THE VARIABLE COMPETENCE MODEL

MS. SHIRLEY C. VENIEGAS MAT- FILIPINO

VARIABLE- var.i.able (\’ver-ē-ə-bəl)

• Adjective: able or likely to change or be changed: not always the same.Synonyms: adaptable, adjustable, changeable, malleable and flexible.

Discourse \’dis-,k rs, dis-’\

: a long talk or piece of writing about a subject

• : a mode or organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience that is rooted in language and its concrete contexts (as history or institutions)

Synonyms- chat, converse, dialouge, discussion, conversation and exchange

CONTINUUMNoun: a range or series of things

that are slightly different from each other and that exist between two

different possibilities

• ROD ELLIS(1984) proposed The Variable Competence Model

Accdg to him, many aspects of language and vocabulary are

learned implicitly through exposure: word structure and

form, collocations, word class, and certain extent meaning. This suggest that a great deal of

exposure to a target language is necessary for learning.

A.PRODUCT OF LANGUAGEB.PROCESS OF LANGUAGE

THE PRODUCT OF LANGUAGE

• Is the plan and unplanned discourse previously, where the user chooses to speak out of a source of general knowledge to provide

automatic information or to speak meticulously planning ahead what is to be said. That is the

basic premise of the “product”part of the theory.

• Product or performance of language use comprises a continuum of discourse types ranging from entirely unplanned to entirely planned.

• The product refers to what the learner does with the language – the discourse which he helps to construct.

What is discourse continuum?

The discourse continuum is of central importance in the Variability Model. It accounts that L2 learners produce output that manifests one rule on one occasion and a different rule on another occasion – what Sclinker (1972) called ‘backsliding’, which might be better termed ‘discourse sliding’.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN UNPLANNED AND

PLANNED DISCOURSE?

UNPLANNED DISCOURSE

-Is a discourse that lacks thought and

preparation. It is associate with spontaneous

communication.

PLANNED DISCOURSE

-Is a discourse that is thought out prior to

expression. It requires conscious thought and

the opportunity to work out content and

expression.

THE PROCESS OF LANGUAGE

-language use is to be understand in terms of the distinction between linguistic knowledge(or

rules) and the ability to make use of this knowledge (procedures)

PREMISE a. That the language

user has variable competence;

Means: we possess a myriad of different rules for different uses

of language.

b. That the language user has variable application

Means: Contends that when we speak we analyze from different perspective what we are saying

prior and during speech.

Latter analysis of speech happens in primary and secondary way:

When we say things that are automatically

know and does not require analysis, such as our name, address

and other factual knowledge that is

stored permanently

Secondary analysis happens when we

plan ahead, or when we “mentally-edit” what we need to

say.

Widdowson (1984)-refers to a knowledge or rules as competence

and to a knowledge of procedures involved using rules to construct discourse as capacity.

PRINCIPLES OF THE VARIABLE COMPETENCE MODEL

1.There is a single knowledge store containing variable interlanguage rules according to how automatic and how analyzed the rules are.2. The learner possesses a capacity for language use which consists of primary and secondary discourse and cognitive processes.3. L2 performance is variable as a result of whether primary processes employing unanalyzed L2 rules are utilized in unplanned discourse , or secondary processes employing analyzed L2 rules are utilized in planned discourse .

4. Development occurs as a result of (a) acquisition of new L2 rules through participation in various types of discourse (i.e. new rules originate in the application of procedural knowledge); (b) activation of L2 rules which initially exist in either a non-automatic unanalyzed form or in an analyzed form so they can be used in unplanned discourse.

The diagram below illustrates very clearly the enumerated principles

Acquisition Acquisition

•

automati

c

Unplanned discourse

Planneddiscourse

Knowledge

analytic

use usePrimary

processesSecondaryprocesses

From the given principles and the paradigm illustrated, it follows that the process of language

use…result of either or both of the following:

a variable competence, i.e. the language uses or possesses a heterogeneous rule

system;

Variable application of procedures for actualizing knowledge in discourse

The distinction between automatic/non-automatic and analytic/unanalytic

a. The first distinction concerns the relative access that the learner has to L2 knowledge. Knowledge can be retrieved easily and quickly is automatic. Knowledge that takes time and effort to retrieve is non-automatic.

b. The second distinction concerns the extent to w/c the learner possesses a propositional mental w/c makes clear the structure of the knowledge and its relationship to other aspect of knowledge.

DISCOURSE PROCESS

• Simplify the semantic structure of a message by omitting elements that are communicatively redundant or that can be realized by a non-verbal device.

• e.g. mime• Mime is a form of entertainment w/c a

performer plays a character or tells story w/o words by using body movements and facial expressions.

COGNITIVE PROCESS

a. Construct an underlying conceptual structure of a message.

b. Compare this structure with frame of reference shared with an interlocutor.

c. Eliminate redundant elements for which no lexical item is available.

Widdowson (1979)We draw upon our knowledge of rules to make sense. We

do not simply measure discourse up against our knowledge of pre-existing rules; we create discourse and commonly

bring new rules into existence by so doing. All competence is transitional in this case.

Means: Language acquisition is the result of our capacity to make sense.

IMPLICATIONS OF VARIABLE COMPETENCE MODEL

1. Spread of rules along the interlanguage continuum from the careful towards the vernacular style and from simple to complex linguistic environment. Motivate learner’s felt need to be socially acceptable and helped by practice w/c automizes rules that initially can be applied only when the learner is attending to his speech.

2. There is the need to make the interlanguage system more efficient by removing free variability. This involves the progressive reorganization of form-function relations

and eventual elimination of redundant form.

3. Stress the importance of matching the learning process with the type of instruction. Instruction must consider the specific goals of the learner and attempt

to provide the appropriate form of knowledge to achieve those goals.

Conclusions: All language users have the capacity

to use language either in a primary (automatic) or secondary (analytical) way.

More L2 is produced as more discourse takes place, hence, the more we talk the more we learn in L2 given the number of new rules that are learned through dialogue.