Sociolinguistic competengcies of first year college students of Thai Nguyen University system basis for creativity enhancement activities

Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn This dissertation entitled SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCIES OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM: BA

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Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn

SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCIES OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM: BASIS FOR

CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School

Batangas State University

Batangas City, Philippines

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This dissertation entitled SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCIES OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM: BASIS FOR CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES prepared and submitted by NGUYEN LAN HUONG in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination

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Title : Sociolinguistics Competencies of First Year College

Students of Thai Nguyen University System: Basic for Creativity Ehancement Activities

Author : Nguyen Lan Huong (Perfume)

Course : Doctor of Philosophy

A descriptive method was employed in this study which includes

a total of 400 students and 57 English teachers who serve as the respondents In this study, a survey questionnaire and researcher made test were used

The data were analyzed using frequency distribution, weighted mean, regression analysis, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

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significance

The study seeks to answers to the following questions:

1 What is the profile of the students in terms of:

1.1 Age

1.2 Gender

1.3 Educational attainment of parents

1.4 Exposure to the English language

1.5 Family income

1.6 Type of high school graduated from?

2 What is the level of students‘ sociolinguistic performance?

3 How do teachers assess the level of students‘ sociolinguistic competencies with reference to?

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performance and teachers‘ assessments on sociolinguistic competencies?

6 Which among the parameters of sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the teachers‘ respondents are strongly manifested by students?

7 What creativity enhancement activities may be prepared towards improved sociolinguistic competencies?

The study found out that most of the respondents belong to age bracket

of 16 to 20 years old, females who graduated from public schools and exposed to English language on university level They mostly come from low to average income earners with both parents are only high school diploma holders

The level of sociolinguistics performance of the respondents‘ was

on the normal range, not so fluent but not pitiable The respondents‘ were able to obtain this level of performance since they have the ability

to know how to speak to different people in different situations Teachers positively assessed that students‘ possessed a good competence in terms of sociolinguistic aspect There is no significant difference on the students‘ level of sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the teachers when grouped according to profile variables There is no

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and the teachers‘ assessment on sociolinguistic competencies The five independent variables (respect, friendliness, confidence, resourcefulness and emotional maturity) was not considered the best predictor of the students sociolinguistic competencies Creativity enhancement activity is planned for implementation and evaluation to improve the students‘ sociolinguistic competence

It is therefore recommened that language students‘ may need to understand pragmatic aspects of the target culture better in order not only to speak grammatically but also to interpret appropriately what they hear and to interact effectively in the class Students‘ may learn how to use and interpret the sociolinguistic rules of English in various contexts by developing awareness on areas in which sociolinguistic system of his/her own culture from those of other cultures Students may develop common speech pattern to bond quickly and establish friendship to other students with different cultures Teachers may need

to incorporate many cross-cultural analyses in their teaching in order to address learners‘ possible communicative problems Teachers may use the creativity enhancement exercises to imrove the sociolinguistics performance Follow-up study may be conducted to focus on the effectiveness of the proposed creativity enhancement activity

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The writer extends her sincerest thanks and appreciations to those people who in one way or another have helped make this piece of work

a reality

Dr.Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, for

establishing the international cooperation relationship between BSU and TNU

Dr Hoang Bich Thao, Director for International Training Center, for her assistance and for supporting the researcher a chance to gain professional growth through completion of this study

The Panel of Examiners, for their honest and meaningful

comments and recommendation to go on with this research work

Dr Amada Banaag, her adviser and mentor, who drained all her effort and her best during the entire preparation and revision of this study

To the Rectors of universities, for their permission to conduct the

research at Thai Nguyen Universities

To the teachers - respondents of the study, for their active involvement and cooperation

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assistance and collaboration in providing information necessary for the completion of the study

To her husband and her children, for inspiring her fulfill her dream

To her ever dearest friends, and relatives who in one way or another, gave her encouragement and remarkable support

N.L.H

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With pride and honor,

This piece of work is lovingly dedicated

To her beloved parents, her loving husband

and to her children

N L H

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Page

ABSTRACT i

ACKNOWLEDGMENT vi

DEDICATION viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

LIST OF TABLES xii

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 6

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study 7

Significance of the Study 8

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature 10

Theoretical Framework 44

Conceptual Framework 47

Hypotheses of the Study 48

Definition of Terms 49

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Research Environment 51

Research Design 53

Subjects of the Study 53

Data Gathering Instrument 56

Data Gathering Procedure 58

Statistical Treatment of Data 59

IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION OF DATA V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS ANRECOMMENDATIONS Summary of Finding 118

Findings 120

Conclusions 126

Recommendations 127

BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES A.Questionnaires For Students 135

B.Questionaire for Teacher 139

C.Test on Socioliguistics Competence 141

D Letters of Request to the Head of Institution 146

E Documents for Validation of Questionaires 149

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H: Photographs of the Approval Test Administration of the Head of Institutions 151

K Photographs of the Teachers-Respondents 152

L Photographs of the Students Respondents 153

CURRICULUM VITAE

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Page

1 Distribution of Population and Sample 54

2 Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms of Age 60

3 Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms of

Gender 61

Educational Attainment of Parents 62

5 Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms

Exposure to English Language 64

6 Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms

Monthly Family Income 65

Type of High School Graduated 66

8 Level of Students‘ Sociolinguistic Performance 68

9 Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Respect as Perceived

by the Teachers 71

10 Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Friendliness as

Perceived by the Teachers 73

11 Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Confidence as

12 Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Resourcefulness as

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13 Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Emotional Maturity as

14 Summary Table on Sociolinguistics Competence as Perceived

by the Teachers 81

15 Difference of Responses on Sociolinguistics Competence in

terms of Respect When Grouped According to Profile

Variables 83

terms of Friendliness When Grouped According to Profile

Variables 86

terms of Confidence When Grouped According to Profile

Variables 88

terms of Resourcefulness When Grouped According to

Profile Variables 90

terms of Emotional Maturity When Grouped According to

Profile Variables 92

20 Relationship Between the Students‘ Performance and

Teachers‘ Assessment on Sociolinguistic Competencies 94

21 Sociolinguistic Parameters of Sociolinguistic Competencies

that Manifest to Students 96

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The ability to speak a language that is not one's own such as English has become a vital skill, and the world's politics and economy ride on the ability of individuals to effectively communicate across cultural boundaries The key to communication lies in successful expression of one's intended meaning, which is not always as easy as one would hope All too often, students who have studied English for years will go to the country where the language is spoken only to find that despite years of study, they are still unable to express their meaning to native speakers To make matters worse, the language learner may say a perfectly grammatical utterance that the native listener can understand, but the speaker might not know the normal social meaning communicated by such an utterance in the circumstance at hand in the target language culture

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Sociolinguistics is a word used to describe the study of the appropriateness of language in different contexts In other words, sociolinguistics is the study of how situational factors such as the cultural context and setting of a speech event affect the choice of what should be said

When language learners learn how to manipulate their utterances to make them appropriate to the situation in which they are speaking, it is said that they have achieved sociolinguistic competence in that language Along these lines, linguistic competence is the term used to describe a learner's abilities in the grammatical aspects of language, including grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary

Good sociolinguistic skills in a second language are important because if one makes serious mistakes in this type of competence, people will not simply think that the person is ignorant but rather, they will think that he is ill-mannered, dishonest, insincere, rude and pushy If the grammar is excellent, the person will be judged all the more severely for sociolinguistic gaffes Misunderstandings result in amusement, contempt, disappointment, shock, bewilderment, serious insult, or ethnic stereotypes

Improving sociolinguistic competence needs to be a part of the language learning process from the beginning Many language schools and language learning programs focus almost exclusively on language

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components such grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, and very little attention is paid to helping students understand how to be appropriate in a new cultural context An assumption is often made that language learners will pick up sociolinguistic competence simply by being exposed to the culture Unfortunately, this is not often the case

The importance of English as a second language in Vietnam cannot

be over-emphasized English is given high prominence in the country as it serves as its unifying factor It is a language of prestige and it is associated with the elite English is used in performing several social functions It is a means of imparting knowledge across all levels of education in the country

It is the language of religion, business transactions, technological advancement as well as the language of other social and secular transactions in Vietnam

In Vietnam, English has been considered an ideal choice of majority of the Vietnamese and has become compulsory subject in many schools from primary to college Especially, since 2006 when Vietnam joined World Trade Organization, which remarked the turning point of the country in the globalization process, English has considerably confirmed its prime role in the association trend Studying English is not only an opportunity but also the duty of almost Vietnamese students in order to adjust themselves to the changes of the world, the area in general and the country in particular

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Whether Vietnamese students like English or not, they who aspires to make it in this world should master English as their second language Mastery of English, a communication tool of wider domain, does not make them less of Vietnamese Students will be able to write scientific economic research proposals and report findings Students can write and defend budget proposals and technical papers or prepare lectures or sermons that could move the hearts of men Indeed, they could be able to produce documents that could spell progress and development

The number of Vietnamese students studying English has increased steadily over the past few years However, to master this language is not

as straightforward as it appears to be Vietnamese learners certainly face numerous unavoidable difficulties such as lack of qualified teachers, learning and teaching materials, and so on It cannot be denied that there

is poor quality of teaching and learning English in Vietnam, especially in rural areas although English learners are of great quantity This seems to

be the consequence of the traditional methods of teaching and learning existing for long in the country

The ultimate goal of language acquisition is to have ―meaningful interaction in the target language—natural communication—in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the message they are conveying and understanding‖ (Krashen, 2007) Hence,

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developing English language learners‘ communicative competence is the focal point of language teaching, and it is critical to learners‘ future development

Thai Nguyen University (TNU) is an educational community of vibrant and learned scholars, professionals, friends, and students Since its establishment in 1994, TNU has become one of Vietnam‘s leading regional Universities It is a conglomeration of colleges which were established earlier as separate institutions of learning

However, Thai Nguyen University, being a mountainous university, receives students mainly from the mountainous and rural areas where English is not improved considerably Entering university, these students have to study English as a compulsory subject right from the first semester and they are evaluated with both communication skill and grammar knowledge High school graduates come into university with fairly high levels of grammatical competence, but often with correspondingly low levels of sociolinguistic competence in terms of foreign language proficiency For many, English appears to be learned as a school subject rather than as a language that is a strong part of many cultures An emphasis on learning language as decontextualized knowledge, as a formal system, seems to takes academic precedence

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Due to such predicaments, the researcher being in English teacher, she has been teaching English for part-time and full-time students who were graduates from various degree courses of different schools During her teaching years, she has recognized that First year college students may not have realized yet how important and relevant English sociolinguistic competencies to their course and to their life For this reason, the researcher was motivated to conduct this study to assess the sociolinguistic competencies of the first- year students at Thai Nguyen University

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to find out the sociolinguistic competencies of year College students of Thai Nguyen University to propose creativity enhancement activities

first-Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:

1 What is the profile of the students in terms of:

1.1 age 1.2 gender 1.3 educational attainment of parents 1.4 exposure to the English language 1.5 Family income

1.6 Type of high school graduated from?

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2 What is the level of students‘ sociolinguistic performance?

3 How do teachers assess the level of students‘ sociolinguistic competencies with reference to:

3.1 respect 3.2 friendliness 3.3 confidence 3.4 resourcefulness 3.5 Emotional maturity?

4 Are there significant differences on the students‘ level of sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the teachers when grouped according to their profile variables?

5 Are there any significant relationships between the students‘ performance and teachers‘ assessments on sociolinguistic competencies?

6 Which among the parameters of sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the teachers- respomdents are strongly manifested by students?

7 What creativity enhancement activities may be prepared towards improved sociolinguistic competencies?

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

The focus of the study is the sociolinguistic competencies of first year college students of Thai Nguyen University for the school year

2013-2014

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The study included 5 universities of TNU namely: Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Thai Nguyen university of Education, Thai Nguyen University of Economic and Business Administration, Thai Nguyen University of Industry Technology, Thai Nguyen University of Science

The respondents of the study were 400 first-year students at Thai

Nguyen University The profile of the student-respondents was described in

terms of: age, gender, educational attainment of parents, exposure English

as a language, family income, types of schools graduated from Another set of respondents include the 57 English teachers of TNU

The junior students, senior students and repeaters will not be included in the study Results of this research study were limited only on the data gathered from the respondents in the Academic Year 2013-2014

in Thai Nguyen University system

Significance of the Study

The study will be deemed significant for its contributions to the following groups or individuals

Educational planners This study will give educational planners an

insight into the ways how to restructure the curriculum into based one to better help students achieve needed skills in English

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proficiency-English Teachers The result of this study will provide teachers

ideas on how to enhance their expertise not only in the preparation and organization of the lesson and teaching materials but also in the different activities and exercise designed to be given to the students

Students They will benefit from the improvement educational

practice to be gained by the teachers through the study

The researcher herself She will be able apply the results of the

study to enhance the language competence of her students and to her own teaching for the benefit of the students

To future researchers They may use the findings of this study as

springboard for conducting similar researches

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the conceptual literature, related literatures, synthesis, theoretical and conceptual framework, definition of terms and the hypothesis

Conceptual Literature

This section reviews some related concepts and theories that serve

as the basis of this study It is consist of topics on communicative competency development, sociolinguistic competencies, creativity and resourcefulness and activity planning

Communicative Competence Development To Widdowson

(1983), communicative competence is a set of strategies or creative procedure for realizing the value of linguistic elements in context of use, an ability to make sense as a participant in discourse, whether spoken or written, by the skillful deployment of shared knowledge or code resources and rules of language use

According to Ellis (1994), communicative competence is "the knowledge that users of a language have internalized to enable them to understand and produce messages in the language"

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Chomsky (1965) on the other hand, proposed the notion of competence and performance where he said that competence is purely the knowledge of the rules of grammar whereas performance is the knowledge

of the rules of use and further stated that without the production of complete description of competence, performance should not be studied

Hymes (1972) referred the widened idea of communicative competence that grammatical knowledge is not enough for communication rather knowledge of language use is essential as well as grammatical knowledge because to interact to others a child must have the ability ―to accomplish a repertoire of speech acts, to take part in speech events and

to evaluate their accomplishment by others‖

Romaine (2000) explains that the term communicative competence

―is intended to replace the dichotomy between competence and performance central to mainstream linguistics‖

He defines communicative competence as being ―a speaker‘s underlying knowledge of the rules of grammar (understood in the widest sense to include phonology, grammar, lexicon, and semantics) and rules for their use in socially appropriate circumstances‖

Gaining good communication skills is always considered one of the most important factors for the trainee teachers in the teaching learning process especially in language teaching

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Meanwhile, Canale and Swain (1990) defined communicative competence in terms of four components: grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence They asserted that these four elements are correlated but relatively independent, and all elements are important and indispensable to successful communication

First, grammatical competence is roughly equal to what Chomsky means by linguistic competence and Hymes‘ ―whether something is possible‖ It refers to the knowledge of lexical items and of rules of morphology, syntax, sentence-grammar semantics, and phonology

Secondly, sociolinguistic competence deals with a language user‘s knowledge about the culture where the actual communication occurs It

is simply a fact that sociolinguistic competence seems to be more useful than grammatical competence in a specific communication where people are more likely to accept grammar error than pragmatic failure like culture shock

Thirdly, according to Canale and Swain, discourse competence refers to one‘s ability to create coherent written text or conversation and the ability to understand them In other words, it is one‘s ability to logically and coherently develop and understand a conversation by effectively employing words

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Lastly, Canale and Swain defined strategic competence as ―verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that may be called into action to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to performance variables or to insufficient competence‖ For example, if you forgot how to say ―cell phone,‖ you can use gestures to show what you mean or you can explain it by saying that one can use this device to talk to another regardless of long distance

Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei, and Thurell (1995) also developed a detailed outline of communicative competence Their framework, which was meant

to inform syllabus design in communicative language teaching, included five competencies which are discourse competence (cohesion, deixis, coherence, generic structure, and conversational structure), linguistic competence (syntax, morphology, lexical knowledge, and phonological and orthographic systems), actional competence (knowledge of language functions (e.g expressing and finding out feelings, suasion, asking for and giving information, complaining, greeting and leaving, etc.) and knowledge

of speech act sets), sociocultural competence (appropriateness in social context, cultural awareness, style, and non-verbal communication) and strategic competence (linguistic strategies such as avoidance or reduction strategies, achievement or compensatory strategies, stalling strategies, self-monitoring strategies, and interactional strategies) The framework of

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Celce-Murcia, et al was very similar to the competencies proposed by Bachman (2000) with some revision of strategic competence

Their framework also used the term linguistic competence in a similar manner as Canale and Swain did However, Celce-Murcia, et al avoided using the term grammatical competence because they believed it overlooked the addition of lexical and phonological knowledge as basic building blocks of communicative competence

Celce-Murcia, et al also described strategic competence differently from Bachman While Bachman focused on goal setting, planning and assessment, Celce-Murcia, et al focused on language strategies to use when there are communication problems or difficulties These include: avoiding or abandoning topics, compensating for linguistic difficulty by using other vocabulary or sentence structure, time-gaining strategies like fillers or repetition, repairing or rephrasing unclear messages, and negotiation strategies The negotiation strategies are listed under interactional strategies because they are the cooperative methods of repairing communication Some negotiation strategies include comprehension checks, requesting clarification or repetition, expressing non-understanding, and direct or indirect appeals for help This explanation

of strategic competencies differs from that of Bachman because it has less emphasis on cognitive strategies and more on linguistic strategies to ensure effectiveness of communication

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Another development was their considerable attention to discourse competence

Celce-Murcia, et al (2000) further define discourse competence as

―the selection, sequencing, and arrangement of words, structures, sentences and utterances to achieve a unified spoken or written text‖ They believed that discourse competence is the point where the micro-level understanding of grammar, syntax, vocabulary, etc and the macro-level understanding of social context and intentions intersect Deixis is one component of discourse competence and includes the use of pronouns, spatial references, temporal references, and textual references Conjunctions, parallel structure, and substitution are also components of discourse competence Turn taking lends to the conversational structure of oral communication Turn taking is used conversation, interrupt, hold and relinquish the floor, and collaborate with other speakers It also involves adjacency pairs, which are preferred responses to relatively set phrases, like ―What‘s up?‖ and ―Not much.‖ These adjacency pairs also rely on actional competence Skilled conversationalists are experts at discourse competence Celce-Murcia, et al also believe that discourse competence, especially the conversational structure of language, is vital to conversation and so is important to include when designing language syllabi

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Pawlikowska-Smith in (2002) ,developed an in-depth and operational model that synthesized previous research of linguistic competence (syntax, morphology, phonology, orthography, and lexicon); textual competence (cohesion, coherence, deixis, genre structure, and conversational structures); functional competence (humor, using language for a specific purpose like teaching, warning, self-expression, persuading, and others.); socio-cultural competence (rules of appropriateness and politeness, idioms and figurative language, non-verbal communication, cultural knowledge and references, knowledge of social contexts and relationships); strategic competence (planning for effective communication in a given situation, avoiding difficulties in communication, and recovering from communication breakdowns )

Through examining the ways in which the frameworks have evolved, one can see that certain aspects of communicative competence, like linguistic competence, have been accepted components of language use since the earliest research into communicative competence Meanwhile, the understanding of other competencies, like functional competence and strategic competence, has changed with time By comparing this framework with earlier proposals, one can see how the framework from the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks has synthesized and further developed previous proposals

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One notable difference is that Canale and Swain‘s 1980 communicative competence framework did not include functional competence as a unique competency; instead, it was placed under the broader notion of sociolinguistic competence Using language for a specific purpose is often the focus in communicative language teaching and more recent frameworks have included it as a unique competency Functional competence demonstrates the ability to understand not only what a speaker

is literally saying but also what he or she is intending by the utterance Simply put, functional competence is the ability to use language for a specific purpose that may not be apparent in the syntax or semantics alone Functional competence is similar to what Yates (2004) refers to as the

―pragmalinguistic aspects of communication‖ which are the intended meanings She pointed out that just because a particular function, or device, exists in one language does not mean that it will be present in another language Moreover, even if the speech function does exist in both languages, one cannot assume that the result of the device will be the same

As Pawlikowska-Smith (2002) states, scripts often guide social expectations regarding the role that participants play and how events are sequenced Yates refers to these scripts as ―the secret rules of language‖ and these rules are difficult for students from other cultures because native speakers are socialized into cultural conventions at a young age and are often not even aware of their existence

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For this reason, this competency is arguably one of the last to develop in language learners since it requires living in the target language culture for a long period of time

Functional competence, however, is a common component in communicative language teaching It is also important for communicating in nursing Functional competence, along with all of the other competencies, depends on the context; therefore, when examining language use in a specific context, one must consider not necessarily the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills that NNSs must learn, but rather the language tasks they will be expected to perform

Communicative competence might best be achieved if learners are focusing on communicating from the outset Instruction should focus on the creation of conditions in which learners engage in an effort to cope with

communication (Thornbury and Slade, 2006) Language teaching has

focused on the learning process than the teaching of language The emphasis is not only on linguistic competence of the language learners, but also on the development of their communicative ability In order to develop the learners' communicative, the teacher needs to teach the target language in an active and interesting manner Thus, extended activities in the form of role play, simulations and problem solving are vital in developing the communicative ability of the learners (Krish, 2001)

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Additionally, Littlewood (2001) stated that there are four broad domains of skills which make up a person‘s communicative competence First, the learner must attain a high degree of linguistic competence He should develop skill in manipulating the linguistic system to the point of using it spontaneously and flexibly in order to express his intended message Secondly, the learner should be able to distinguish between the forms which he has mastered as part of a linguistic system must also be understood as part of a communicative system Thirdly, the learner should develop skills and strategy for using language to communicate meanings

as effectively as possible in concrete situations He should know how to use feedback to judge his success, and if necessary, remedy failure by using a different language Lastly, he should become aware of the social meaning of language forms For many learners, this may not entail the ability to vary their own speech to use generally acceptable forms and avoid potentially offensive ones

Communicative competence includes knowledge of interpretative norms that listeners can use to evaluate speech Speech informs listeners

in two respects First, it transmutes speakers‘ knowledge intentions, and attitudes Second, it provides listeners with data from which to make judgment about the speaker When people listen, they learn in simpler ways that content of messages addressed to them They also learn about

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social identity Children acquire cultural stereotypes as part of their cultural knowledge And like other learning process, children‘s interactive rules develop gradually overtime with increased experience and exposure to community norms

Rogers (2008) espouses that communicative competence includes discourse competence and the motion of fluency which is another ability that the speaker needs Fluency is the ability to handle communication connected in real time without prior researched It is the ability to improve, maintain continuity

in speech and comprehension, respond immediately to unexpected utterances, and make rapid changes of topic and speaker and so on

Communicative competence also includes discourse competence, the notion of fluency which is another ability needed by a speaker It is believed that fluency is the ability to handle communication connected in real time without prior rehearsal It is the ability to improve, maintain continuity in speech and comprehension, respond immediately to unexpected utterances, and make rapid changes of topic and speaker, and so on

Rogers, (1998) espouses that communicative competence includes discourse competence and the motion of fluency which is another ability that the speaker needs Fluency is the ability to handle communication connected

in real time without prior researched It is the ability to improve, maintain continuity in speech and comprehension, respond immediately to unexpected utterances, and make rapid changes of topic and speaker and so on

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Sociolinguistic competency Sociolinguistic competence refers to the

learner‘s ―knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and discourse‖ (Brown, 2000) In his definition, Brown includes learners‘ sensitivity to dialect

or variety, choice of register, naturalness, and knowledge of cultural references and figures of speech Tarone and Swain (1995) define this competence as the ability of the members of a speech community to adapt their speech to the context in which they find themselves For example, a more formal variety will be used in an interview whereas an informal register,

a ―vernacular‖ style will be used amongst friends Lyster (1994) defines the concept of sociolinguistic competence as the ―capacity to recognise and produce socially appropriate speech in context‖

Sociolinguistic competence requires adjusting one's grammatical forms to be appropriate to the setting in which the communication takes place Attention is paid to such factors as the age, status, and sex of the participants and the formality of the setting When one travels to a different culture, these situational factors may call for different speech reactions then they would in the native culture

Culture can be used as an underlying framework for making sense of all the regularities in a community's use of language Students may better understand the conventions of language use in a society if they also study that society's culture, emphasizing again the importance of teaching both cultural and sociolinguistic aspects of language

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Sociolinguistic competence is that which involves knowing what is expected socially and culturally by users of the target language Knowledge of language alone does not adequately prepare learners for effective and appropriate use of the target language Learners must acquire the rules and norms governing the appropriate timing and realization of speech acts Understanding the sociolinguistic side of language helps learners know what comments are appropriate, how to respond nonverbally according to the purpose of the talk Therefore, ―adult second language learners must acquire stylistic adaptability in order to able

to encode and decode the discourse around them correctly‖ (Brown, 1988

in Savignon, 2002)

Sociocultural competence, a broader view of what Canale and Swain (1980) identified as sociolinguistic competence, extends well beyond linguistic forms and does an inter-disciplinary notion have to do with the social rules of language use It requires an understanding of the ―social context‖ in which language is used: the roles of participants, the information they share, and the function of the interaction Participants in multicultural communication are sensitive not only to the cultural meanings attached to the language itself but to social conventions concerning language use, such things as taking turns, appropriateness of content, nonverbal language and tone These conventions influence how

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messages are interpreted by language users In addition to cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity is essential It also includes a willingness to engage in an active negotiation of meaning along with a willingness to suspend judgment and take into consideration the possibility of cultural differences in conventions of use Together these features might be subsumed under the term ―cultural flexibility‖ or ―cultural awareness‖ (Savignon, 2002)

Appropriateness of utterances in social contexts refers to both appropriateness of form and appropriateness of meaning Appropriateness of meaning concerns the extent to which particular communicative functions (commanding, complaining, and inviting), attitudes, (politeness, formality, anger, encouragement) and ideas are judged to be proper in a given situation Appropriateness of form concerns the extent to which a given meaning (including communicative functions, attitudes, and ideas) is represented in a verbal and/or non-verbal form that is proper in a given sociolinguistic context (Canale, 1983)

Sociolinguistic competence is what everyone has when speaking to other individuals This is acquired naturally when learning a first language This is the ability to know how to speak to different people in different situations Because it is not learned naturally, students must be very

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conscientious of their speech until they are able to form a natural flow of language given the situation and people they are speaking to Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of the socio-cultural rules of language and of discourse This type of competence requires an understanding of the social context in which language is used: the rules of the participants, the information they share, and the functions of the interaction Only in a full context of this kind can judgment be made on the appropriateness of a particular utterance (Brown 2000)

Lyie Bachman's (1990) sociolinguistic competence comprises aspects, which deal with factors such as politeness, formality, metaphor, registers, and culturally related aspects of language

Broersma (2001) stated that the process of learning sociolinguistic competence is challenging even in one‘s first language He also proposed that evidence of this can be found in the popularity of "Miss Manners" columns He claims if people had perfect sociolinguistic competence, they wouldn‘t need advice about the proper way to send wedding invitations or give a dinner party Having good sociolinguistic competence means knowing how to "give every person his or her due." It means knowing when

to be quiet, and when to talk, when to give compliments to others, and when to apologize It also means being able to read situations and know what is the right thing to say or do There are an infinite number of

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combinations of roles, tasks, contexts, and feelings that govern what is appropriate in any given encounter

Sociolinguistic competence also refers to the knowledge and skills involved in using language functionally in a social context Since language

is a social phenomenon, its use requires sensitivity to social norms and customs which affect to an important degree all linguistic communication between representatives of different cultures, even if the participants are frequently unaware of them These social norms affect, amongst other factors, rules of address, greetings and politeness, the way in which relations between generations, sexes, people of different social status, social groupings are expressed through special language markers, linguistically codified rituals, differences in register, dialect and accent, through vocal rhythms, for example Linguistic competence leads us to consider social and intercultural parameters and the way in which they influence language use

Further, sociolinguistic competence refers to the learner‘s

―knowledge of the sociocultural rules of language and discourse‖ (Brown, 2000) In his definition, Brown includes learners‘ sensitivity to dialect or variety, choice of register, naturalness and knowledge of cultural references and figures of speech Tarone and Swain (1995) define this competence as the ability of the members of a speech community to adapt

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