The evaluation of the communicative competence of the teachers of the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University

Abstract

The present study examined the communicative competence of 181 teachers from the Francisco Morazán National Pedagogical University of Honduras. Teachers completed an instrument to assess their linguistic abilities (eg grammatical, discursive, sociolinguistic and strategic competences) and their self-perception about their discursive abilities in their teaching performance (eg as a good transmitter, receiver, communicator in the classroom, participant in meetings and academic advisor). The results indicated that the teachers had a medium level of grammatical, sociolinguistic and strategic linguistic skills, although more than half of the teachers (57.5%) obtained a low level in their discursive competence. However, the teachers perceived themselves as having very high discursive capacities as teachers. Finally, significant differences were found depending on the academic degree of the teachers, with those who held the degree of doctor the ones who reached a higher level in communicative competence.