Communication strategies in second-language acquisition
In the course of learning a second language, learners will frequently encounter communication problems caused by a lack of linguistic resources. Communication strategies are strategies that learners use to overcome these problems in order to convey their intended meaning to their interlocutors.[1] Strategies used may include paraphrasing, substitution, coining new words, switching to the first language, and asking for clarification.[2][3] These strategies, with the exception of switching languages, are also used by native speakers.[2]
Strategies
No comprehensive list of strategies has been agreed on by second language acquisition researchers,[3] but some commonly-used strategies have been observed:
- Paraphrasing
- This refers to learners using different words or phrases to express their intended meaning. For example, if learners do not know the word grandfather they may paraphrase it by saying "my father's father".
- Substitution
- Learners may avoid a problematic word by using a different one, for example substituting the irregular verb make with the regular verb ask. The regularity of "ask" makes it easier to use correctly.[2]
- Coining new words
- This refers to learners creating new words or phrases for words that they do not know. For example, learners may refer to an art gallery as a "picture place".[2]
- Switching to the first language
- Learners may insert a word from their first language into a sentence, and hope that their interlocutor will understand.[3]
- Asking for clarification
- This is simply the strategy of asking the interlocutor for help.[3]
- Non-verbal strategies
- This can refer to strategies such as the use of gesture and mime to augment or replace verbal communication.[1]
Research
Research in communication strategies reached its peak in the 1980s, and has since fallen out of favor as a research topic in second language acquisition. Some researchers who have studied communication strategies and their effect on language acquisition include Elaine Tarone, Claus Faerch, Gabriele Kasper, and Ellen Bialystok.[3]
Kasper and Faerch proposed a model of speech production that involved a planning phase and a production phase. Communication strategies were seen as belonging to the planning phase; their use became necessary if the learner experienced a problem with the initial plan that they made. In addition to the strategies outlined above Kasper and Faerch also pointed to the possibility of using a reductive strategy such as switching to a completely different topic.[2]
Researchers have identified three components of communication strategies: problematicity, meaning that the person recognizes a communication problem; consciousness, meaning that the person is conscious of the problem and is consciously employing a strategy to resolve it; and intentionality, which implies that the person is able to choose between options for overcoming a communication problem. However, Bialystok and other researchers have pointed out that communication strategies may be employed by language learners when there has been no breakdown in communications (no problematicity) and that language learners typically use the same small set of strategies routinely, rather than intentionally and consciously choosing to employ a communications strategy.[4]
Some learners' interlanguages are characterized by communication strategies,[1] and Larry Selinker has noted that they are one of the processes that leads to learner errors.[2] Based on this observation, Rod Ellis suggests that the communication strategies that learners use may be characteristic of the stage of development which they have reached.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Richards, Jack C.; Schmidt, Richard, eds. (2009). "Communication strategy". Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. New York: Longman. ISBN 978–1–4082–0460–3.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ a b c d e f g Ellis, Rod (1997). Second Language Acquisition. Oxford Introductions to Language Study. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978–0–19–437212–1.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ a b c d e VanPatten, Bill; Benati, Alessandro G. (2010). Key Terms in Second Language Acquisition. London: Continuum. p. 73. ISBN 978–0–8264–9914–1.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Susan M. Gass and Larry Selinker (2008), Second language acquisition: an introductory course, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0805854975. Pages 286-287. [1]