ABSTRACT

A distinction is often made in language education following Hymes (1972) between knowledge of the rules governing language as a system and the ability to actually use language in unrehearsed interaction. Learners may know a good deal about a language, but be unable to

access the words or phrases they know in the course of a conversation or be unable to pronounce them accurately. Conversely, many people are able to communicate effectively in a wide range of situations with little or no explicit knowledge of the systems of rules that govern the language they are using. Language skills involve drawing on language knowledge and language abilities in order to read, listen, write, speak, to interact with others, or to mediate between them.