Effective teaching strategies to improve communicative competence in Higher Education

Abstract

Introduction: The article explored the importance of communicative competence in higher education students, highlighting its relevance in academic and professional performance. It was based on solid theoretical foundations, integrating concepts from prominent authors such as Hymes, Canale and Swain, who developed the notion of communicative competence. In addition, it incorporated communication theories from Habermas and Vygotsky, and teaching strategies from Freire and Piaget, highlighting the importance of collaborative, active and critical learning. Materials and methods: The theoretical framework allowed us to understand the complexity of the problem and the need to address it from a comprehensive perspective. Regarding the methodology, a diagnosis was carried out at the Instituto Superior Tecnológico Tsa'chilas in Santo Domingo de los Tsa'chilas, where significant difficulties were identified in the communicative competence of students in the first semester of the Early Childhood Education degree. These problems included a lack of verbal fluency, limitations in written expression, and poor capacity for synthesis and argumentation. The research proposed the implementation of effective teaching strategies to improve these competencies, based on a mixed approach that combined qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze data. Results: The intervention proposal consisted of designing and implementing specific activities that promoted the development of communicative competence, such as debates, collaborative work, and structured writing exercises. The results indicated significant improvements in students' communication skills, evidenced by their ability to express themselves more clearly and coherently, both orally and in writing. Discussion: A greater ability to synthesize and argue information was observed, as well as better reading comprehension. Conclusions: These findings provided relevant knowledge for educational practice, suggesting that the implemented teaching strategies may be effective in other similar educational contexts.