On Competence-Based Approaches to Teaching English as a Foreign Language

The paper discusses some elementary concepts and issues in competence based education (CBE) in general and in a competence-based approach to teaching English as a foreign language in particular. It is shown how some basic assumptions and concepts apparently widely adopted in CBE and language pedagogy are confusing, misguided, and incoherent and how some of the incoherence and inconsistencies may be resolved.