1cvsp introduction to linguistics competence performance linguistic levels

Lesson 1.2: COMPETENCE VERSUS PERFORMANCE

We are finally ready to start the linguistic portion of the course! I would like to begin with a concept discussed in File 1.2 in your textbook. The book mentions that linguists talk about at least three kinds of grammar: competence (a mental grammar), descriptive grammar, and prescriptive grammar. I initially want to concentrate on competence, "those aspects of a speaker's knowledge of language that allow him or her to produce grammatical utterances..." (p. 8).

This knowledge is for the most part subconscious for most speakers. We are not aware of it and have no direct access to it either. The only way we can get at this knowledge is through the actual language we produce (i.e. write, speak). This language use is called performance. Performance is the actual manifestation of the knowledge in our heads. But it is not a perfect manifestation of this knowledge- it may be flawed by speech errors, interruptions, distractions, etc. It may also be affected by such factors as memory limitations. Consider our linguistic ability to form phrases where adjectives are placed before nouns, as in yellow submarine. Our linguistic competence would allow us to keep piling up adjectives as modifiers of a noun. That is, there is potentially nothing wrong with the phrase huge, new, newly constructed, much admired, long-awaited, etc.…yellow-submarine. However, performance limitations would preclude us from actually saying such a sentence – our audience (and we ourselves) would have a hard time remembering and processing all of these modifiers.

As noted in your textbook, we deviate from our ideal language knowledge and alter it when we talk. Let me draw your attention to the parallel with riding a bike that is mentioned in the book to make this point a bit clearer. When we learn to ride a bike, we acquire the knowledge of many different little parts of the overall process: how to get on, how to balance, how to pedal and steer, etc. That's our competence. Most of this knowledge becomes subconscious. When we ride a bike we don't think about these steps along the way. But sometimes it happens that we make a mistake while riding - we may lose our balance and fall, or we may slip while pedaling. Does this mean that we alter our knowledge and "forgot" how to ride a bike? Certainly not! We just experience the difference between competence and actual performance occasionally. Even if we end up in a cast in the hospital because of our performance error we still have our competence of how to ride a bike. One of my students, a visual learner, once used a different metaphor to explain the difference between competence and performance. He compared performance to a finished dish with all its individual differences and imperfections. Competence he compared to the measured ingredients, which ideally should be the same every time the dish is made, but which of course are not ever exactly the same. Perhaps this comparison helps some of you visual learners to better understand the difference between competence and performance.

Linguists are concerned with discovering speakers’ linguistic competence and describing it using descriptive rules. As noted on p. 8 of the textbook, “descriptive grammar is created as a model of speakers’ linguistic competence.” You can look at it as an explicit description of competence. A prescriptive grammar, on the other hand, attempts to legislate correct speech or writing. It prescribes; it doesn’t simply describe. For example, the statement, “ In English, adjectives precede the nouns they modify” is a descriptive rule, while “Don’t end your sentences with a preposition” would be a prescriptive one. In this course, we are interested in descriptive rules that aim at discovering our linguistic competence. As linguists and language teachers, you need to have access to your language competence. One of my goals in this course therefore is to give you tools to gain access to that subconscious knowledge inside your heads. As a first step, I want to show you that you all possess this knowledge as native speakers. Let's put our competence to the test by making us aware of some language rules.

Exercise 1: (requires group discussion via Conference Center)

Consider the sentence “The President fired the Secretary of Finance with enthusiasm” and answer the questions that follow:

1. Is the sentence grammatical? Why do you think so?

2. Is the sentence ambiguous (i.e., has more than one meaning)? If so, how would you paraphrase the different meanings?

3. Can you think of contexts where the different meanings would be clear?

4. When making judgments about the sentence, what knowledge have you drawn on?

When you are ready for small-group discussion, find the group you belong to and post your comments to that group’s discussion space.

Group 1: Sheryl A. Heather B, Abby B. Jonathon B, and Debra Bjerke

Group 2: Robert B, Thomas B, Amy F, Rachel F and Elizabeth H

Group 3: Fodda H, Jill J, Kara J, Karen J and Anne J

Group 4: Mary Kanninen, Daniel K, Elizabeth K, Valissa M, Anne L and Valissa M.

Group 5: Pamela M, Edmund M, Carmen N, Michelle N and Daniel N

Group 6: Cynthia P, Susan R, Karl S, Erin Scott, Cindy S and Tracey V

Let us now move on to our discussion of Arbitrariness.