This booklet discusses functional communication competencies in young people at the seventh-grade through twelfth-grade levels. The first part of the booklet, which is devoted to an analysis of current theory, describes the "competent" adolescent, communication acts, communication competence in general, communication practice, and instructional goals. The second section, which discusses teaching techniques and provides activities to encourage communication competence, includes exercises for students in grades seven and eight and for those in grades nine through twelve. (KS)