Competence and
Performance
History
Ferdinand de Saussure
A Swiss linguist whose ideas on structure in language laid the foundation in 20th
Century linguistics. He use the terminology “la langue” and “parole”.
Noam Chomsky
An American linguist , first introduced the concept of “performance “ and
“competence” as part of foundations for his Generative grammar.
De Saussure’s Theory
La Langue
It has a large number of elements where by meaning is created by the
arrangements between the elements and their consequent relationship.
While learning a language, we master the system of grammar, spelling
,syntax and punctuation (elements of langue).
Language proceeds and makes speech possible.
Parole.
Parole is the actual utterances.It is an external manifestation of
langue.It is the usage of the system but not the system.
Chomsky’s Theory
Chomsky also distinguished the underlying knowledge of language from the
way language is actually used in practice.
Therefore,a theory of language should be a theory of competence. Once a
full theory of competence is developed, it can be integrated into a theory of
performance, which will also consider other cognitive abilities.
Competence is a person's underlying (subconscious)
linguistic ability to create and understand sentences, including
sentences they have never heard before.
It's a person 's acquaintance with a set of grammatical rules and is
different from the actual linguistic activities.
Competence enables native speaker to recognize ambigous sentences or
accept even apparently meaningless sentences as syntactically correct (and
even making some sense).
Even if you've never heard these before ,you know which one is "English"
and which one isn't.
Example:
Eight very lazy elephants drank brandy .
Eight elephants very lazy brandy drank.
Performance is the real world linguistic output .
May accurately reflect competence, but it also may include speech errors .
Performance error
The performance of a speaker may not be fault free,even though his
competence is perfect .
Example:
Learning and riding a bike.
Why is it important to make a distinction between competence and
performance ?
It allows those studying a language to differentiate between a speech error and
not knowing something about the language. To understand this distinction , it is
helpful to think about a time when you've made some sort of error in your speech.
For example let's say you are a native
speaker of English and utter the following:
"We swimed in the ocean this weekend"
Competences VS Performance
Competence, being an ideal is located as a psychological
or mental property. This is in contrast to performance, which
refers to an actual event.
Distinction between the theories
Where as the terms "performance" (Chomsky ) and "parole" (de
Saussure) can be used almost interchangeably , their counter parts
"competence“ and "langue" are quite different from each other.
How do competence and performance apply
to the language classroom?
The assumption used in many language instruction programs is
that once the learners have learned the information they will be able
to use it though reading, writing, listening and speaking .
Criticisms
Linguistic theories based on the notion of
competence have been criticized for being too
idealistic.
Implications of competence and performance in EFL teaching
EFL teachers who consider the elements involving both linguistic and
communicative competence in a classroom setting tend to understand more the new
linguistic challenges faced by students when learning an L2. Some teachers might
understand, for instance, the nature of some mistakes in terms of interference from the L1.
Others might interpret mistakes as the lack of cultural and social knowledge of the target
language. In any case, the important point is that teachers might be able to understand
better the nature of the learning process and apply certain orientations towards the
syllabus design and classroom activities (Bell, 1981).
Some practical considerations to be observed in an EFL teaching setting
The following considerations are an attempt to simplify the acquisition of L2 competences into the
mental framework of students. They are issued in terms of the activities that are considered to
promote actual involvement of the students in the teaching-learning process (Nuttal, 1982; Omaggio,
1986; Wallace, 1991; Weaver, 1994).
Contextualized activities: one of the problems that may be faced by students is that out-of-
context activities might frustrate the development of linguistic and communicative L2 competences.
It is, therefore, of paramount importance to promote authentic activities that encourage students to
see language as it actually works.
Interactive activities: interaction is considered to be a key factor in the L2 classroom. Interaction
of the sort student-teacher-student is of paramount importance to the development of the linguistic
and communicative competences of students.
Professors Feedback: it is relevant to consider the effects of teachers? feedback in the
development of the linguistic and communicative competences in the L2 classroom setting. However,
a question arises in terms of the effectiveness of correcting mistakes explicitly. This discussion is still at
stake in the current literature. In this sense, it is better that teachers explore the learning strategies of
each student and try to determine what they need.
Contextual factors: it is important to account for contextual factors that are present in the teaching
and learning process.
Thank you po
