Table 1.

Four types of language competence

Type	Description	Expected competencies
Grammatical competence	The goal of most college-level language courses. The ability to appropriately use the common forms of comprising a language: sounds, words and sentence structures.	Persons are able to speak and write simple sentences.
Discourse competence	A more complex level of language competence. Person is able to converse and follow everyday conversations without difficulty.	Oral and written communication contains complex sentence structures sophisticated enough to facilitate story-telling or business letters.
		Demonstrates contextual understanding of how and when specific words and phrases are used in different situations.
Sociolinguistic competence	Overlaps with discourse competence but requires the ability to express and negotiate the meaning of words and phrases according to the culture using the language.	Oral and written communication functions on a sophisticated level. Integrates understanding of cultural norms into communication processes. Knows how and when, for example, to be polite and show respect in social situations.
Strategic competence	One can compensate for a lack of ability in other aspects of language competence by effectively communicating desires through the use of other vocabulary or physical signals. Non-native speakers generally adopt a number of strategies in order to be understood.	Example: if one does not know a word but can describe the word this is an example of strategic competence in languagesought in order for a native speaker to provide the correct term, this is an example of strategic competence in language.

Adapted from content in Danesi (1996) and Savignon (1997).