Rethinking communicative competence for typical speakers

Abstract

The concept of communicative competence has been studied widely for over 40 years in several fields, including linguistics, psychology, and speech communication. Different definitions of communicative competence and measurement of communicative competence exist in these fields. A clear approach to communicative competence for typical speaking individuals and its measurement of communicative competence is unclear. This paper aims to: (1) review four main approaches to communicative competence and highlight strengths and weaknesses of each approach; (2) develop an integrated approach to communicative competence for typical speakers; and (3) address measurement of communicative competence. An integrated approach to communicative competence for typical speakers provides a fundamental access to communicative competence in different fields. For examples, scholars and speech, language pathologists have clear knowledge assessing communicative competence of individuals with communication disorders.

Revisiting Communicative Competence in Augmentative and Alternative Communication

“…Clark [32], Damico et al [33], McTear and King [34], and Olsson [35] have asserted that communicative competence is collaboratively constructed by a dyad (i.e., a speaker and a listener) and a means of communication (e.g., verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors). Communicative competence is perceived when one participant applies communication repertoires that not only fulfill his or her own communication goal(s) but also accommodate those of the other communication participant [13]. Bloch and Wilkinson [45], Goodwin [46], Leahy [47], and McTear and King [34] have argued that a dyad negotiates a mutual communication goal and then co-constructs the goal through communication turns.…”

“…It is not all or nothing; it is dynamic. Duchan et al [50] and Tsai [13] quantified communicative competence as a continuum - ranging from minimal to considerable, and from low (i.e., less competent) to high (i.e., more competent), like the measurement of liquid in a container. It is relative and dynamic.…”

“…Wiemann [8] further defined communicative competence as “…a dyadic concept” (p. 196). Communicative competence is revealed through the cooperation of two involved participants within a dyadic act of communication; it is therefore a dyadic concept [13,23], which develops as a direct result of social interactions with others [41]. Thus, both participants in a dyadic act of communication must be considered together in order to assess communicative competence.…”

“…Tsai [13] has argued that a single approach has limitations (e.g., a lack of contextual factors in the cognitive approach) and cannot fully describe the communicative competence of naturally verbal people. Tsai therefore recommended that communicative competence be conceptualized by integrating four approaches: (1) the cognitive approach [28], (2) the behavioral/social approach [27], (3) the relational competence approach [8], and (4) the language development approach [29].…”

“…During the past four decades, efforts to explore the communicative competence of naturally verbal people have increased in several disciplines, including linguistics, psychology, communication, and speech-language pathology [13]. Three decades ago, several scholars [7,14,15,16,17,18,19] began to propose conceptualizations of communicative competence in AAC.…”