Communicative competence within the proyecto de cursos libres de idiomas extranjeros at Universidad del Atlántico

Abstract

The development of the Communicative Competence is currently a crucial factor. Any study centered on the specificity of the development of Communicative Competence framed by its social context: the classroom, mediated by the teacher and the material will surely bring fruitful insights to the understanding and operationalization of such theoretical construct and its application in the field of Language Teaching. The research reported here aimed at describing how the materials and the methodology implemented by a third level teacher at the Cursos Libres de Idiomas Extranjeros (CLLE) at Universidad Del Atlántico contributed to the development of the students’ Communicative Competence. An in-depth understanding of what went on in a particular classroom, in terms of the development of communicative competence during the development of one complete unit, was analyzed. For the present study, qualitative approach was chosen. Communicative competence, the focus of this study, is a construct which is not measurable. In order to approach it, it needs to be observed, analyzed and described. This research did not intend to establish direct cause effect relation in order to make generalizations, but rather to examine how in a particular case the teaching and the materials influenced the development of communicative competence in a specific group of students. Consequently, for the present study, ethnography and case study was combined in an ethnographic case study. In order to carry out the case study, techniques proper of ethnography were employed, such as observation, interview, field notes and document analysis.