This study is anchored by Communicative Competence is a term in linguistics which refers to a language user’s grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social knowledge about how and when to use utterances appropriately. The term was coined by Dell Hymes in 1966 in reaction to Noam Chomsky’s (1965) notion of “linguistic competence”. As Hymes observes: “A normal child acquires knowledge of sentences not only as grammatical, but also as appropriate. He or she acquires competence as to when to speak, when not, and as to what to talk about with whom, when, where, in what manner. In short, a child becomes able to accomplish a repertoire of speech acts, to take part in speech events, and to evaluate their accomplishment by others.” (Hymes 1972, 277)
This means that language users’ needs to use language not just correctly (linguistic competence wise) but must also be use appropriately (communicative competence wise) but this doesn’t mean that grammatical rule of language is not important. In fact, it is one of the four components of communicative competence: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competence.
Teachers must therefore set up a goal, provide students a real-life language tasks, and let students respond in a meaningful way. To help students communicate, the teacher need to provide rich and authentic input like: information gap and role-play activities for speaking, letters for writing, and note-taking and summarizing, which combines listening and writing competencies. In Communicative Language Teaching, meaning exceeds forms, but it does not mean that grammar is not important. Teachers should teach grammar within contexts and through communicative tasks. In this way, grammar is not presented as a list of pointless rules, but natural patterns that students acquire in the learning contexts.
There are four elements of definition of Communicative Competence presented by Canale and Swain. First, is the Linguistic or Grammatical Competence, it is the knowledge on how to use the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of a language. Grammar includes the knowledge of sounds and their pronunciation (i.e. phonetics), the study of sound patterns and their meanings (i.e. phonology), the study of the formation of words (i.e. morphology), the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language (i.e. syntax), and the way that meaning is conveyed through language (i.e. semantics). Learners need to study grammar rules because it can help them enhance their accuracy and develop their logical thinking.
Second element is Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of sociocultural rules of use, i.e. knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately. The appropriateness depends on the setting of the communication, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating. Learners can achieve a greater understanding of the nature of language, as well as its manifestations, along with the understanding of the nature of society.
Third element is Discourse competence, it is the knowledge of how to produce and comprehend oral or written texts in the modes of speaking/writing and listening/reading respectively. Learners need to know how to combine language structures into a cohesive and coherent oral or written text of different types. Learners will be able to arrange words, phrases and sentences to structure a text that is appropriate within a particular genre.
Lastly, is Strategic competence is the ability to recognize and repair communication breakdowns before, during, or after they occur. For instance, the speaker may not know a certain word, thus will plan to either paraphrase, or ask what that word is in the target language. Learners needs to be aware that communication breakdowns are not uncommon among competent users of Language.