I believe the ultimate goal of foreign or second language education is the cultivation of transnationally competent language students who are capable of culturally sensitive, multimodal communication in a new language and through a new culture. Language learning is a lifelong process; the language classroom serves as the first of many target language communities to which the learners may have access over time, and as such is instrumental in preparing them to engage with target language speakers in other environments throughout their lives.
My goal is to contribute to the development of my students’ transnational communicative competence, the four components of which are briefly outlined below.
On a practical level, operating at a high level of transnational communicative competence means students would have the ability, both in the written and oral modalities, to interpret texts and discourses, to coherently present their own ideas, to communicate effectively and appropriately in interpersonal interactions, and to identify and meet their own learning needs. All of this must be filtered through the lens of francophone culture(s).
My teaching facilitates the growth of transnational communicative competence through the instructional methods I choose to implement, through the sequencing of instruction and the scaffolding of new content, and through the authentic materials and other resources I employ in the language classroom. See My Language Classroom for my application of these principles at the university level.
For a deeper exploration of the definition and role of competence in (second) language learning, see the Qualifying Examination I completed on this topic here.
Dr. Chelsea Tanous 