Communication can be interpreted as the process of generating, transferring and interpreting knowledge. Communicative skills are defined through three dimensions: personal assets for communication, the results to be achieved and the means to achieve them. Among personal assets for communication, communicative skills are the knowledge, abilities or attitudes that a person possesses that allow them to convey knowledge. Among the results of the communication, these skills must guarantee a positive response from the person receiving the information. According to Domingo-Coscollola et al. (2020), effective communicative competences must allow the recipient to successfully understand, internalise and apply the information or instructions received.

The definition of communicative skills includes personal communication assets. These are learned behaviours that allow a person to establish satisfactory relationships, eliciting positive responses from others and facilitating a social life. Communication skills have been understood as the tools used to eliminate barriers to effective communication (MTD Training, 2021; cited by Yildirim, 2021). From a general perspective, the communicative skills are listening, writing and speaking. (Malik et al., 2018). However, in this study we want to examine each of them in more depth. Rubio (2023) goes into more detail on the essential components of teacher communicative competence in the classroom: active listening, clear verbal expression, effective non-verbal communication, empathy, and the ability to adapt teaching strategies to the communicative context.

Teachers constantly obtain, classify, analyse and explain information to students and this can determine the success of the teaching and learning in the classroom (Einsenring & Margana, 2019). Hence, interaction becomes the main means for the teacher and the students to exchange their ideas, feelings, opinions and perceptions, making it evident that education occurs automatically in a communicative process. This is why, nowadays, communicative competence (speaking and listening) forms part of most curricula, from nursery school to university (Grácia et al., 2019). In addition to the above, authors such as Ferri et al. (2019) and Rubio (2023) argue that, in addition to speaking and listening, communicative competences encompass other skills, including the ability to read and write effectively, as well as the ability to adapt communication to different contexts and audiences. Despite Remacle et al. (2023) arguing that verbal communication is the predominant type of communication in education, since teachers, through their voice, attract the attention of the students and manage classroom situations, communicative competences are essential not only for the effective transmission of knowledge, but also to foster an inclusive and participatory learning environment.

Other authors argue that teachers should possess another set of competences, the following being of particular importance:

Therefore, a teacher with good CCs must:

Communicative competences are developed through the performing of activities related to teaching. In fact, the effective development of communicative competence improves the quality of teaching and learning in schools (Shailja, 2022). To promote these activities in a planned and orderly manner, training programmes are developed in multiple aspects, including socio-psychological training to improve emotional intelligence, self-management in communication, group cohesion and the classroom climate (Voronska, 2021) or the presentation of knowledge (Shea, 1947; Van-Dalen et al., 1999).

Among the determinants of the communicative competence of the sender, it is intuition that stands out (Shedletsky, 2021). In fact, Sipman et al. (2021) found that intuition-based professional development has a positive impact on teachers’ pedagogical tact and classroom outcomes, with meditative and physical practices enhancing this skill. Furthermore, knowledge about interpersonal communication is another key aspect of communicative competences. This factor is related to the amount of training the person receives; so much so that Nedzinskaitė-Mačiūnienė and Merkytė (2019) were able to demonstrate that teachers with improved interpersonal communication skills, such as clarity, credibility and familiarity, are more likely to engage in shared leadership within their teaching communities.

In addition, Remacle et al. (2023) argue that among the determining factors of verbal communication are inadequate or excessive vocal patterns that alter the organs responsible for the voice, demonstrating that physiological characteristics also determine communicative performance.

Among the determinants of the receiver, it has been found that the physical, mental and emotional state influences the way in which CCs are manifested (Remacle et al., 2023). As an example, these authors were able to demonstrate that student behaviour alters the communication conditions in the classroom. One of the determining factors was who they were communicating with (patients and other medical staff). Patients in critical health situations had difficulty communicating, which created a greater challenge for the students. Similarly, medical staff may also have characteristics that hinder communication with students, such as a lack of warmth or a lack of responsiveness. Another determining factor was represented by teachers, who, by fulfilling roles as mediators or promoters of discussions in small groups, generated communication spaces that were rated as less challenging by the students.

Finally, among the determinants of communication, one cannot overlook the environment in which the communication takes place and the rules that govern it. Remacle et al. (2023) also demonstrated that ambient noise from hallways and classrooms disrupted teachers’ verbal communication skills. Trang and Hansen (2021) argue that better interpersonal skills and the expectations that teachers place on their students in relation to communication are associated with less conflict in the classroom, directly influencing the process.

In addition to the determinants of CC, there are other elements related to these. However, when understanding the research designs of the studies, we found that the correlational approach does not allow us to verify whether a relationship is cause-effect, or whether it is a virtuous circle where the cause also acts as an effect and vice versa. The correlations found in relation to CC were linked to personal characteristics and educational characteristics.

Among the personal characteristics, correlations were found between communicative skills and attitudes, economic capital, social capital and self-efficacy. In this regard, Yuksel Sahin (2008) found relationships between communication skills and each of the following:

Studies conducted by Yildrim (2021) and Sumartini et al. (2021) revealed a correlation between the communicative skills of teachers (and future teachers) and the perception of self-efficacy. Belief in self-efficacy influences the learning environment, and the learning environment influences student success. As for training characteristics, we found a correlation between communicative skills and qualifications and the training stage. In this sense, studies by Ihmeideh et al. (2010) and Schurr et al. (1989) showed that prospective teachers with better qualifications have more positive attitudes towards communication than students with lower qualifications. Furthermore, future teachers who are more advanced in their professional careers have a more positive attitude towards communicative skills than students at an average stage and those who are just starting their careers. The above is in keeping with the study by Ulutas and Aksoy (2010), who showed that older students had more self-confidence and better CCs than newer students. Similarly, it has been argued that there is a close relationship between greater self-confidence and conversational skills (Aulia & Apoko, 2022). This is possible because new students enter a different environment to which they must gradually adapt and students learn about communication in the courses, so as they acquire more knowledge, they also acquire more skills.

The effects of communicative skills on students are related to learning and personal development. An example of this is provided by Kordonets et al. (2021) who showed that children with special educational needs are less developed in relation to communicative competence, which hinders their mental and social development.

In addition, for adolescents, communicative competences are crucial for creating effective interactions with other adolescents and with adults, such as teachers, and help students develop leadership skills and increase their self-confidence, as suggested by Demirdag (2022) on demonstrating that effective communication skills mediate the relationship between leadership styles and 21st century skills in teachers.

The programmes to improve the communicative skills of teachers in general were aimed at strengthening multiple cross-cutting aspects of teaching, such as verbal and non-verbal communication, empathy, collaborative work, dialogue and the voice, among others. In this regard, Kachak & Blyznyuk (2023) argue that the effective development of communicative competence in future teachers involves the use of effective methods and techniques to build knowledge of linguistic norms, rhetorical culture, speech and communication skills in various situations. Regarding strategies aimed at teachers in scientific areas, the following studies were found.

In Spain, special emphasis has been placed on enhancing students’ language skills, covering both native languages and those acquired later in the school environment. This initiative has involved various programmes, one of the most notable being the so-called School Language Project (SLP) (Fabregat Barrios, 2022). According to the authors, the SLP programme is promising, but specific improvement measures in both external and internal aspects are needed to effectively improve students’ communicative competence.

Spektor-Levy et al. (2008) reported on a programme for the development of scientific communication competences. For each of these competences and its components, the authors proposed a series of activities that teachers could implement, such as finding journals related to the discipline, and scanning scientific documents quickly, among others. The authors studied how teachers used the programme over two years and its results. The data showed that teachers who used the methodology adapted the programme to their needs and improved their perception of their communication skills.

Malik et al. (2018) described a programme to improve the scientific communication skills of future physics teachers through a higher-order thinking laboratory. This laboratory incorporates communication skills through (i) understanding the challenges of the laboratory, (ii) producing ideas, (iii) preparing laboratory ideas, (iv) carrying out the activities, and (v) communicating and evaluating the results. Students must complete these activities cooperatively with the help of the teacher. The research showed that the laboratory generated better scientific communication competences in the students who participated, compared to students in a control group who did not participate in the laboratory. The skills acquired were notable in scientific writing, information representation and knowledge presentation.

Yanti et al. (2019) developed a learning model to improve the scientific communication and research skills of future physics teachers through project-based learning. The model consists of five phases: (i) group formation and search for problems, (ii) research design, (iii) research implementation, (iv) analysis of project data, and (v) evaluation and communication of results. Students were asked to work cooperatively with other students and teachers to carry out the project.

For their part, Arsih et al. (2021) implemented a learning model, known as RANDAI, to improve the scientific communication skills of future biology teachers. The method was compared with the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and Direct Learning methodologies. The three methods have some methodological differences, including the following. The RANDAI method consists of five steps: (i) recite, (ii) analyse the problem, (iii) narrate the solution (discuss to design a research plan), (iv) evaluate the solution (present and reflect on the results of the research) and (v) implement. PBL consists of four activities: (i) presentation of the problem, (ii) resolution of the problem, (iii) communication of the results and (iv) carrying out evaluations. In terms of direct learning, students reviewed material presented by other students and teachers and held a discussion with question and answer sessions. The research showed that the RANDAI method performed better than direct learning in terms of strengthening CC, and the RANDAI method performed better than PBL.

Teachers can recommend a set of actions for students to improve their reading, writing, and critical listening, among other skills such as promoting active listening at home; generating learning experiences that cannot happen at home, such as field trips; encouraging students to be questioning; promoting reading at home; evaluating the news they see on television; promoting teaching or tutoring of other students; and note-taking, among others. In this regard, group reading of different books and teacher support can improve children’s communicative development, promoting efficient participation and fostering a diverse communicative repertoire (Tacilla Cardenas et al., 2020).