What is the term for the ability to understand and produce contextualised stretches of language in spoken or written texts?

• A. Textual competence
• B. Think-aloud protocols
• C. Top-down processing
• D. Transactional language

Answer: (A)

Textual competence is the ability to understand and produce contextualised stretches of language in spoken or written texts. This means going beyond isolated words to grasp how ideas are organized across larger pieces of discourse, how sentences connect with cohesive devices, and how genre, tone, and purpose shape language. With strong textual competence, you can follow an argument or narrative in a passage and produce extended language—such as a coherent paragraph or a spoken monologue—that fits the context and audience. The other terms describe different ideas: think-aloud protocols are a research method for verbalizing thinking while performing tasks; top-down processing is a cognitive approach to interpretation that uses preexisting knowledge to make sense of input; transactional language refers to language used for information exchange or practical purposes, not the broader ability to manage extended discourse.