Exploring the interlocutor's impact on the communication strategy use of Chinese learners of English

Zhang, Bingjun (2023). Exploring the interlocutor's impact on the communication strategy use of Chinese learners of English. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This study investigated the communication strategies (CSs) that Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) learners use to address communicative problems in second language (L2) classroom discussion settings. I particularly focused on the interlocutors’ impact on learners’ application of CSs and examined the different strategies employed when Chinese students engage in conversations with their shared first language (L1) interlocutors (Chinese) and other international EFL learners.

The data collection methods included simulated classroom discussion, questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The interactional data was captured and audio recorded from learners’ naturalistic discussions and further transcribed and annotated based on the CS taxonomy created by Dörnyei and Scott (1997). The elicited data was collected from Nakatani’s Oral Communication Strategy Inventory (OCSI) questionnaire, a self-report of the participants’ CS application during their discussions (Nakatani, 2006), together with semi-structured interviews.

This study concludes, according to the results of both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, that interlocutors who do not share the same L1 as Chinese EFL learners can encourage Chinese students to resort to more strategies when they need to solve communicative problems in discussions. Speaking with non-Chinese interlocutors (NCIs) can not only increase the frequency of CS use, but also expand the variety of CS types, particularly \(\textit{self-repetition}\), \(\textit{verbal strategy marker}\), \(\textit{use of all-purpose words}\), and \(\textit{approximation}\). Chinese EFL learners can improve their strategic competence through communicating with NCIs, which are not available in the domestic English teaching system in China. Thus, the findings of this study might be particularly emphasised in CS training for the improvement of Chinese English learners’ communication abilities.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):