Communicative Competence and the Japanese Learner

While language teaching in Japanese high schools and colleges is currently
embracing communicative approaches, elsewhere views about communicative
competence and its application to language pedagogy are undergoing a reevaluation.
This paper seeks to re-examine the concept of communicative
competence, distinguishing between "knowledge" of language and of its use
and the ability to "control" this knowledge in actual communication. The paper
also reviews research which has examined the acquisition of one aspect of
communicative competence-sociolinguistic competence---by Japanese learners.
ofEnglish, concluding that many learners experience problems with this
aspect The paper ends with a discussion of the goals of language teaching in
Japanese high schools, arguing that a minimal goal involving "knowledge" (as
opposed to "control") of both grammatical and sociolinguistic competence is
the only practical one. Such a goal may be best achieved through "consciousness-
raising" activities rather than practice exercises.