Since the concept of "communication competence" is a relatively recent development in the field of speech communication, there is as yet no universal agreement as to its definition and constitution. However, it seems that the purpose of the study of communication competence is to inform classroom instruction. The efforts to define and understand the concept are directed to helping instructors understand and explain everyday speech communication in such a way that gives more control over its use, in order to teach their students to have more control over their communicative behavior. Some basic assumptions about this concept include the following: people's behavior appears to be made up of discrete components that can be referred to as skills, people show a wide range of these skills, people apply these skills to different situations with varying success, and people can get better at their communicative behavior. Some teachers' concerns include: describing levels of ability, discerning situations that form the basis for communicative behavior, defining success and failure in given situations, and being able to predict success in future behavior. (CRH)