Integrating AI Interactional Competence Into Models of Communicative Competence: Human–Machine Collaborative Communication

The advent of sophisticated LLMs and their integration into daily communicative practices represents a significant contextual development for the field of TEFL and Applied Linguistics. As a conceptual contribution, this paper argues that existing models of communicative competence, most notably Canale and Swain's foundational framework, require expansion to adequately describe the realities of language use in AI‐saturated environments. When learners employ AI for translation, drafting, and polishing, their communicative competence is no longer a purely human‐to‐human construct but can become a collaborative human–AI endeavor. This paper proposes an additional and context‐dependent dimension that complements traditional models: AI Interactional Competence (AIIC), which denotes the competencies required for direct human–AI collaboration and co‐construction of meaning. The paper deconstructs AIIC into three constituents: Prompt Crafting Literacy, AI Output Evaluation Literacy, and Ethical and Strategic Mediation Literacy. Drawing on the historical evolution of communicative competence models, digital literacies, human‐computer interaction, critical pedagogy, and posthumanist applied linguistics, this article provides a theoretical update for reshaping pedagogy, assessment, and research in the age of AI. It is acknowledged that this model is provisional and supplementary competence relevant primarily in AI‐integrated educational and communicative contexts and requires empirical validation across diverse sociocultural and educational contexts.