38 comparing students’ test scores with measures of their ability gleaned from
outside the test” skills Anderson, Clapham, Wall, 1995: 171.
Practicality refers to five aspects, such as fairness issue, that is the degree to
which a test treats every student the same or the degree to which it is impartial; the cost issue which is related to the time and funds that teachers’ need in
conducting objective test; ease of test construction which is related to the number of test questions; ease of test administration, that is the degree to which a test is
easy to administer and ease of test scoring, that is the degree to which a test is easy to score.
The last is authenticity. Authenticity is considered as an important feature
of language test, but frequently the notion is related only to the use of authentic material. Actually the concept of authenticity is far more comprehensive. Eder,
2010: 1 As it is defined by Charles Alderson 2000: 138 that the goal of all reading assessment “is typically to know how well readers read the real world”,
authenticity becomes an important aspect of testing since it describes the relationship between the test and the real world Eder, 2010: 1.
3. Written Communicative English Competence
a. Role and Function of English Language
Every human being deals with language. When someone knows and uses a language, he speaks or writes and be understood by others who knows his
language. This means he has the capacity to produce sounds or signs that indicate certain meanings and to understand or interpret the sounds or signs which are
produced by others. Thus, language function is a means of communication of a person to convey his idea towards others.
39 Fromkin 1996: 20 says that ‘if language is defined as a system of
communication, then language is not unique to humans.’ There must be a ‘creative aspect’ in the language use that differs human from other species that is
the ability to combine the words into ‘well formed’ grammatical sentences. He further explains that when we speak we usually have a certain message to convey.
To get the message clear conveyed, one must know the linguistic system or grammar.
Yet, Savignon 1997: 19 defines function of language as ‘the use to which language is put, the purpose of an utterance rather than the particular grammatical
form an utterance takes’. According to her, a language function deals with what is said and not how something is said with number of purposes, such as; to
command, to describe, to request, to agree, to report, to attract attention, etc. In the same book, Sauvignon also notes three basic functions of language
defined by Halliday as: 1 Ideational function, language serves for the expression of content. Language gives structure to experience and helps to determine a way
of looking at things. 2 Interpersonal function, language serves to establish and maintain social relations. 3 Textual function, language helps the speaker or
writer to construct texts, or ‘connected passages of discourse that is situationally relevant, and enables the listener or readers to distinguish text from random set of
sentences’ Savignon, 1997: 20.
The language function in general referring to the function and role of English language in the world is described by Graddol in his English Next: Why
global English may mean the End of ‘English as a Foreign Language. Hence Graddol 2006: 18 states that the phases of human history have close relationship
40 with language. Human history can be concluded as divided into three major
phases: pre-modern, modern and postmodern. Each phase is associated with language development. Modernity spread from Europe across the world. Its root
was in the renaissance and its developments could be recognized through the centuries with the emergence of capitalist economies, colonial expansion, the
enlightenment and the industrial and urban age of the 19th century. Language during this period became ‘modern’. The character of modern language was
codified, standardized as language “which symbolized and helped unify national identity” Graddol, 2006:18. The rise of modernity brought modern concepts of
the ‘native speaker’ and the conception of a ‘foreign language’ which did not exist in the pre modern phase. Yet, started in the 15th century with the development of
capitalist economies, the post-modern era took place. In this era, the structures, attitude and needs of modernity have been weakened gradually by globalization
Graddol, 2006: 19. The rise of urban middle-classes around the world, the rapid development of new communication technology such as the internet, the unlimited
global market had driven English as the key of communication tool. “ The availability of English as the only global language is accelerating globalization
and vice versa” Graddol, 2006:22. Globalization allows companies all around the world to locate each of their activities whenever they like with no longer strict
boundaries. Each country maintains its competitive advantage as a “destination for outsourcing centres” Graddol, 2006:36. Most of the scientific, technological and
academic information in the world is expressed in English and over 80 of all the information stored in electronic recovery systems is in English Crystal,
1997:106. With such condition, a new urgency to increase the educational level
41 of the workforce happens to many countries. The function and place of English in
the curriculum is “no longer that of foreign language and it has brought about strong changes” Graddol, 2006: 72. English within those changes is referred as
a ‘lingua franca’.
The term lingua franca Holmes, 1997: 86, describes “a language serving as a regular means of communication between different linguistic groups in a
multilingual speech community”. As many people use English all over the world, inevitably the language is changing, as individuals communicate with each other
in the way that they find the easiest. As a lingua franca, English acquisition is
regarded more as a communicative language.
The rapid growth of English as an international language has stimulated interesting discussion about the status of what is called by Kachru as world
Englishes Brown, 2001. Kachru 1992, as cited by Savignon 1997: 32
represents the number of speakersusers of English around the world in terms of three concentric circles representing various cultural contexts. The Inner Circle
refers to the traditional cultural and linguistic bases of English. The Outer Circle represents the institutionalized non-native varieties of English as a second
language in regions that have known extended periods of colonization. The expanding circle includes regions where English is used primarily as a foreign
language. The result of this spread is that English now has multicultural identities in both function and form. It is shown by the figure below:
42 The position of English as an international language across various cultures
has arisen a problem with the terminology of English as a Second Language ESL or English as a Foreign language EFL and native speaker or non-native
speakers Brown, 2001: 203. According to Kachru Brown, 2001: 203 “the traditional dichotomy between native and non native is functionally uninsightful
and linguistically questionable, particularly when discussing the function of English in multilingual societies”. Hence, English functions as a lingua franca
which means “a language serving as a regular means of communication between different linguistic groups in a multilingual speech community” Holmes, 1997:
86 in which many people use English to communicate with each other in the way they find the easiest. Here, English functions more as a means of communication
which strongly requires an English communicative competence. In this sense, the
definition of function of language for English as a lingua franca refers to those of Halliday and Savignon which pay more attention on what is said and less to the
how it is said in formal rule of the language grammar. Grammar is needed to
Figure. 2.12. Kachru’s the Outer Tongue: English Across Cultures 1992
43 ‘the making and understanding of meaning’ and not to ‘analysing and interpreting
texts’ Halliday, 2004: 5. With such new paradigm, Brown 2001: 2003 suggests that it is more
appropriate to think in terms of the proficiency level of a user of a language which considers more on the person’s communicative proficiency across the four skills
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Cited all the above statements, it can be summed up that English language
with its role and function as a lingua franca is actually used to communicate our idea, and interact with others in appropriate context or situation so that what we
need to look at is what is said the text, both written or spoken language rather than at the ‘possible linguistic production of an ideal formal rule of the language’.
b. Concept and Models of English Communicative Competence
