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Communication strategies
Communication strategies are what learners use “to
overcome the inadequacies of their interlanguage resources” (Ellis, 1994, p.
396). Although the importance of communication strategies is widely recognized,
“little has been discovered about the developmental nature of communication
strategies in L2 production”. This study reports the results of the yearlong
classroom research on how Japanese university students have learned to use
Communication strategies from a sociocultural perspective. In essence, the
study reveals the dynamics of learning and teaching communication strategies in
a language classroom. The study found that explicit teaching of communication
strategies was useful to raise learners’ awareness but not sufficient for them
to be able to use those communication strategies in their conversations.
Learners need continuous opportunities to actually use English and to evaluate
their use of communication strategies.
In particular, recycling the process seemed to be effective to improve not
only their strategic competence but also their overall communicative
competence. In other words, learning communication strategies affects their L2
acquisition. Moreover, the obtained data showed that learners were greatly
influenced by others’ use of communication strategies. It seems to be essential
to create a learning community in a classroom to develop autonomous language
learners for life.
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Avoidance strategies
Avoidance, which takes multiple forms, has been identified
as a communication strategy. Learners of a second language may learn to avoid
talking about topics for which they lack the necessary vocabulary or other
language skills in the second language. Also, language learners sometimes start
to try to talk about a topic, but abandon the effort in mid-utterance after
discovering that they lack the language resources needed to complete their
message
·
Compensatory strategies
Compensatory strategies are environmental
modifications or behavioral strategies designed to bypass persistent impairment
in attention, memory, executive-function, and/or other cognitive skills as a
means to achieve desired rehabilitation goals. Environmental modifications
could include the use of external aids or modifying the setting in which
activities take place. The use of an alphanumeric pager and a checklist for a
person with memory and executive-function deficits to ensure completion of
daily tasks at specific times would be an example of external aids. Working in
a distraction-free room to enhance concentration skills in a person with
symptoms of disinhibition would be an example of modifying an environment.
Examples of behavioral strategies would include repeating phrases during social
interactions to ensure accurate processing of conversation, or associating
words with images to enhance recall. Learning disabilities are complicated, but helping
isn’t. Simple compensatory strategies can make all the difference in the world,
as can technology, practice, empathy, patience, and understanding. Central to
ALL of these methods is self-knowledge: if you understand your LDs and your
strengths, you can ask for effective assistance, explain yourself, and help
others understand your needs.
Compensatory strategies are simply ways to use your
strengths – we all have them – to compensate for your weaknesses (we all have
them!). If, for example, you have trouble interpreting spoken language, you may
ask a teacher if there are materials you could read in preparation for a
lecture, or instead of the lecture. If reading takes so much energy that you
don’t learn well while you read, you could listen to the audio book, or do an
exam out loud.
There are possible compensations for any sort of LDs,
because all people with LDs have strengths as well. Some compensations may
require some imagination, and many will require the understanding of others;
but most people respond well to clear requests for assistance.
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