INFLUENCE OF TASK-TYPE AND PROFICIENCY ON COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES USED BY OMANI EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

Communication strategies (CSs), an important component of strategic competence in foreign language learning, are techniques used by language learners to overcome the gap between their knowledge of the language and what they intend to communicate. An in-depth investigation into the factors that affect strategy use has clear implications for foreign language learning and teaching.This quantitative study examines the influence of proficiency and task-type on 27 CSs under three major strategy categories: Communication Flow Maintenance, Interactional, and Compensation.  Participants are Omani EFL learners (n = 32) in the General Foundation Program (GFP). Participants performed three oral communication tasks in pairs (proficiency based) which were audio-video recorded and transcribed. The strategies used by each participant were quantified on an oral CSs checklist based on established taxonomies.  The findings highlight that the overall use of CSs was more for the high proficiency group compared to the low proficiency group. Further, task characteristics had an influence on the use of CSs. Both proficiency groups used CSs least in the picture story task, more in the abstract art description task, and most in the information-gap task. Proficiency driven differences were noted in the use of individual strategies under each category, across tasks. The findings of this study have implications for designing communicative tasks as a tool to encourage the use of a wide gamut of communication strategies.