Naslov
The Functional Competence of EFL Learners

Autori
Pavičić Takač, Višnja ; Bagarić Medve, Vesna

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
English Studies from Archives to Prospects: Volume 2 - Linguistics and Applied Linguistics

Urednik/ci
Zovko Dinković, Irena ; Mihaljević Djigunović, Jelena

Izdavač
Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Grad
Newcastle upon Tyne

Godina
2016

Raspon stranica
234-253

ISBN
1-4438-9076-6

Ključne riječi
functional competence, English learners

Sažetak
Various' authors attempts to define the notion and scope of functional competence as a component of communicative language competence indicate the uncertainty in theoretical understanding of functional compentence. Either is this competence seen as subcomponent of some other competence, usually pragmatic competence (cf. Bachman i Palmer 1996, 2010 ; CEFR 2001) or its componential elements are viewed as parts of several different competences, notably sociolinguistic, sociocultural, discourse and interactional competence (cf. Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei i Thurrell, 1995., Celce-Murcia 2007.). Such different conceptualizations of functional competence might have led to underrepresentation of empirical works dedicated to the examination of functional competence of foreign language learners. By focusing on the specific macro- and microfunctions as well as interactional schemata, this paper analyses functional competence of English foreign language lerners at A2 and B1 level. The primary goal is to describe how learners at a particular level use spoken discourse in interaction with the purpose to infer some developmental characteristics of English learners with Croatian as a mother tongue. A total of 40 students were involved in the study, including 20 grade 8 students from 5 primary schools and 20 grade 4 students from 4 secondary high schools. The data were collected by means of a speaking standardized test aimed at measuring the communicative language competence of learners of English at levels A2 and B1. In accordance with CEFR, the following two criteria were used to evaluate the level of learners functional competence: fluency and propositional precision. The data were further analyesed qualitatively and quantitativly using appropriate statistical procedures. The results revealed that the functional competence of English learners corresponds to targeted levels, but that its particular elements are underdeveloped. The results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA