Communicative Competence is a term to deepen the understanding of languages. It exemplifies that language is more than just knowing words. Learning a language requires a complex set of skills beyond memorization. The dynamics behind learning a language must be built up over time. It takes a good amount of time and practice to master the four components of second language teaching that Canale and Swain defined: grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. The last category, strategic competence, is definitely one that comes with years of studying, practice, and research. It took me about 3 years of Spanish to be comfortable with the organizational competence which includes everything from vocabulary to rhetorical organization. I have learned a lot about the Korean language, but I know it will take time and practice beyond this semester to be fully confident when speaking. The complexities of all languages are so great and so unique to each separate language.
The most interesting section in this reading to me was the seven functions of language. Language goes beyond just needing to talk to someone. Communication is vital for purposes that are instrumental, regulatory, representational, interactional, personal, heuristic, and imaginative. It is difficult to put a limit to these functions because language is so useful in every sense. I have never heard of several of the terms used in this article, but knowing the words to these concepts that I have been thinking about is very useful.
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