Communicative Competence Theoretical Description

2. Teachers’ Role

The role of the teacher in Communicative Approach is to create the natural environment in the classroom. This approach also requires the teacher to be more creative in varying the activities of the teaching learning process, so that it can be more natural as in a real situation. A teacher knows that individuals learn in different ways and at different rates. Older learners usually learn best by applying generalization to a situation and from hearing much comprehensible input. Richard and Rodgers 2001: 167 explain the teacher’s role in communicative approach as follows: The teacher has two main roles: the first role is to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and the texts. The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning- teaching group. From the discussion on the teacher’s role above, it obvious that teacher should be creative in teaching activities. It will send the learners to the successful learning.

3. Communicative Competence

Theories on communicative competence now emphasize on the importance of interaction as people that use language in contexts or situation to get an idea from other people to himself and vice versa. In Hyme’s view 1972:281 as quoted by Richard and Rodgers 2001: 159 a person who acquires communicative competence acquires both knowledge and ability for language use. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Communicative competence is an equipment to be able to communicate in both interactional and transactional communication. It can also be said that the successful indicator in communication is when a person has mastered the communicative competence. Halliday 1970: 145 as quoted by Richard and Rodgers 2001: 159 explains a powerful theory of the language function of communicative competence. He explains seven basic functions that language performs for children learning their first language. 1. The instrumental function: using language to get things 2. The regulatory function: using language to control the behavior of others 3. The interactional function: using language to create interaction with others. 4. The personal function: using language to express personal meanings and feelings. 5. The heuristic function: using language to learn and to discover. 6. The imaginative function: using language to create a world of imagination. 7. The representational function: using language to communicate information. Richard and Rodgers, 2001: 159 Littlewood 1981: 6 specifies his discussion on communicative ability in foreign language teaching and learning. He proposes understanding on communicative ability through observing four domains of skill, which make up a person’s communicative competence. They are as follows: 1. The learner must attain as high a degree as possible of linguistic competence. 2. The learner must distinguish between the forms which he has mastered as part of his linguistic competence, and the communicative functions that they perform. 3. The learner must develop skills and strategies for using language to communicate meanings as effectively as possible in the concrete situations. 4. The learner must become aware of the social meaning of language forms. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Brown 2001:166 explains that in order to be able to communicate or interact in a community successfully people should master and involve elements of communicative competence such as grammatical, discourse, linguistic, pragmatic and strategies. In other words, people should have good communicative competence in order to minimize the error production and misunderstanding in communication. Richards, Platt and Weber 1985: 49 as cited in Brown 2001 explain the characteristics of communicative competence includes a knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the language; b knowledge of rules of speaking how to begin the conversations, knowing what topics can be talked and etc; c knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts such as requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations; d knowing how to use language appropriately.

4. Teaching and Learning Activities