Fluency and communication strategy use in group interactions for occupational purposes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26418/jeltim.v2i2.41363Keywords:
communication strategies, fluency, English for Occupational Purposes, group presentation, strategic competenceAbstract
Communication strategy use varies with proficiency in the target language and less proficient learners rely on L1 strategies for conversational repair. In an English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) context where the technical register is unfamiliar, little is known on whether communication strategies can enable learners with limited English proficiency to overcome hesitancy in speech. The study examined learners"™ use of communication strategies and fluency in group interactions in an EOP context using an integrated problem-solving, interactional and discourse-based framework of communication strategies. A 13-week communication strategy training was conducted focusing on conversational repair strategies (fillers, approximation, code-switching), meaning negotiation strategies (clarification request, comprehension check, confirmation check), response strategies (rephrase, shadowing, reply) and discourse-based strategies (lexical repetition, topic fronting). The results on communication strategy use in three group interaction sessions involving three participants showed that the most frequently used communication strategies were lexical repetition and fillers. The participants"™ fluency, as measured in C-units and frequency of fillers, was higher when they interacted on familiar topics. The participants learnt to use discourse-based strategies but not meaning negotiation strategies. The findings suggest that for better negotiation of meaning, the communication strategy training needs to create metacognitive awareness of the interlocutors"™ communicative needs.
References
Al-Gharaibeh, S. F., & Al-Jamal, D. A. (2016). Communication strategies for teachers and their students in an EFL setting. International Journal of Bilingual & Multilingual Teachers of English, 4(1), 33-44. DOI:10.12785/IJBMTE/040105
Benson, P. (1990). A language in decline? English Today, 6(1), 19-23.
Bøhn, H., & Myklevold, G. A. (2018). Exploring communication strategy use and metacognitive awareness in the EFL classroom. In A. Haukås, C. Bjørke, & M. Dypedahl (Eds.), Metacognition in language learning and teaching (pp. 179-203). New York: Routledge.
Brock, C. (1986). The effect of referential questions on ESL classroom discourse. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 47-59. https://doi.org/10.2307/3586388
Carrió Pastor, M., & Gimeno Sanz, A. (2007). Content and language integrated learning in a technical higher education environment. In D. Marsh, & D. Wolff (Eds.), Diverse contexts - converging goals: CLIL in Europe (pp. 103-111). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH.
Clennell, C. (1994). Investigating the use of communication strategies by adult second language learners: A case for trusting your own judgment in classroom research. TESOL Journal, 3, 32-35.
Clennell, C. (1995). Communication strategies of adult ESL learners: A discourse perspective. Prospect, 10(3), 4-20. Corpus ID: 140452063
Dagarin, M. (2004). Classroom interaction and communication strategies in learning English as a foreign language. English Language and Literature Teaching, 1(1-2), 127-139. https://doi.org/10.4312/elope.1.1-2.127-139
Dörnyei, Z. (1995). On the teachability of communication strategies. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 55-85. DOI: 10.2307/3587805
Dörnyei, Z., & Scott, M. L. (1995a). Communication strategies: what are they and what are they not? In Z. Dörnyei, & M. L. Scott (Eds.), Communication strategies in a second language: Definitions and taxonomies. Language Learning, 47, 173-210.
Dörnyei, Z., & Scott, M. L. (1995b). Communication Strategies: An empirical analysis with retrospection. In Z. Dörnyei, & M. L. Scott (Eds.), Communication strategies in a second language: Definitions and taxonomies. Language Learning, 47, 173-210.
Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1991). Strategic competence and how to teach it. ELT Journal, 45(1), 16-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/45.1.16
Færch, C., & Kasper, G. (1980). Processes and strategies in foreign language learning and communication. Interlanguage Studies Bulletin – Utrecht, 5, 47-118. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43135245
Faerch, C., & Kasper, G. (1986). Strategic competence in foreign language teaching. In G. Kasper (Ed.), Learning, teaching and communication in the foreign language classroom (pp. 179-193). Denmark: Aarhus Universitetsforlag.
Foster, P. (1998). A classroom perspective on the negotiation of meaning. Applied Linguistics, 19(1) 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/19.1.1
Guo, J. (2011). Empirical studies on L2 communication strategies over four decades: Looking back and ahead. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 34(4), 89-106. https://doi.org/10.1515/cjal.2011.036
Huang, S. C. (2009). The efficacy of setting process goals in orienting EFL learners to attend to the formal aspects of oral production. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 11(1), 74-86. Corpus ID: 147455926
Illiyas, S. M. M. (2014). The use of fillers and hesitation devices as communication strategies among Malaysian language learners. Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur Research Journal, 2(1), 162-175.
Jamshidnejad, A. (2011). Developing accuracy by using oral communication strategies in EFL interactions. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(3), 530-536. DOI:10.4304/jltr.2.3.530-536
Kuen, G. L., Rafik-Galea, S., & Heng, C. S. (2017). Effect of oral communication strategies training on the development of Malaysian English as a second language learners’ strategic competence. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 5(4), 57-77.
Lam, W., & Wong, J. (2000). The effects of strategy training on developing discussion skills in an ESL classroom. ELT Journal, 54(3), 245-255. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/54.3.245
Lennon, P. (1990). Investigating fluency in EFL: A quantitative approach. Language Learning, 40, 387-417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1990.tb00669.x
McEnery, T, & Hardie, A. (2012). Corpus linguistics: Method, theory and practice. UK: Cambridge University Press.
Nadarajan, S. (2007). The use of repetitive structures among Malaysians. The International Journal of Language Society and Culture, 22, 29-38.
Nakatani, Y. (2005). The effects of awareness-raising training on oral communication strategy use. The Modern Language Journal, 89(1), 76-91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3588552
Nakatani, Y. (2010). Identifying strategies that facilitate EFL learners’ oral communication: a classroom studying using multiple data collection procedures. The Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 116-136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00987.x
Norton, J. (2001). Formulaic expressions in English and Japanese: Implications for teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://cs3.brookes.ac.uk/schools/education/eal/jl-archive/jl-bestof/24.pdf.
Pandey, M., & Pandey, P. (2014). Better English for better employment opportunities. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach and Studies, 1(4), 93-100.
Paramasivam, S. (2009). Language transfer as a communication strategy and a language learning strategy in a Malaysian ESL classroom. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly, 11(1), 192-229.
Pham, T. T. X. (2014). What are challenges that Vietnamese students encounter when representing themselves through speaking English? TESOL International Journal, 9(1), 125-147.
Rabab’ah, G. (2016). The effect of communication strategy training on the development of EFL learners’ strategic competence and oral communicative ability. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 45(3), 625-651. DOI: 10.1007/s10936-015-9365-3
Rouhshad, A., Wigglesworth, G., & Storch, N. (2016). The nature of negotiations in face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication in pair interactions. Language Teaching Research, 20(4), 514-534. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168815584455
Sattayatnam, A., & Honsa, S. (2007). Medical students’ most frequent errors at Mahidol University, Thailand. Asian EFL Journal, 9(1), 170-195.
Sioco, E. C., & De Vera, P. V. (2018). Grammatical competence of junior high school students. TESOL International Journal, 13(2), 82-93.
Soekarno, M., & Ting, S. H. (2016). Communication strategy use by Healthcare trainees in monologues and dialogues during strategy training. Journal of Applied Language Studies, 10(1), 5-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.17011/apples/urn.201603071783
Sorhus, H. (1977). To hear ourselves: Implications for teaching English as a second language. English Language Teaching Journal, 31(3), 211-221. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/XXXI.3.211
Suraprajit, P. (2017). Communication strategies used by Thai service providers in Pattaya City, Thailand. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 9(4), 71-82.
Swender, E. (1999). ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview Tester Training Manual. Yonkers, NY: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.
Tarone, E. (1977). Conscious communication strategies in interlanguage: A progress report. In Z. Dörnyei & M. L. Scott. (1997) Communication strategies in a second language: Definitions and taxonomies. Language Learning, 47, 173-210.
Ting, S. H., & Kho, T. P. (2009). Gender and communication strategy use in learning English as a second language. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 157(1), 93-108. https://doi.org/10.2143/ITL.157.0.2042589
Ting, S. H., & Phan, G. Y. L. (2008). Adjusting communication strategies to language proficiency. Prospect: An Australian Journal on TESOL, 23(1), 28-36.
Tsai, C. C. (2018). The effects of communication strategy training on EFL speaking anxiety and speaking strategy among the community college adult learners in Taiwan. International Forum of Teaching and Studies, 14(2), 3-19.
Ventola, E. (1992). Writing scientific English: Overcoming intercultural problems. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 191-220. DOI:10.1111/j.1473-4192.1992.tb00033.x
Zhu, X., Liao, X., & Cheong, C. M. (2019). Strategy use in oral communication with competent synthesis and complex interaction. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 48, 1163–1183. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09651-0
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right to publish the work, which is simultaneously made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
