Communicative Language Abilities

Introduction

As is often the case with other psychological functions, most people think they know the meaning of communication. Problems arise, however, when experts try to define communication, specify what it consists of, and determine its limits. Definitions can range from very broad concepts, where the simple transmission of information is considered to constitute valid communication, to more restrictive ones that imply both intent and awareness of the communicative act. Below we briefly describe the basic skills needed to communicate, as well as ways of assessing them.

Basic Communication Skills

Although linguistic abilities used to be considered sufficient for good communication, language and communication are now seen as two different functional systems. However, the relationship between them is not clear.

Among the communicative skills attributed to the speaker, the ...