Right now I am studying for my linguistics exams and a couple of minutes ago while reading trough one of ‚George Yule chapters‘I came across something that might help you. The concept is very simple. Even though I will be speaking about learning language as a foreign one, please feel free to interpret it as an introduction to how to learn and develop your pick up skills
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L1 – First Language
L2 – Second Language
Motivation
There are several factors that combine in a profile of a successful L2 learner. Obviously, the motivation to learn is important. Many learners have an instrumental motivation. That is, they want to learn L2 in order to achieve some other goal, such as completing as school graduation requirement or being able to read scientific publications, but not really for any social purposes. In contrast, those learners with an integrative motivation want to learn the L2 for social purposes, in order to take part in the social life of a community using that language and to become an accepted member of the community.
It is also worth noting that those who experience some success in L2 communication are among the most motivated to learn. So, motivation may be as much a result of success as a cause. A language-learner situation that provides support and encourages students to try to use whatever L2 skills they have in order to communicate successfully must consequently be more helpful than one that dwells on errors, corrections and a failure to be perfectly accurate. Indeed, the learner who is willing to guess, risks making mistakes, and tries to communicate in the L2 will tend, given the opportunity, be more successful.
Communicative Competence
Communicative competence can be defined as the general ability to use language accurately, appropriately, and flexibly. The first component is grammatical competence, which involves the accurate use of words and structures. Concentration on grammatical competence only, however, will NOT provide the learner with the ability to interpret or produce L2 expressions appropriately.
The ability to use appropriate language is the second component, called sociolinguistic competence. It enables the learner to know when to say ‘Can I have some water?’ versus ‘Give me some water!’ according to the social context.
Much of what is discussed in terms of pragmatics has to become familiar in the cultural context of the L2 if the learner is to develop sociolinguistic competence.
The third component is called strategic competence. This is the ability to organize a message effectively and to compensate, via strategies, for any difficulties. In L2 use, learners inevitably experience moments when there is a gap between communicative intent and their ability to express that intent. Some learners may just stop talking (bad idea), whereas others will try to express themselves using a communicative strategy (good idea). For example a Dutch L1 speaker wanted to refer to een hoefijzer (if there are any spelling mistakes, please excuse my Dutch) in English, but didn’t know the English word. So, she used a communicative strategy. She created a way of referring to the object by using vocabulary she already knew, saying the things that horses wear under their feet, the iron things, and the listener understood immediately what she meant (horseshoes). This flexibility in L2 use is a key element in communicative success. In essence, strategic competence is the ability to overcome potential communication problems in interaction.
I hope that these paragraphs made you think about particular situations and concepts.
Cheers
Jez
