to your students?
4.1.1.3 To understand and produce isolated sentences in English, students need to get knowledge in:
4.1.1.4 Which areas of English phonology do you focus on?
4.1.2 Teachers’ Responses to/ or Teachers’ Perceptions about Discourse Competence Items
4.1.2.1 a) To understand and produce English texts in writing or speaking, students need to get knowledge in:
4.1.2.1. b) Please specify which of the above choices do you explain to your students?
4.1.2.2 a) To organize a written paragraph or a spoken utterance in a logical structure, students need to get knowledge in:
4.1.2.2 b) Which element(s) of the above choices do you make your students familiar with?
4.1.2.3 To organize a written paragraph or spoken conversation in a meaningful way, students need to get knowledge in:
4.1.2.4 To participate effectively in a conversation, students need to get knowledge in:
4.1.3 Teachers’ Responses to/ or Teachers’ Perceptions about Strategic Competence Items
4.1.3.1a) Do you motivate your students to use communicative strategies?
4.1.3.1 b) If you selected yes, how often do you motivate your students to use communicative strategies?
4.1.3.2 Which of the following strategies can help them keep the communicative channel open?
4.1.4 Teachers’ Responses to/ or teachers’ Perceptions about Sociolinguistic Competence Items
4.1.4.1 a) To understand the intention of native speakers in their talks or writings, students need to get knowledge in:
4.1.4.1 b) Which elements of the above choices do you focus during your classroom teaching?
4.1.5 Teachers’ Responses to/ or Teachers’ Perceptions about Fluency/Accuracy Items
4.1.5.1 When students participate in classroom activities, teachers focus on:
4.1.5.2 When students make mistakes in grammar during their talk in English:
4.1.5.3 Which types of students’ errors should teachers correct directly?
4.1.6 Teachers’ Responses to/ or Teachers’ Perceptions about their Roles inside Class Items
4.1.6.1 The roles of teacher change depending on the tasks or activity s/he is teaching to class.
4.1.6.2 Which role do you play mostly in your classroom?
4.1.7 Teachers’ Responses to/ or Teachers’ Perceptions about Communicative Competence/Communicative Language Teaching Items
4.1.7.1 a) Are you familiar with the term " Communicative Competence"?
4.1.7.1 b) If your answer was yes, where have you got that familiarity?
4.1.7.2 The purpose of English Language Teaching is to enhance students’ communicative competence?
4.1.7.3 Communicative Language Teaching is the best teaching method for developing students’ communicative competence
4.1.7.4 Using technology in teaching English can motivate students to learn language better
4.2 Presentation of the Observation Checklist Results
4.2.1Teaching Grammar
4.2.2 Teaching Vocabulary
4.2.3 Teaching Areas of Phonology
4.2.4 Teaching Cohesion Elements
4.2.5 Teaching Coherence Elements
4.2.6 Teaching Conversation Structures
4.2.7 Focusing on Strategic Competence
4.2.8 Teaching Language Functions
4.2.9 Teaching Culture
4.2.10 Teaching Registers of English
4.2.11 Teaching Varieties of English
4.2.12 Fluency versa Accuracy
4.2.13 Teachers’ Role inside classroom
4.3 Summary of the Findings
4.3.1 Linguistic Competence
4.3.1.1 Grammar
4.3.1.2 Vocabulary
4.3.1.3 Phonology
4.3.2 Discourse Competence
4.3.3 Strategic Competence
4.3.4 Sociolinguistic Competence
4.3.5 Fluency versus Accuracy
4.3.6 Teachers’ Roles inside Classroom
4.3.7 Communicative Language Teaching
4.4 Works Cited
5. Chapter Five: Conclusions, Discussions and Recommendations
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Discussion
5.1.1 How do Teachers Teach Grammar?
5.1.2 How do Teachers Teach Vocabulary?
5.1.2.1 The First Hypothesis
5.1.3 To What Extent do Teachers Focus on Developing Students’ Discourses Competence?
5.1.3.1 The Second Hypothesis
5.1.4 To What Extent do Teachers Focus on Developing Students’ Strategic Competence?
5.1.4.1 The Third Hypothesis
5.1.5 To What Extent do Teachers Pay Attention to Develop students’ Pragmatic Competence?
5.1.5.1 The Fourth Hypothesis
5.1.6 To What Extent do Teachers focus on Students’ fluency/ accuracy?
5.1.7 What are the Roles of the Teachers’ inside the Classes?
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations and Suggestions
5.3.1 Further Researches
5.3.2 Implications of the findings
5. 3. 3 Limitations of the Study
5.4 Works Cited
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to investigate the current state of communicative competence in teaching English at secondary schools in the Yaff'ea district of Yemen. It specifically examines the gap between teachers' theoretical perceptions of communicative competence and their actual classroom practices, and explores the challenges hindering the implementation of a communicative approach.
- Assessment of teachers' knowledge of communicative competence components.
- Analysis of classroom practices and teacher-learner interaction patterns.
- Investigation of challenges (e.g., political conflict, teaching resources, traditional pedagogy) in English language education.
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of the "Crescent English Course for Yemen" curriculum.
- Comparison of teachers' stated beliefs vs. observed teaching behaviors.
Excerpt from the Book
1.0 Introduction
People usually communicate with others purposefully. Light sets up four functions of communication: Initially, we talk to express our wants and needs. Then, we talk to achieve social closeness. Moreover, people talk to express their changeable goals and share information. Finally, we talk to achieve social etiquette (Light 62). Notwithstanding how efficient people are in achieving the four purposes listed above, they just talk. Efficiency and appropriacy differ from an individual to another. The more that an individual is competent in communication, the more likely that such purposes will be achieved. However, Light and Mcnaughton state that an individual’s competence in communication may differ from one setting to another “depending on the partners, environments, and communication goals” (3).
Communicative competence revolves around many areas of social life. It brings up understanding and coexistence amongst people of different language backgrounds. Being a competent in communication according to Zaščerinska participates in gaining others’ respect, making peace and even getting job opportunities to work, study and appointing higher positions in society (1). Moreover, it reminds us about the fundamentality of human life (Light 61). A competent communicator centralizes and correlates to social intelligence (Wilkinson 305). Communicative competence not only achieves individual’s interpersonal relations, but also strengthens social adjustment (Morreale, Osborn, and Pearson 2).
Many countries offer scholarships for students all over the globe for the sake of getting in touch with their cultures and acquiring competence in their languages (Jackson). Therefore, such students would come back to their countries as ambassadors of the host countries they lived in for some times. Moreover, communicative competence establishes bridges of understanding with remote nations, different religious belongings, cultural diversity (Bin-Hady and Kanade; Chen) and participating in resolving political, economic, humanitarian and environmental obstacles.
Summary of Chapters
1. Chapter One: This chapter introduces the study, covering the background of English language teaching in Yemen, the challenges in the Yaff'ea district, research objectives, hypotheses, methods, and definitions of key terms.
2. Chapter Two: Literature Review: This chapter provides a comprehensive review of theories and models of communicative competence, as well as an exploration of language teaching methods and previous studies related to communicative language teaching.
3. Chapter Three: Research Methodology: This chapter details the research design, including the multi-methods approach (questionnaire and observation), sampling strategies, and the procedures for data collection and analysis.
4. Chapter Four: Data Analyses and Interpretations: This chapter presents the findings from both the questionnaire and the observation checklist, analyzing teachers' beliefs and their actual classroom performance regarding communicative competence.
5. Chapter Five: Conclusions, Discussions and Recommendations: This chapter synthesizes the study's findings, evaluates the hypotheses, and provides recommendations for improving English language instruction in Yaff'ea, including teacher training and curriculum development.
Keywords
Communicative competence, linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, strategic competence, intercultural competence, communicative language teaching, secondary school teachers, Yaff'ea district, Yemen, language model, teaching strategies, four language skills, classroom observation, teacher methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
This research investigates the implementation and understanding of communicative competence among English language teachers in secondary schools within the Yaff'ea district of Yemen.
What are the central thematic areas of the study?
The study centers on teachers' perceptions of communicative competence elements (linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic), the contradictions between those perceptions and their actual classroom practices, and the challenges (social, political, and pedagogical) facing English language teaching in this region.
What is the primary objective of the study?
The primary goal is to assess how well teachers understand and teach the components of communicative competence and to identify barriers preventing students from achieving communicative proficiency in English.
What scientific methods were employed?
The researcher used a multi-method research design, combining quantitative data from a semi-closed questionnaire with structured classroom observations to triangulate the findings.
What is covered in the main section of the thesis?
The main part of the thesis reviews the literature on communicative competence theories, defines the research problem and methodology, presents the quantitative data analyses of teachers' responses and observations, and culminates in a discussion of results and recommendations for policy and practice.
What are the key terms that define this work?
The study is characterized by concepts such as communicative competence, linguistic and sociolinguistic competence, discourse analysis, strategic competence, and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
How does the political situation in Yemen affect the research context?
The study highlights how the political conflict, civil instability, and resulting lack of resources have directly and indirectly disrupted education, led to school closures, and hindered teachers' ability to implement modern communicative techniques.
What significant conclusion does the author reach regarding the gap between teacher belief and practice?
The research concludes that while a significant portion of teachers show positive perceptions and theoretical awareness of communicative competence, their actual teaching continues to rely heavily on traditional Grammar Translation Methods, indicating a failure to translate knowledge into classroom practice.
- Citation du texte
- Wagdi Bin Hady (Auteur), 2016, Communicative Competence in Teaching English at Secondary Schools. A Critical Investigation in Yaff'ae District of Yemen, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/375138
