Linguistic Competence Vs Linguistic Performance

Chomsky introduced the term “Linguistic competence” in 1956. Along with “linguistic performance”, competence has been used in the area of English language since ever. Yet, scholars have different opinions and ideas between them. These differences in explaining the competence and performance are based on the variety of those scholars’ interests and expertise. I will try to explain the different perspectives between competence and performance according to the different points of view of some scholars.

According to Joseph (2002), Ferdinand de Saussure referred to “linguistic performance” and “linguistic competence” when he introduced the terms “langue” and “parole” in 1912. Whereas “langue” is the system of grammar and semantics represented in the brain of the speakers, “parole” is the audio output from the speaker's oral cavity and the input to his or her hearing organs. Through this definition, he associated the performance with audio form of the language. However, I consider that definition deemed unsatisfactory. Some scholars have different ideas. Byram (1997, cited in Aguilar, 2007), for example, does not differentiate “competence” and “performance”. He believes that ‘linguistic competence’ is the ability to understand and produce meaningful sentence that is designed on the rules of a specific language to convey meaning in a way that the native speakers of that language would use such sentences to express the same meaning. For Byram, the competence is therefore the mental ability of the speakers to understand and also to produce. From this explanation, the competence will act like a processing system. The outcomes of this system are various, but the speaker knows exactly what each outcome means.

Hymes (1994), on the other hand, states that ‘linguistic competence’ is concerned with the tacit knowledge of language structure, that is, knowledge that is commonly not conscious or available for spontaneous response. It is the knowledge that one can produce and understand in a countless set of sentences, so that language can be spoken of as creative. This creative aspect of the language is supported by Fromkin (2009) who associates “linguistic competence” with language creativity. These creative aspects are the ones that enable the speakers to produce and understand sentences that have never been said before. These distinctive features differentiate between the native speakers and the learners of a certain language. Second language learners, on the other hand, have to recall the knowledge of the language they already learnt and activate them before any production or reception of the language. This can easily be noticed in how fast the native speakers respond to an utterance, compared to the learners of the language who would normally take time to respond.

Ellis (2003) states that “linguistic performance” is the use of linguistic ability to produce and receive the language. Similarly, Fromkin (2009), identify “linguistic performance” as the use of the linguistic knowledge to produce and comprehend the language unconsciously. Crain & Martin (1999) say that “Linguistic performance” has to be linked with the limited ability of natural speakers. It is clear that the “linguistic performance” is the knowledge of the ordinary native speaker of the language. This is due to the fact that stated by Crain and Martin (1999) that no one can hold all the knowledge of the language in his or her brain.

According to Chomsky (1965, cited in Cook & Newson, 2001) “linguistic performance” is the actual use of the language in concrete situation, which requires some other abilities apart from linguistic abilities. Smith (2005) puts forward an example that in order to read an English book one needs to know English (linguistic competence). If someone turns off the light, the “performance” of reading will stop, but not the reader's competence of English. This idea shows that the speaker of a language needs the sense which is the vision in order to be able to perform the ability to read (linguistic performance). As well, the speaker will need the hearing

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