Level, Relationship and Predictive Capacity of Grammatical and Discourse Competence to Communicative Competence of Pre-service Teachers

Abstract

This study investigated the levels, relationships, and predictive capacity of grammatical, discourse, and communicative competence among pre-service teachers. The descriptive statistics indicated the pre-service teachers were rated moderately competent in overall communicative competence (M=3.50) and grammatical competence (M=3.18). The pre-service teachers were rated competent in discourse competence (M=3.69). The correlation analyses indicated that pre-service teachers showed a strong positive relationship between grammatical competence and overall communicative competence (r = 0.551, p < 0.001), suggesting that an understanding of grammar is a prerequisite for effective communication across various social contexts. A strong positive correlation between discourse competence and overall competence was observed (r = 0.531, p < 0.001), underscoring the need to organize longer stretches of language for effective communication. The linear regression findings presented that grammatical competence and discourse competence were statistically significant positive predictors of overall communicative competence. Grammatical competence predicted a unique variance of 30.3%, and discourse competence was also a unique predictor of 28.2%. Therefore, the study's findings suggest that grammatical competence and discourse competence are both significant, foundational, and vital contributors to a pre-service teacher's overall communicative competence. The researcher recommends that teacher education programs integrate grammar instruction with discourse-based tasks to better prepare pre-service teachers for classroom communication challenges.