Communicative competence as a subject of sociological research

This paper presents the results of a sociological study of Belgorod region students' communicative competence (800 students were interviewed). The theoretical basis of the study was the structural concept of competence, which provides for the identification and consideration of six components in it: cognitive, technological, practical, axiological, motivational, and personal, wherein the communicative competence is defined as the ability and willingness of a person to effective communication with other people. The results of the study show a high level of the students' communicative competence in such components as cognitive, motivational, practical, and personal. At the same time, the degree of expression in the axiological and technological components, i.e. the vital value of effective communication and communicative skills, is comparatively lower. The students have exaggerated the level of their communicative competence. Moreover, there is a certain gap between communicative knowledge and communicative skills. There is a tendency to increase the level of communicative competence during the study at a university. That is due by an increase in the general level of personal development, the enrichment of the practical experience of effective communication, or by the synergistic influence of both of these factors. No significant gender differences were found in the level of students' communicative competence, except that women show a higher self-esteem of communicative qualities. Interuniversity differences are found in students' perceptions of the level of their communicative competence. They are relatively higher among the humanitarian students and respectively, lower - among students of the economic, technological and agricultural profiles. In general, the students lack self-differentiation of effective, hardly effective and ineffective communication, which does not allow a successful mutual transition of communicative skills and knowledge.