Proposed strategies in light of cognitive linguistics for developing the learner's linguistic competence

Abstract

 اInvesting the experience of cognitive linguistics in the field of languages’ didactics is an urgent necessity in pedagogical practices; through linking linguistic studies to all cognitive mechanisms related to language production and communication. Therefore, this study looks for monitoring the cognitive abilities of the language learner, and how he acquires different linguistic and mental competencies such as: comprehension abilities, knowledge about words’ lexical meanings, the ability of reading comprehension and the ability to deduce words, according to context, as well as the ability to communicate and listen; noting that these mental competencies include the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. This is consistent with the nature and characteristics of language competence. Through this research, we look for linking these competencies to a set of cognitive strategies such as the principle of embodied knowledge, the theory of planification, the theory of mental horizons and conceptual mixture. In order to utilize all of them in language didactics, in general, and to improve the level of language competence with Arabic learners, in particular, the posed problematic is as follows: How do cognitive strategies and researches contribute to the development of the learner’s linguistic and mental competencie