Competence for Foreign Language Learning and Teaching. Introduction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/ths.2018.001Abstract
Competence is one of the fashionable terms which permeate public and academic discourses of the 21st century. Accompanied by a plethora of meanings, competence has, rather expectedly, become an inflated notion (Weinert & Helmke, 1998; Virkus, 2009). While we intuitively know what competence, competency or a competent person mean, precise definitions are hard to obtain. To paraphrase Felstead et al. (2002), considering the enormous interest in competence – its structure, development and distribution – there is surprisingly little consensus on what competence actually refers to. This status quo is not helped by context-dependence of competence, i.e. its conceptual reliance on a particular domain within which the term is applied.
References
Anderson. P., Lawton. L., Rexeisen. R. & Hubbard. A. (2006). “Short-term study abroad and intercultural sensitivity: A pilot study.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 30.457-469.
Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Byram. M., Gribkova. B., & Starkey. H. (2002). Developing the Jntercultural Dimension in Language Teaching: a practical introduction for teachers. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Council of Europe. (2006). “Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2006A962/EC).” Official Journal of the European Union. L 394. 10—18.
Council of Europe. (2016). Competence for Democratic Culture: Living together as equals in culturally diverse democratic societies. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Council of Europe. (2017). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment. Companion Volume with New Descriptors, Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Deardorff, D. K. (2011). “Assessing Intercultural Competence.” Special Issue: Assessing Complex General Education Student Learning Outcomes, 149, 65--79.
Felstead, A., Gallic D. & Green, F. (2002). Work Skills in Britain 1986-2001. University of Warwick: SK.OPE.
Gervais, J. (2016). “The operational definition of competency-based education.” The Journal of Competency-based education, 1, 98-106.
Koper, R. (2000). “From change to renewal: educational technology foundations of electronic learning environments [inaugural address]. Heerlen: Open Universiteit Nederland.” (PDF) From Change to Renewal: Educational Technology Foundations of Electronic Learning Environments. Retrieved from: https://www.rcscarchgatc.net/publication/237703701_From_Change_to_ Renewal_Educational_Technology_Foundations_of_Electronic_Leaming_Environments.
Langlotz, A. (2015). Creating Social Orientation through Language. A socio-cognitive theory of situated social meaning. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.
Le, C., Wolfe, R., & Steinberg, A. (2014). The past and the promise: Today’s competency education movement. Students at the Center: Competency Education Research Series. Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.
Savolainen, R. (2002). “Network competence and information seeking on the Internet: from definitions towards a social cognitive model.” Journal of Documentation, 58 (2), 211-226.
Spitzberg, B., & Changnon, G. (2011). “Conceptualizing Intercultural Competence.” In D. K. Deardorff (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Intercultural Competence (pp. 2-52). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Strugielska, A., & Piątkowska, K. (2018). “Culture, Competence and Intercultural Competence: global and local diversities in intercultural discourse.” Hermes, 57, 109-123.
Virkus, S. (2003). “Information Literacy in Europe: a literature review.” Information Research, 8 (4), paper no. 159. Retrieved from: https://www.rcscarchgate.net/ publication/267784760_Information_literacy_as_an_important_competency_for_the_21 st_century_conceptual_approaches.
Virkus, S. (2009). “Concept of information-related competencies.” Retrieved from: https://www.tIu.ee/~sirvir/Information%20and%20Knowledge%20Management/Concept%20of%20Information-related%20Competencies/the_concepts_of_competence_and_skills.html.
Weinert, F. E. & Helmke, A. (1998). “The neglected role of individual differences in theoretical models of cognitive development.” Learning and Instruction (Special Issue), 8 (4), 309-323.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 532
Number of citations: 0
