Rethink ELT: from linguistic competence to global competence

[Woravut]

I just came with an idea to write a conceptual article entitled

"Rethink ELT: from Linguistic Competence to Global Competence"

I am still not clear about my argument.


Historically, in 1965? linguistic competence was introduced by Chomsky and later promoted by many in the field. Later on in 1966, the idea of linguistic competence was criticized by some, one of those was Hymes who introduced Communicative Competence.

A shift from Linguistic Competence to Communicative Competence also had implications for ELT (e.g. from accuracy to fluency, from drilling to communicative tasks).


Now 2019, more than 50 years, given the world has dramatically changed. Many fields (such as Physics, IT, Communications) of studies have changed. So is it time for us (ELT researchers or practitioners) to shift our perspective?

I (may) argue that it is time for ELT researchers and practitioners to pause and rethink about ELT. I ask myself several questions such as

1. Is English a language or a competence?
2. Can language be a type of competence?
3. What does global competence mean? (you can google and see PISA.)
4. Is it necessary to shift a view? Why?
5. What implications from shifting the view?

I would appreciate your ideas, comments, or any questions you may have.

Thank you
Woravut

[sgtowns]

Hello Woravut.

My first reaction to your post is that "Communicative Competence" is just a subset of "Global Competence". To me, Global Competence is more like an overarching framework of values that sees global issues as a dynamic, complex system that requires an appreciation of diversity, an encouragement of discourse, a commitment to learning and reflection, etc.

But language skills are just a small part of that. I have recently seen several academic publications that talk about "21st-century skills" such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving, and these seem to me to be a subset of global competence. From what I understand, global competence is an even broader statement on how everyone is supposed to view the world and its problems and how we should all come together for the good of humanity.

So maybe one way to approach research in this area is to look at what the global competency frameworks are trying to accomplish and see how they are / could be reflected in language learning classrooms, digital applications, learning materials, homework assignments, etc. This shift seems to be happening already. None of the textbooks I am using at KMUTT teach my students how to buy train tickets and book a hotel room like they did when I studied French in the US decades ago. Instead, we talk about the pros and cons of urbanization, how geo-tourism helps local communities, the relationships between humans and other living creatures, etc.

What do you all think about that? Does anyone else have any thoughts about Global Competence and 21st Century skills?

Stuart

[daronloo]

I used to think of English as a competence that of is value - either in social or the professional settings. Nonetheless, this view is slowly being eroded through my observation or my students. I have come across students with very minimal language competence who were admitted into an English medium program. From these students, I noted that they are competent in their skill and knowledge of their areas of expertise. While communicating about their expertise may be a problem, people around them seem to accommodate it.

With language competence taking a back seat, perhaps an expansion of how it is viewed or defined becomes necessary, especially in the field of education.

Perhaps this expansion will also need to include not just the language user, but those around the user (such as the case of accommodation).

[Woravut]

Thank you Both for divergent perspectives.

Stuart's point is a current predominant view, and such a view still occupies my current thinking. However, what I am trying to do is to shift or expand it. Recently, I was in a coffee shop, and I heard 'f', 'v', 'th' (voiced and voicedless). There, an English tutor was tutoring her student. The tutor was probably in her 40s. and the student was a young working woman probably working an office....For an hour I was there, I learned that most of the lesson was about basic grammar and English sounds. Most of the contents seemed to be sentence-based...and that reminds me of the time when I was a primary student (about 30 years ago). It seems English teaching has been going nowhere. (Jumping to a conclusion based on insufficient evidence?).

Yesterday, I just came back from Singapore. I stayed in a hostel where I met people of all different ages with different nationalities (e.g. German, Malay, British, Indian, Some European, Japanese, US). Language use is truly international. I noticed that most of the English use was between the guests and the receptionists (who are from Sri Lanka). And Daron's point about hostel...sorry about accommodation... is clear to me. But I'm not sure who accommodates who.

[KRD]

This sounded very interesting thread to me.My earlier perception on commutative competence has been somehow challenged now with few readings about latest debates on global competence. One of the well defined frameworks is PISA. Like Stuart said the PISA framework has put more emphasis on the value aspect than core linguistic competence with the greater emphasis on effective communication. In the effective communication, all participants are able to make themselves understood and understand the other (Barrett et al., 2014). This gives me an impression that we may find a linkage between the global competence and sociolinguistics rather.

To me, every individual is equipped with one or other language to communicate with their immediate surroundings (except differently able people); so the linguistic competency is there even with illiterate people. Perhaps that’s the thing Daron was trying to point talking about his students competent enough in their hard skill with low competence in English. I guess they were linguistically competent in their native language. Was the group you refereeing represent the same cultural background, Daron?

But again the challenges occur when they have to face people outside their immediate circle where one had to deal with cultural sensitivities. Can that sensitivity be dealt by English as a lingua franca? I guess no. Perhaps its about the values of an individual to deal other from different background. That’s why English may not be the must condition to gain communicative competence rather political issue. Two interlocutors can have effective communications with or without English, can’t they? Look at the very recent summit between Trump and Kim in Vietnam! I leave it to you to judge on the effectiveness of the conversation between two powerful men but what I saw is the communication took place when both didn’t share the same language.

My argument here is each individual has linguistic competence at least in one language naturally but ensuring the mutual respect and trusts when they make use of their linguistic competence while communicating is something the world is seeking in our youth of 21st century. And further discussion on this link between in the domain of sociolinguistics should be carried on.
Raj

[Woravut]

Apart from the negotiation between Trump and Kim in Vietnam, the world is now is facing many communication challenges (Brexit deal, two presidents in Venezuela, US and China, or even people with the same language e.g. Trump and Pelosi). Or global competence is an illusive concept.

[sgtowns]

The idea behind Global Competence is not that everyone will agree all the time. The way I understand it, the idea is that we should be able to listen to each other's ideas and work together towards solutions. "Conflict" by disagreeing is not bad in itself. So, I agree with Raj in that Global Competence is a societal/cultural issue, not a language skills issue. Language skills plays a role, of course, but it is a subset of a larger framework.

Unfortunately though, although this is an ideal that would be nice to reach, I don't think it's going to happen any time soon, if ever.

[sgtowns]

Sorry... I ended that last post on a pessimistic note, so I should say more. Although I believe the ideas behind Global Competence are a lofty ideal which will never be fully reached, I believe that we can continue to make progress and continue to make small steps towards that ideal. Does anyone have any ideas about how the Global Competence framework can be brought into our English language classrooms? I'd love to hear them.

[Woravut]

I'd love to hear them as well, and I will keep thinking about it

[Sachiko]

Hi all,
Lots of interesting discussions and thought-provoking insights.... I have to admit though that I had a hard time (and still am) digesting them all as I haven't read much about Global competence, and it has always been somewhat one of those 'fuzzy' concepts that 'sound good' to me (again, I believe this is because of my lack of reading). One discussion topic that I thought I may be able to say something was the last question "how the Global Competence framework can be brought into our English language classrooms?" raised by Stuart. So I did some reading and here's what I found:

Can schools promote global competence?
Schools play a crucial role in helping young people to develop global competence by:
- providing opportunities to learn about global developments;
- teaching students how they can develop a fact-based and critical worldview of today;
- equipping students with the means to analyse a broad range of cultural practices and meanings;
- engaging students in experiences that facilitate intercultural relations;
- promoting the value of diversity

Source: <http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisa-2018-global-competence.htm>

How practical are they! (I hope I'm sending the sarcastic tone that I learned from Richard the other day. wink wink) I believe one of the first-ish steps to answer the question may be to break down some of these abstract statements above into more practical ones. For example, what can we do with our LNG students if we want to "equip students with the means to analyse a broad range of cultural practices and meanings"?

Sachiko