Reconceptualizing language teaching: an in-service teacher education course in uzbekistan

CHAPTER FOUR: 
PRACTICAL EXAMPLES OF USING
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE
Ulugbek Azizov, Ph.D.
Chapter 4 provides the reader with practical activities to make connec-
tions between teaching the sub-skill sets of English (i.e., speaking, listen-
ing, writing, and reading) and the communicative competencies explained 
from Chapter 1. In Section 4.1, we address speaking activities and provide 
some practical examples of supporting pragmatic competence. Section 
4.2 examines the sub-skill of listening and communicative competence. In 
this section, we will present a way to organize a class that targets at de-
veloping students’ pragmatic, discursive, as well as sociolinguistic compe-
tencies through the teaching of listening. Section 4.3 targets the sub-skill 
of writing and uses comparative analyses to learn how to write in specific 
English genres. Finally, Section 4.4 addresses reading and communicative 
competence. The two main goals of this chapter: (1) present a connection 
between the sub-skills that we teach and communicative competencies; 
and (2) provide practical examples you may use in your lesson plan for 
Chapter 5 and/or beyond the professional development course.

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RECONCEPTUALIZING LANGUAGE TEACHING
SECTION 4.1
Speaking and Communicative Competence
“The basic assumption in any interaction is that the 
speaker wants to communicate ideas, feelings, attitudes, 
and information to the hearer or wants to employ speech 
that relates to the situation. The objective of the speaker is 
to be understood and for the message to be properly inter-
preted by the hearer(s). It is speaker’s intention that needs to 
be communicated to the hearer” (Celce-Murcia & Olshtain, 
2000, p. 166).
INTRODUCTION
Language teachers in Uzbekistan often utilize the Grammar Translation 
Method (GTM) when they teach the skill of speaking. To master speaking 
skills has meant to memorize form/structure and meanings/semantics. As 
such, students are expected to follow linguistic rules and dictionary mean-
ings (i.e., denotation) while speaking about any topic. Teaching speaking 
within a GTM conceptualization has often caused some problems that 
carry over into real (and substantial) human communication. With the in-
troduction of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in Uzbekistan, in 
2012, the focus has shifted from learning form and semantics to studying 
language in use. We do not argue that the GTM is invaluable, and we re-
spect what this methodology brings to the area of language teaching and 
learning. Within use, however, language learners are expected to consider 
the intended meaning of an utterance (i.e., pragmatic competence), and/
or take into consideration values, beliefs, and shared knowledge (i.e. mean-
ing-in-use). A question arises regarding how to teach not only form/se-
mantics, but also use in EFL classes in Uzbekistan via speaking activities. 
This brief section presents one activity you can utilize which focuses on 
pragmatic competence for the speaking course.
GOALS
This section illustrates how one can use an activity for teaching speak-
ing that is focused on form/semantics as well as meaning-in-use in real-life 
situations.