“Este, bueno, repite por favor…”: teaching of communicative strategies in the Spanish language classroom (original) (raw)
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Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 2004
This study investigates the effect of the context of learning-"at home" (AH) classroom versus study abroad (SA)-on the number and types of communication strategies (CSs) used by learners of Spanish as a second language. Oral data from 46 learners-20 AH and 26 SA-were analyzed before and after the treatment period, to discern the effect of various factors on the learners' levels and choice of CS usage: type of CS category (L1 or L2 based, direct or interactional, and problem-orientedness [resource deficit, other performance, and self-performance]) and measures of language use. Posttest results showed a significant effect for context for CS categories and language use: Students in the SA context consistently used fewer CSs than their classroom counterparts, and their CS use correlated negatively with higher use of Spanish outside the classroom and with the host family. It is posited that the pragmatic exigencies of the AH and SA contexts may account for these findings.
RAEL: Revista Electrónica de Lingüística Aplicada , 2018
This paper is about the implementation of Communicative Language Teaching in foreign language instruction in Secondary Education and Official Schools of LanguagesLanguage Schools in the region of Madrid (Spain). More specifically, its main goal is to map the variety of communicative practices carried out in the FL classroom as reported by 91 experienced teachers. Data was collected as part of a larger international research project, the KIELO study, where FL educators from different countries were asked about a variety of aspects aspects of their daily teaching activity with the help of an ad hoc designed questionnaire. Findings highlight that the most frequently reported practices in secondary education are clearly communicatively oriented and that their implementation in the FL classroom is mainly determined by teachers' self-conceptions as researchers and learners. Results also show that the Spanish findings are not always in line with previous KIELO studies. Este artículo versa sobre la ejecución práctica del enfoque comunicativo en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras en educación secundaria y escuelas oficiales de idiomas en Madrid. Concretamente, el principal objetivo de este trabajo es identificar las prácticas comunicativas más habituales en el aula de idiomas a partir de los datos obtenidos entre 91 profesores experimentados. Este estudio se ha realizado en el marco del proyecto de investigación internacional KIELO, cuyo propósito es recabar opiniones de profesores de lenguas extranjeras sobre diversos aspectos de su actividad docente a partir de un cuestionario diseñado ad hoc. Los resultados señalan que las prácticas más frecuentes en educación secundaria están claramente orientadas a la comunicación y que los docentes que las llevan a cabo de forma regular son aquellos que se consideran investigadores y aprendices en el aula. Los resultados también muestran diferencias significativas con otros estudios KIELO llevados a cabo en otros países. Palabras clave: enfoque comunicativo; educación secundaria; escuelas oficiales de idiomas (EOIs); profesores de lengua extranjera; proyecto KIELO
Relingüística aplicada, 2010
When trying to communicate in a second or foreign language (L2), non-native speakers (NNSs) or learners encounter inevitable communicative difficulties. In order to overcome this confrontation and prevent miscommunication, they usually need more time than native speakers, as well as they have to negotiate for meaning . Despite these difficulties, learners are normally able to cope with foreign language communication. The focus of the present research is to examine the different techniques, that is, communication strategies (CS), used by learners to communicate in interactional situations in a foreign language. The methodology employed analyzed 4 hours approximately of oral production in Spanish involving six NNSs of intermediate level while conversing with two native speakers (NSs). A total of 834 communication strategies were identified, classified, and analyzed. This study has yielded evidence of the existence and usage of communication strategies, as well as has noticed that communication strategies remain an important element in the learning of a foreign language. Although there was not significant variance in the choice of specific communication strategies used amongst the interlocutors, a strong interference from native language with the use of borrowing strategies was unexpectedly found. This finding suggests that communicative classroom tasks aimed at eliciting communication strategies should be employed, so that students could be offered the opportunity to acquire and practice the more problematic patterns in their language.
The need to teach communication strategies in the foreign language classroom
JALT Journal, 1998
In this article we argue for the need for instruction in lexical communication strategies in foreign language classes. After comparing opposing views on communication strategies and instruction, we recommend instruction in second language- based lexical communication strategies ("recommended strategies") for students who do not use them. We then report a study about the manner in which our first year Japanese university students of English as a foreign language conceptualized their communicative options in two situations in which they lacked specific vocabulary. Since results suggest that many of our students think of using first-language-based or non-linguistic strategies, we argue that these students would benefit from instruction in the use of second-language-based strategies.
Communication Strategies in Instruction / Acquisition of Languages for Specific Purposes
Mìžnarodnij fìlologìčnij časopis, 2020
The present paper looks at a set of communication strategies employed in teaching and learning a language for specific purposes taken that such language for specific purposes is a language other than a native language to the speaker. English examples drawn from a variety of business and cultural backgrounds, i.e. English for Business, Law, Finance and Audit, Change Management, Leadership, etc. illustrate variability in communication strategies employed by the speaker but as opposed to a circumstance of foreign language instruction and language acquisition demonstrate the critical importance of linguistic competence as well. The paper aims to (i) provide definitions of the communicative strategy as followed in literature, (ii) discuss taxonomies of communication strategies that speakers use to present their thoughts and ideas in English for specific purpose in a(n) [non-native] English-speaking environment, and (iii) stretch that further to professional communication models in a foreign language climate when acquiring new linguistic and strategic skills and competences. Thus, the work includes a linguistic / product-oriented typology of communication strategies (proposed by Dornyei 1995) since it incorporates most commonly shared communication strategies found in Varadi's, Tarone's, Faerch and Kasper's, and Bialostok's typologes: (a) avoidance strategies, or reduction CS; (b) compensatory, achievement, strategies; and (c) time-gaining communication strategies.
Advanced Education
This paper sets out the necessity of examining the communication skills of teachers of Spanish as a foreign language as conducted in other socio-educative contexts. According to this objective, the paper begins with a review of theoretical efforts that have been made during recent years referring to research methodology (such as instruments), and to their main results. This leads to a discussion of the training needs that teachers of Spanish as a foreign language presently face for the development of their communication skills in the classroom and, in general terms, the paper discusses the different types of ideas and strategies that must be considered during teachers' instruction. Finally, this brief proposal expects to be the seed of future research projects that impact positively on the improvement of teachers' communication competence, whereby the ideas discussed here are taken as a nuclear component in the frame of future teaching competence.
A LITERATURE REVIEW ON COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN LANGUAGE LEARNING
Abstract Communicating successfully means to pass on meaningful messages to the listeners. In order to achieve a successful level of communication in situations, where learners face problems when there is a mismatch between their communication goals and their linguistic resources, they tend to use devices to improve their level of communication; these devices are called Communication Strategies. This paper reviews and discusses the theoretical background of the study of Communication strategies in language learning. The first part of the paper presents the most common definitions of the Communication Strategies. The second part attempts to explain the relationship between Communicative Competence and Communication Strategies. The third part describes the types, taxonomies and the origins of the Communication Strategies. The final part sheds the light on a number of empirical studies related to types of Communication Strategies and the relationship between linguistic proficiency and Communication Strategies choice in the learner's first language and his/her second language.
"Communicative" or Communication: What your textbook is teaching.
In the past 2 decades, studies have offered evidence that mechanical drills, i.e. where learners produce a grammatical form without knowing the meaning, do not help develop an underlying language system. This is problematic when learners are asked to communicate. Studies have looked at language textbooks to see how the methodology follows, or fails to follow theories and research in Second Language Acquisition. This study looks at best-selling intermediate Spanish texts for university classrooms, analyzing activities used to reintroduce the preterit tense. Findings support previous research that at the intermediate level textbooks are not providing exercises that promote communication, but rather mechanical exercises.
Communication Strategies Used by Pre-Service English Teachers of Different Proficiency Levels
How a Colombian Journal For Teachers of English, 2014
This paper reports on the findings of a research study carried out in the Bachelor of Arts in English program of study at a Colombian university. It aims at identifying the communication strategies used by four pre-service English teachers with A2 and B2 levels of language proficiency and, also, at examining how these communication strategies facilitate or hinder the development of communicative skills. Data collection instruments included audio recordings of three tasks: (1) open-ended questionnaire, (2) sentence translation, and (3) picture description. The participants' speech was transcribed and categorized allowing us to identify and examine the role played by communication strategies which varied depending on the choice the participants made of using either avoidance or compensatory strategies.