Competency-based approach to teaching foreign languages
There several definitions of “competency”. Let’s look at two of them.
1. Competency-essential skill, knowledge or behavior required for effective performance of a real task or activity.
2. Competency-intellectual and personal ability of an individual to practical activities.
Competency-based language teaching appeared in the US in 1970-s. It focuses on what students can do with language, not what they know about language. Learners are assessed according to how well they can perform on specific learning tasks.
A syllabus for a competency-based framework differs from the traditional approach to developing a syllabus. Instead of selecting a topic or field of knowledge that one is going to teach, the focus is on how the students can use the language instead of their knowledge about the language.
In the course of foreign language teaching it is possible to use the following competency-based technologies”
project-based learning
developing critical thinking through reading and writing
game technologies(language games, role-playing, dramatization)
problem solving, discussions
interactive teaching technology(in pairs, in small groups)
We should differentiate between the notions of “competency” and “competence”. If competency is an ability of a person to do practical tasks, “competence” is the component of this ability in the form of knowledge a and skills.
It is well-known that the goal of language acquisition is communicative competence: the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals. The desired outcome of the language learning process is the ability to communicate competently, not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does.
