CONTEXTS AND CONDITIONS FOR COMMUNICATION: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF MODELS

This critical review is a step forward to investigate the role of social contexts and conditions to achieve the abilities of communication skill. Social context is believed to be able to influence attitude and motivation; provides learning opportunities, which finally turns into learner's outcome. In fact, learners acquire a language by using it in social interaction with speakers of that language. Nonetheless, significance of social context is mostly ignored or underestimated in producing communication skill and this is naturally missing. This conceptual paper starts with theoretical underpinning (Socio-cultural theory) of contexts and conditions regarding communication; goes on with reviewing four popular models of Mackey (1970), Byalistok (1978), Spolsky (1989) and Stern (1991) in relation to contexts and conditions of communication. Further, it shows the ways to achieve the mechanisms of communication skills in with special reference to FL. Eventually; the review ends up with suggestions at individual and policy level to create the environment of social contexts and conditions for achieving communication skills in Ethiopia.