A Critical Review on the Meaning, Types and Importance of Strategic Competence in the Foreign Language Context: Focus on Communicative English Lessons

Abstract

Communicative language teaching (herein after CLT) is the current demanding theory and practice of English language teaching (Richards, 2006). It is demanding because it targets on communicative competence of the learner (Savignon, 1970). Therefore, the huge aim of CLT is making the learner communicatively competent and today language needs to have communicational value. Communicative competence has four major components: discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, grammar competence and strategic competence (Savignon, 1970). According to Bachman (1990) strategic competence (herein after SC) is the most neglected from the components of communicative competence. SC is a competence of fixing communication breakdowns and it is used when someone is failed to communicate due to shortage of language competence. Thus, it is important to deal in detail about this ungleaming competence and this paper deals about it.

Keywords: strategic competence, communication strategies.