Communicative competence in an ESL task

A dilemma in a torres Strait Island class

Barry Osborne | James Cook University of North Queensland

Glenn Dawes | James Cook University of North Queensland

This ethnographic study is of an eleven-minute segment of an English as a Second Language lesson in a Year 8 class in Torres Strait. It focuses on a tandem activity where students are asked to get information from each other in ‘proper English sentences.’ Though the aim is laudable, the task is structured more to get the information than to practise the process of talking. Furthermore, it is not situated in a social setting despite student attempts to context it socially. The students have difficulty understanding the complex language used to introduce the task, but ultimately engage in it for a substantial time, practising communicating with each other and with the teacher. However, the neophyte teacher’s goal of grammatical competence plays down the importance of sociolinguistic competence.

Published online: 01 January 1992
https://doi.org/10.1075/aralss.9.06osb

Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Nakata, Martin

2003. Some Thoughts on Literacy Issues in Indigenous Contexts. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 31 ► pp. 7 ff.

Osborne, Barry

2003. Around in Circles or Expanding Spirals?: a Retrospective Look at Education in Torres Strait, 1964-2003. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 32 ► pp. 61 ff.

Tangen, Donna & Ruth Fielding-Barnsley

2007. Environmental Education in a Culturally Diverse School. Australian Journal of Environmental Education 23 ► pp. 23 ff.

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