Learners who can compensate for gaps in communication have which competence?

• A. Discourse
• B. Strategic
• C. Pragmatic
• D. Sociolinguistic

Answer: (B)

Strategic competence is the ability to keep communication moving by using compensatory strategies when you can’t rely on precise linguistic knowledge. Learners who compensate well can paraphrase, describe, use circumlocution, simplify messages, or enlist gestures and clarifications to convey meaning even when they hit gaps in vocabulary or grammar. This focus on planning, monitoring, and repairing interaction is what makes them effective communicators in real-time talk.

Discourse competence deals with organizing ideas across extended stretches of talk, pragmatic competence with using language appropriately in context, and sociolinguistic competence with adjusting language to social norms and relationships. The skill described here—finding ways around gaps to maintain understanding—fits best with strategic competence.