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تاريخ التسجيل : 2010-01-23
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 | Subject: The Meaning and Use of the Term ‘Competence’ in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics  Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:55 pm | |
| The Meaning and Use of the Term ‘Competence’ in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Abstract
The term ‘competence’ has been used so widely and so divergently in so many different contexts that it has ceased to have any precise meaning. Different writers interpret it in different ways for different purposes. As a result there is great confusion about what the term refers to in any given instance. Writers frequently discuss the concept without taking into account the fact that interpretations of it differ greatly.
The article explores the different ways in which the term ‘competence’ has been used, beginning with Chomsky's original formulation of the concept. It is shown that many current uses of the term refer to something quite different from this original concept. A major problem is that subsequent writers, such as Hymes, while claiming to be merely extending the notion, are in fact changing it in ways that are not always immediately apparent to the reader. An attempt is made to elucidate these changes and to point out in particular the grave difficulties that arise when the concept is applied outside the domain for which it was originally intended. A confusion between state and process is noted in these extended applications of the term. It is suggested that making a clear distinction between ‘competence’ and ‘proficiency’ helps to resolve many of these difficulties.
* © Oxford University Press
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