task 14 -- Communicative approach

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Date Posted: 15:23:53 08/08/03 Fri
Author: Mylene Fonseca Garcia
Subject: task 14

Communicative Approach On line Class
Learner: Mylene Fonseca Garcia
Task Fourteen

How we can test communicative competence?

Communicative competence is basically a competence in which communicative purposes are achieved. Therefore, the testees are stimulated to use language functionally, facing real life situations.
Bearing this in mind, communicative competence holds two important characteristics which are appropriateness and reliability. That is, appropriateness is necessary for it tells if the testees can use language in an appropriate manner, productively and receptively, in real life situations. Thus, there is a focus on fluency but not on accuracy. By the same token, reliability is necessary because the communicative purposes achieved by the testees should be based on authentic material and real situations.
Another important point of communicative competence is regarding to the context. In fact, both accuracy and appropriateness are intrinsically related to it. To establish a context in any communicative competence is essential because, by doing so, a real communication can take place. Imagine if someone asks you what time is it and you answer him saying that Roberto Marinho had died. This is completely inappropriate.
Summing up, testing a communicative competence requires the functional use of language, where context, appropriateness and reliability are its basic constituents. A communicative test should embody activities which deal with real life situations, where a communicative purpose could be perfectly achieved.

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