Linguistic competence and what lies beyond

Abstract

Competence is a very useful term in both linguistics and second language teaching. Since its modest beginnings as a configuration of generative grammar, 'linguistic competence' has grown to include societal constraints on language and subdivision into formal and functional aspects. Its theoretical foundations make it especially useful in evaluating the grammatical presentation in textbooks and instructional programmes. As we discover more about language and develop new approaches to second language teaching, linguistic competence can be expanded far beyond its present formulations to include the repertoire of verbal strategies which is at the disposal of native speakers and the formation of idioms and metaphors through the underlying associational network of a language. To the various aspects of native-speaker competence, we must add the devices used by second language learners to overcome difficulties during the process of acquisition. Using negatives together with opposite lexemes and avoiding troublesome syntactical constructions are two such devices. The ultimate challenge facing both language teachers and linguists is to understand the ways in which language serves the individual speaker's sense of identity. Learning a second language presents a potential trauma which various people overcome (or do not overcome) in different ways. The future holds the promise of much additional theorizing and application of the concept 'linguistic competence'.