Adjusting communication strategies to language proficiency

Abstract

The study that is the focus of this article examined how the use of communication strategies was influenced by the target language proficiency of speakers of English as an Additional Language and their interlocutors. The oral interaction data from 20 participants in Malaysia were analysed to identify the choice of communication strategies and the type of communication strategy category, using an integrated framework comprising psycholinguistic (Faerch and Kasper 1980), interactional (Tarone 1980) and discourse (Clennell 1995) perspectives. The results showed that the two groups did not differ in the total number of communication strategies used, and the preference was for strategies based on the second language (L2). Less proficient speakers inclined towards strategies based on first language (L1), language switch in particular, to overcome communication difficulties. More proficient speakers were able to use tonicity to show salience of information to enhance the negotiation of meaning. The proficient speakers compensated for lack of linguistic ability in their interlocutors, and the conversational adjustment was characterised by the diversified use of lexical repetition to maintain the conversation.

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