ERIC Number: ED050084
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1970-Dec
Pages: 12
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Expanding the Notion of Competence: Some Implications for Elementary Speech Programs.
Hopper, Robert
Applications of research in psycholinguistics, particularly Noam Chomsky's research, have suggested some drastic innovations in the practices of both the classroom teacher and the child development researcher. For example, more emphasis is needed upon asking what a speaker knows about the grammar of the language with less concern about how information is learned, and more emphasis should be on what a child knows intuitively about grammatical structures at a given time with less emphasis upon his articulation and vocabulary. In such a process, teachers would use activities to increase children's linguistic competence and performance, and assist them in learning, acquiring, and using their grammar. These practical changes in emphasis would support the concept of linguistic competence as well as encompass the notion of developing the child's competence in the rules of social speech usage. Information from research also suggests that grammar should be taught as a tool for accomplishing relevant goals, thus changing instructional techniques from learning by rote to learning how language functions. This information provides an increased understanding of the child's patterns of development and also emphasizes the rules of usage. It therefore produces a more realistic framework for elementary programs in speech and oral language. (JM)
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Note: Paper presented at the Speech Communication Association Annual Meeting (56th, New Orleans, December 1970)