Developing Students Communicative Competence from a Stylistic Perspective

吕婷婷

【Abstract】With the development of internationalization， English plays an increasingly significant role in people's daily life and work. Using English to transmit information and exchange ideas has become an indispensable means of communication. Therefore， developing students' ability to use language has gradually become the main purpose of oral English teaching. Stylistics studies how to use language appropriately in appropriate situations so that we can achieve the best effect of expression in verbal communication. It provides a new way of teaching English. This paper trying to analyze how to improve college students communication competence by using stylistics theories from the aspects of teaching English culture， role relationship and communicative strategies.

【Key words】stylistics； communication competence； oral English teaching

Stylistic theory can facilitate EFL teaching in developing students' communicative competence. Teaching from a stylistic perspective， we have to bear in mind that mastering a language can not be achieved by only knowing the linguistic knowledge， but can only be achieved by combining linguistic knowledge and extra-linguistic context. Here we will study how to develop students' oral communicative competence from a stylistic perspective.

1. Correctness and Appropriateness in Communication

As we know， the ultimate goal of EFL teaching and learning is to equip our students with “communicative competence”. It consists of “linguistic competence” and “pragmatic competence”. Linguistic competence finds expression in the correctness of language form， while pragmatic competence finds expression in the appropriateness of language performance in specific context （which is the main concern of stylistics）.

Correctness and appropriateness in language use are two interrelated notions. Appropriateness， which is used as a standard to see whether the language in use is appropriate or not， is the maximum principle in communication. Correctness is an important basis for appropriateness. However， we must bear in mind that in communication only appropriate language in use can achieve effective communication. If the users do not know the rules of language use， no matter how correct his language is， he will find himself at a loss in social interactions. As Hymes put it about the relationship between correctness and appropriateness， “there are rules of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless.” It is possible for someone to have learned a large number of words and sentence patterns without knowing how they are actually used. This means that language teacher should be concerned with the teaching of both kinds of knowledge. The past teaching tendency concentrates on the usage of language on the assumption that learners will eventually pick up the necessary knowledge of use on their own. Which seems to be too optimistic. Evidence seems to be that learners who have acquired a good deal of linguistic knowledge find themselves at a loss when they are confronted with actual instances of use. As EFL teachers， we should not only make our students have a good foundation in linguistic competence， but also develop in students communicative competence. Only in this way can our students learn to communicate effectively.

2. Developing Students Communicative Competence in Terms of Extra- linguistic Factors

Extra-linguistic factors affect the practical use of language in a particular context， including cultural context， situational context and communicative strategies. In real life communication， many pragmatic failures result from the insufficient knowledge of extra-linguistic factors. In this point of view， this section will discuss how to integrate the extra-linguistic factors into language teaching.

2.1 Teaching English Culture

Language and culture are inter-related in the sense of how language form conveys the content of a culture as well as how the culture affects the use of language. The teaching of culture can be attached to the teaching of language. Teaching English culture can help students become more aware of conventional behavior in common situations in the target language. Teachers can introduce the culture reflected in dialogues. For example：

A： My name is Zhao min.

B： Nice to meet you. I'm Wang fang.

A： Have you got any brothers or sisters？

B： Yeah. I've got a sister but no brothers.

A： How old is your sister？

B： She is twenty-five.

A： What does she do？

B： Oh， lord， Are you the police？

After reading this dialogue， teacher may ask the whole class， “Why did B consider A a police？” Then teacher can tell the class that when having a talk with native speakers， it is impolite to ask personal questions about age， income and so on. It will make foreigners feel uncomfortable. Some other culture knowledge like social habits and customs can also be introduced in such a way. Gradually， students can be aware of the conventional behavior in common situations of the target language.

2.2 Focusing on Role Relationships

There are three contextual components： field of discourse， tenor of discourse and mode of discourse. Among these three components， tenor of discourse is of vital importance to the students. Tenor of discourse can show formality represented by the continuation of power， contact and affective involvement. Speaking tasks which do not clearly specify the receiver make even native students tongue-tied. So social variables such as age， sex and social class can influence the ways in which people speak and behave.

Language is used to perform functions， such as asking for help， making a suggestion， planning a weekend， etc. It is a common view among English teachers that they should attempt to associate the language with situations outside the classroom. In classroom practice， for example， when students learn to ask for help， some teachers merely offer one kind of conversation pattern and ask students to memorize and role play it. This is not enough for students to deal with the real life communication. Teachers should encourage students to make assumptions about the social roles between the speakers and the receivers and know various ways of， for example， asking for help.

2.3 Teaching Communicative Strategies

As an English learner， having linguistic competence， extra-linguistic competence does not necessarily mean that he can keep the conversation going smoothly. It is accepted that strategic competence plays an important part in communicative competence. However， whether teaching strategies is a controversial issue. Some teachers think that learners can form this competence consciously in the process of communication， so it is unnecessary for teachers to train. But Faerch and Kasper hold a different view， “If by teaching we mean passing on new information only， there is probably no need to teach strategies ...but if by teaching we also mean making learners conscious about aspects of their （already existing） behavior， it is obvious that we should teach them about strategies， in particular how to use communication strategies most appropriately.” According to the existing problems of our students in communication， it is significant to teach communicative strategies to develop students' adaptability to ever-changing situations.

Communicative strategies can be divided into three kinds： achievement strategies （strategies to maintain or restore the conversation）； reduction strategies （strategies to avoid speaking what you cannot speak or what you are not willing to speak）； non-linguistic strategies （facial expressions， gestures and body language to accompany a particular language）. This thesis will focus on the achievement strategies which are the most difficult among these three for our students to grasp.

Some commonly used achievement strategies are listed in the following：

1. Asking for repetition： Could you say that again？ Pardon me.

2. Demanding clarification： Did you say you would collect the papers？ Where will you be？ Usual place？

3. Interruption： Sorry to interrupt you， but could you explain this？

4. Changing topic： Talking of going somewhere， what about going for a coffee.

Teachers should encourage them to take advantage of these strategies.

Conclusion

Stylistics is not an approach to EFL teaching， nor does it claim to be. However， through thorough description and study of natural language in use， stylistics has presented us with a different way of looking at language. This knowledge can be valuable to EFL teaching. If EFL teaching aims to turn learners into good and competent language users， there seems to be no reason to detach itself from the teaching of real language to achieve the goal. Therefore， there must be much close interplay between stylistics and EFL teaching.

It is clear that in EFL teaching， the adoption of stylistic theory can help improve students' oral communicative competence. It is unavoidable that some of the discussion or analysis may fall into subjectivity. Still， I hope this thesis can lead teachers to a greater understanding of the existing problems that students have in their communication and perhaps assist teachers in the development of students' oral communicative competence. It is also pertinent to note that teaching speaking cannot rely only on stylistics. It is such an involving field that it also needs the contribution and insights from other disciplines.

References：

[1]Faerch，C.&G.Kasper; Strategies in Interlanguage Communication. New York： Longman Inc.1983.

[2]O' Donnell&T.Loreto.Variety; in Contemporary.London： Unwin Hyman LTD.

[3]Widdowson，H.G.“Knowledge of language and ability for use”.Applied Linguistics.1989，75-83.

[4]刘润清，马丁·韦德尔.外语教学与学习[M].北京：高等教育出版社，1996.

[5]程雨民.英语语体学和文体学论文集[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，1998.

[6]王静.文体学理论知识在英语口语教学中的应用.2007.

[7]详阵撤.文体学在基础英语教学中的应用[J].北京：北京第一外国语学院学报.2003（6）：65.