The user/learner’s competences

5.2.3 Pragmatic competences

Pragmatic competences are concerned with the user/learner’s knowledge of the principles according to which messages are:

a)organised, structured and arranged (‘discourse competence’);

b)used to perform communicative functions (‘functional competence’);

c)sequenced according to interactional and transactional schemata (‘design competence’).

5.2.3.1 Discourse competence is the ability of a user/learner to arrange sentences in sequence so as to produce coherent stretches of language. It includes knowledge of and ability to control the ordering of sentences in terms of:

•topic/focus;

•given/new;

•‘natural’ sequencing: e.g. temporal:

‘natural’ sequencing: e.g. • He fell over and I hit him, as against

‘natural’ sequencing: e.g. e.g. • I hit him and he fell over.

•cause/effect (invertible) – prices are rising – people want higher wages.

•ability to structure and manage discourse in terms of: thematic organisation;

coherence and cohesion; logical ordering;

style and register; rhetorical effectiveness;

the ‘co-operative principle’ (Grice 1975): ‘make your contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged, by observing the following maxims:

•quality (try to make your contribution one that is true);

•quantity (make your contribution as informative as necessary, but not more);

•relevance (do not say what is not relevant);

•manner (be brief and orderly, avoid obscurity and ambiguity)’.

Departure from these criteria for straightforward and efficient communication should be for a specific purpose rather than because of inability to meet them.

•Text design: knowledge of the design conventions in the community concerning, e.g.: how information is structured in realising the various macrofunctions (description,

narrative, exposition, etc.);

how stories, anecdotes, jokes, etc. are told; how a case is built up (in law, debate, etc.);

how written texts (essays, formal letters, etc.) are laid out, signposted and sequenced.

A good deal of mother tongue education is devoted to building a young person’s discourse skills. In learning a foreign language, a learner is likely to start with short turns, usually of single sentence length. At higher levels of proficiency, the development of discourse competence, the components of which are indicated in the section, becomes of increasing importance.

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Illustrative scales are available for the following aspects of discourse competence:

•Flexibility to circumstances;

•Turntaking (also presented under interaction strategies);

•Thematic development;

•Coherence and cohesion.

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5.2.3.2Functional competence

This component is concerned with the use of spoken discourse and written texts in communication for particular functional purposes (see section 4.2). Conversational competence is not simply a matter of knowing which particular functions (microfunctions) are expressed by which language forms. Participants are engaged in an interaction, in which each initiative leads to a response and moves the interaction further on, according to its purpose, through a succession of stages from opening exchanges to its final conclusion. Competent speakers have an understanding of the process and skills in operating it. A macrofunction is characterised by its interactional structure. More complex situations may well have an internal structure involving sequences of macrofunctions, which in many cases are ordered according to formal or informal patterns of social interaction (schemata).

1. Microfunctions are categories for the functional use of single (usually short) utterances, usually as turns in an interaction. Microfunctions are categorised in some detail (but not exhaustively) in Threshold Level 1990, Chapter 5:

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1.1imparting and seeking factual information:

•identifying

•reporting

•correcting

•asking

•answering

1.2expressing and finding out attitudes:

•factual (agreement/disagreement)

•knowledge (knowledge/ignorance, remembering, forgetting, probability, certainty)

•modality (obligations, necessity, ability, permission)

•volition (wants, desires, intentions, preference)

•emotions (pleasure/displeasure, likes/dislikes, satisfaction, interest, surprise, hope, disappointment, fear, worry, gratitude)

•moral (apologies, approval, regret, sympathy)

1.3suasion:

•suggestions, requests, warnings, advice, encouragement, asking help, invitations, offers

1.4socialising:

•attracting attention, addressing, greetings, introductions, toasting, leave-taking

1.5structuring discourse:

•(28 microfunctions, opening, turntaking, closing, etc.)

1.6communication repair

•(16 microfunctions)

2. Macrofunctions are categories for the functional use of spoken discourse or written text consisting of a (sometimes extended) sequence of sentences, e.g.:

•description

•narration

•commentary

•exposition

•exegesis

•explanation

•demonstration

•instruction

•argumentation

•persuasion etc.

3.Interaction schemata

Functional competence also includes knowledge of and ability to use the schemata (patterns of social interaction) which underlie communication, such as verbal exchange pat-

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terns. The interactive communicative activities set out in section 4.4.3 involve structured sequences of actions by the parties in turns. At their simplest, they form pairs such as:

Triplets, in which the first speaker acknowledges or responds to the interlocutor’s reply, are common. Pairs and triplets are usually embedded in longer transactions and interactions. For instance, in more complex goal-oriented co-operative transactions, language is used as necessary to:

•form the working group and establish relations among participants;

•establish common knowledge of the relevant features of the current situation and arrive at a common reading;

•identify what could and ought to be changed;

•establish common agreement on goals and on the action required to meet them;

•agree roles in carrying out the action;

•manage the practical actions involved by e.g.:

identifying and dealing with problems which arise; co-ordinating and sequencing contributions; mutual encouragement;

recognising the achievement of sub-goals;

•recognise the final achievement of the task;

•evaluate the transaction;

•complete and terminate the transaction.

The total process can be represented schematically. An example is the general schema offered for the purchase of goods or services in Threshold Level 1990, Chapter 8:

General Schema for purchase of goods or services

1.Moving to place of transaction

1.1Finding the way to the shop, store, supermarket, restaurant, station, hotel, etc.

1.2Finding the way to the counter, department, table, ticket office, reception, etc.

2.Establishing contact

2.1Exchanging greetings with the shopkeeper/assistant/waiter/receptionist, etc.

2.1.1assistant greets

2.1.2customer greets

3.Selecting goods/services

3.1identifying category of goods/services required

3.1.1seeking information

3.1.2giving information

3.2identifying options

3.3discussing pros and cons of options (e.g. quality, price, colour, size of goods)

3.3.1seeking information

3.3.2giving information

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3.3.3seeking advice

3.3.4giving advice

3.3.5asking for preference

3.3.6expressing preference, etc.

3.4identifying particular goods required

3.5examining goods

3.6agreeing to purchase

4.Exchanging goods for payment

4.1agreeing prices of items

4.2agreeing addition of total

4.3receiving/handing over payment

4.4receiving/handing over goods (and receipt)

4.5exchanging thanks

4.5.1assistant thanks

4.5.2customer thanks

5.Leave-taking

5.1expressing (mutual) satisfaction

5.1.1assistant expresses satisfaction

5.1.2customer expresses satisfaction

5.2exchanging interpersonal comment (e.g. weather, local gossip)

5.3exchanging parting greetings

5.3.1assistant greets

5.3.2customer greets

NB It should be noted that, as with similar schemata, the availability of this schema to shoppers and shop assistants does not mean that on every occasion this form is used. Especially under modern conditions, language is often used more sparingly, particularly to deal with problems that arise in an otherwise depersonalised and semi-automated transaction, or to humanise it (see section 4.1.1).

It is not feasible to develop illustrative scales for all the areas of competence implied when one talks of functional ability. Certain microfunctional activities are in fact scaled in the illustrative scales for interactive and productive communicative activities.

Two generic qualitative factors which determine the functional success of the learner/ user are:

a)fluency, the ability to articulate, to keep going, and to cope when one lands in a dead end

b)propositional precision, the ability to formulate thoughts and propositions so as to make one’s meaning clear.

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Illustrative scales are available for these two qualitative aspects:

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Users of the Framework may wish to consider and where appropriate state:

•what discourse features the learner is equipped/required to control;

•which macrofunctions the learner is equipped/required to produce;

•which microfunctions the learner is equipped/required to produce;

•what interaction schemata are needed by/required of the learner;

•which he/she is assumed to control and which are to be taught;

•according to what principles macroand microfunctions are selected and ordered;

•how qualitative progress in the pragmatic component can be characterised.

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