Communication in foreign languages

Articol postat la 8 December 2009.

2. Communication in foreign languages

Communication in foreign languages is the ability to understand, express and interpret thoughts, feelings and facts in both oral and written form in an appropriate range of societal contexts— work, home, leisure, education and training — in languages other than the mother tongue and the language(s) of instruction at school, according to one’s wants and needs.

The competence consists of the following elements of knowledge, skills and attitudes as appropriate to the context:

Knowledge

Knowledge of vocabulary and functional grammar, intonation and pronunciation.
Awareness of various types of verbal interaction (for example, face-to-face and phone conversations, interviews, etc.).
Knowledge of an appropriate range of literary and nonliterary texts (for example, short stories, poems, newspaper and magazine articles, web pages, instructions, letters, short reports, etc.).
Understanding of the main features of different styles and registers in spoken and written language (formal, informal, journalistic, colloquial, etc.).
Awareness of societal conventions and cultural aspects and the variability of language in different
geographical, social and communication environments.

Skills

Ability to listen to and understand spoken messages in an appropriate range of communicative situations (topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to everyday life).
Ability to initiate, sustain and conclude conversations on topics that are familiar, of personal interest or pertinent to everyday life.
Ability to read and understand nonspecialist written texts on a range of subjects or, in some cases, specialist texts in a familiar field and to write different types of text for various purposes in an appropriate range of situations.
Appropriate use of aids (for example, notes, diagrams, maps) to understand or produce written or spoken texts (for example, conversations, instructions, interviews, speeches ).
Ability to initiate and sustain an appropriate range of autonomous language learning activities.

Attitudes

Sensitivity to cultural differences and resistance to stereotyping.
Interest in and curiosity about languages in general (including neighbouring, regional, minority or ancient languages, sign language, etc.) and to intercultural communication.

Source:

Key competences for lifelong learning – A European Reference Framework