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Abstract： With a long-term English learning， we dream of being a native-like speaker， communicating effectively in English. In order to achieve this goal， we have to figure out why to learn English， what’s the relationship between output and communicative language ability.
Key words： output， communicative language ability， linguistic competence， social linguistic competence， discourse competence and strategic competence
With the development of the society， English， as an international language， becomes more and more important. The ability to communicate effectively in English is now a well-established goal in English teaching and learning. It is concentrated on the personal needs to communicate in spoken and written English. But how to make an effective output， one’s communicative language ability plays a major role.
一、Why to learn English？
English， as a major subject， has been taught from primary school to college， we tend to spend ten or more years studying it， however， why do we have to learn it？
1）. a brief review of statements from syllabus specifications and introductions to course books will demonstrate the extent to which communicative ability has become a goal and communicative practice has become part of classroom procedure.
To be able to operate effectively in the real world， students need plenty of opportunity to practice language in situations which encourage them to communicate their needs， ideas and opinions. （Abbs and Freebairn： Blueprint Intermediate， Page 1） 〔1〕
2）. To develop an ever improving capability to use English
To communicate with others.
To acquire， develop and apply knowledge.
To think and solve problems.
To respond and give expression to experience and within these contexts， to develop and apply an ever-increasing understanding of how English is organized， used and learned. （Clark， Scarino， and Brownell， 1994：37） 〔2〕
3） Where possible， language practice should resemble real life communication with genuine exchange of information and opinions. （Swan and Walter 1990：vii） 〔3〕
As you can see， to learn English is to understand the English-speaking countries’ culture， to adapt to the international society， to use English to solve the real problems.
二、What is output？
The hypothesis that successful second language acquisition requires not only the comprehensible input， but also comprehensible output， language produced by the learner that can be understood by other speakers of language. As a matter of fact， as an English learner， the process of output can be concentrated on the production of spoken and written English， including structured output and communicative output.
Structured output： focuses on correct form. Students may have opinions for responses， but all of the opinions require them to use the specific form or structure that the teacher has just introduced.
Communicative output： the learner’s main purpose is to complete a task， such as obtaining information， developing a travel plan， allowing students to practice using all of the language they know in situations that resemble real settings： role plays and discussion.
三、What is communicative language ability？
Whether one’s output is effective or not depends on his communicative language ability. As the goals for ELT become more concerned with enabling learners to interact successfully with members of other societies， so the explorations of applied linguistics into the components of communicative ability assumed increasing relevance and usefulness to the work of classroom teachers and materials designers， the key components， as identified by a number of researchers（for example， Canale and Swain 1980； Faerch， Haastrup， and Phillipson 1984， Bachman 1990）can be listed as： linguistic competence， social-linguistic competence， discourse competence， strategic competence， but how does communicative language ability make sense？
1）. Linguistic competence is the ability about using words， syntax， grammar etc. when carrying on a conversation. You can imagine how hard to communicate with a Japanese if you know nothing about Japanese. On the contrary， the ones like us who know a little English can undertake an easy conversation， such as making a telephone call.
A： Hello！ Could I speak to David？
B： Speaking！
A： Would it be convenient if I invite you to my party on Friday evening？
B： Of course， I’d love to！
In the conversation， some words， sentences are certainly used to conduct the conversation. So it shows your linguistic competence.
2）. Social-linguistic competence is the ability focuses on the setting， occasion， appropriateness. When we conduct a conversation， we try to pay more attention to these elements； otherwise we will hurt the one we communicate with.
Once we had an evening boat sightseeing in Huangpujiang River. When my counterpart and I were standing in line to board the ship， we noticed a foreign woman behind us. And my counterpart made a conversation with her. -Hello！ Where are you from？
-I’m from Canada.
-Why are you alone？
-Oh， because um…er…
When I heard their conversation， I don’t think my counterpart spoke in an appropriate way. It was something concerned the Canadian’s privacy. Maybe he could start with the brilliant scenery of Huanpu River.
3）. Discourse competence refers to the ability which someone can make the framework for a topic or reading text clear. When the conduct a conversation， something should be linked logically. Each topic should be demonstrated by some details. And the details should be linked logically. The topic sentence should not be changed too often， or it will make others confused.
So if you have a strong sense of discourse competence， you can cope with your topic easily. And it is a good way to handle an effective communication.
4）. Strategic competence consists of using communication strategies. These strategies come into play when learners are unable to express what they want to say because they lack the resources to do so successfully. They compensate for this either by changing their original intention or by searching for other means of expression， such as in this conversation between a native speaker of English and a Swedish student. It is possible to see a number of strategies at work. （Tricia Hedge， 2008） 〔5〕
Student： Every summer we go for a for…， you know ， erm，…fourteen days…I mean…
Native speaker： Oh a fortnight.
As it goes now， communicative language ability has a great effect on our output （spoken and written English）. In order to communicate effectively in English， we must foster communicative language ability and make the most of it.
References：
[1]Abbs.B. and Freebairn. 1989-91. Blueprint Intermediate. London
Longman
[2]Clark J.L， A.Scarino， and J.A. Brownell. 1944. Improving the Quality of Learning： A Framework for Target-oriented Curriculum Renewal in HongKong. Hong Kong Bank Language Development Fund/Institute of Language in Education
[3]Swan，M. and C.Water. 1990. The New Cambridge English Course1， Teacher’s Book. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.
[4]Canale， M. and M..Swain 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics.
[5]Tricia Hedge. 2008. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
（作者单位： 云南省保山市施甸县第一完全中学 678200）
Key words： output， communicative language ability， linguistic competence， social linguistic competence， discourse competence and strategic competence
With the development of the society， English， as an international language， becomes more and more important. The ability to communicate effectively in English is now a well-established goal in English teaching and learning. It is concentrated on the personal needs to communicate in spoken and written English. But how to make an effective output， one’s communicative language ability plays a major role.
一、Why to learn English？
English， as a major subject， has been taught from primary school to college， we tend to spend ten or more years studying it， however， why do we have to learn it？
1）. a brief review of statements from syllabus specifications and introductions to course books will demonstrate the extent to which communicative ability has become a goal and communicative practice has become part of classroom procedure.
To be able to operate effectively in the real world， students need plenty of opportunity to practice language in situations which encourage them to communicate their needs， ideas and opinions. （Abbs and Freebairn： Blueprint Intermediate， Page 1） 〔1〕
2）. To develop an ever improving capability to use English
To communicate with others.
To acquire， develop and apply knowledge.
To think and solve problems.
To respond and give expression to experience and within these contexts， to develop and apply an ever-increasing understanding of how English is organized， used and learned. （Clark， Scarino， and Brownell， 1994：37） 〔2〕
3） Where possible， language practice should resemble real life communication with genuine exchange of information and opinions. （Swan and Walter 1990：vii） 〔3〕
As you can see， to learn English is to understand the English-speaking countries’ culture， to adapt to the international society， to use English to solve the real problems.
二、What is output？
The hypothesis that successful second language acquisition requires not only the comprehensible input， but also comprehensible output， language produced by the learner that can be understood by other speakers of language. As a matter of fact， as an English learner， the process of output can be concentrated on the production of spoken and written English， including structured output and communicative output.
Structured output： focuses on correct form. Students may have opinions for responses， but all of the opinions require them to use the specific form or structure that the teacher has just introduced.
Communicative output： the learner’s main purpose is to complete a task， such as obtaining information， developing a travel plan， allowing students to practice using all of the language they know in situations that resemble real settings： role plays and discussion.
三、What is communicative language ability？
Whether one’s output is effective or not depends on his communicative language ability. As the goals for ELT become more concerned with enabling learners to interact successfully with members of other societies， so the explorations of applied linguistics into the components of communicative ability assumed increasing relevance and usefulness to the work of classroom teachers and materials designers， the key components， as identified by a number of researchers（for example， Canale and Swain 1980； Faerch， Haastrup， and Phillipson 1984， Bachman 1990）can be listed as： linguistic competence， social-linguistic competence， discourse competence， strategic competence， but how does communicative language ability make sense？
1）. Linguistic competence is the ability about using words， syntax， grammar etc. when carrying on a conversation. You can imagine how hard to communicate with a Japanese if you know nothing about Japanese. On the contrary， the ones like us who know a little English can undertake an easy conversation， such as making a telephone call.
A： Hello！ Could I speak to David？
B： Speaking！
A： Would it be convenient if I invite you to my party on Friday evening？
B： Of course， I’d love to！
In the conversation， some words， sentences are certainly used to conduct the conversation. So it shows your linguistic competence.
2）. Social-linguistic competence is the ability focuses on the setting， occasion， appropriateness. When we conduct a conversation， we try to pay more attention to these elements； otherwise we will hurt the one we communicate with.
Once we had an evening boat sightseeing in Huangpujiang River. When my counterpart and I were standing in line to board the ship， we noticed a foreign woman behind us. And my counterpart made a conversation with her. -Hello！ Where are you from？
-I’m from Canada.
-Why are you alone？
-Oh， because um…er…
When I heard their conversation， I don’t think my counterpart spoke in an appropriate way. It was something concerned the Canadian’s privacy. Maybe he could start with the brilliant scenery of Huanpu River.
3）. Discourse competence refers to the ability which someone can make the framework for a topic or reading text clear. When the conduct a conversation， something should be linked logically. Each topic should be demonstrated by some details. And the details should be linked logically. The topic sentence should not be changed too often， or it will make others confused.
So if you have a strong sense of discourse competence， you can cope with your topic easily. And it is a good way to handle an effective communication.
4）. Strategic competence consists of using communication strategies. These strategies come into play when learners are unable to express what they want to say because they lack the resources to do so successfully. They compensate for this either by changing their original intention or by searching for other means of expression， such as in this conversation between a native speaker of English and a Swedish student. It is possible to see a number of strategies at work. （Tricia Hedge， 2008） 〔5〕
Student： Every summer we go for a for…， you know ， erm，…fourteen days…I mean…
Native speaker： Oh a fortnight.
As it goes now， communicative language ability has a great effect on our output （spoken and written English）. In order to communicate effectively in English， we must foster communicative language ability and make the most of it.
References：
[1]Abbs.B. and Freebairn. 1989-91. Blueprint Intermediate. London
Longman
[2]Clark J.L， A.Scarino， and J.A. Brownell. 1944. Improving the Quality of Learning： A Framework for Target-oriented Curriculum Renewal in HongKong. Hong Kong Bank Language Development Fund/Institute of Language in Education
[3]Swan，M. and C.Water. 1990. The New Cambridge English Course1， Teacher’s Book. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.
[4]Canale， M. and M..Swain 1980. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics.
[5]Tricia Hedge. 2008. Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
（作者单位： 云南省保山市施甸县第一完全中学 678200）