communicative (adj.)

A term derived from COMMUNICATION, but often used in a restricted sense. In the phrase communicative competence, for instance, it is in contrast with ‘linguistic’, a distinction being made between the NATIVE-SPEAKERS’ awareness of the FORMAL patterning of their language, on the one hand (their ‘linguistic competence’), and of the situational APPROPRIATENESS of their language, on the other. This emphasis on functional appropriate-ness also characterizes several uses of the term in the field of foreign-language teaching (communicative grammar, communicative syllabus, etc.).