an evaluation of communication strategy instructions

i CAN THO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH DEPARTMENT AN EVALUATION OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INSTRUCTIONS Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu B.A Thesis Supervisors: Trinh Quoc Lap Researcher: Duong Thi Phi Oanh Can Tho, June 2007 Nguyen Thi Van Su Code: 7032464 B.Ed class NN0352A3 Course 29 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions i CONTENTS Contents .i Acknowledgements iii Abstract .iv List of Tables of Figures .v Chapter Introduction 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Organization of the thesis Chapter Literature Review 2.1 Communicative competence 2.2 Strategic competence .5 2.2.1 Definition 2.2.2 Strategic competence – an important component of communicative competence 2.3 Communication strategies and the significance of Communication Strategy Instructions (CSIs) 2.3.1 Definition 2.3.2 Taxonomy 2.3.3 The significance of communication strategy instructions .10 Chapter Research Methodology 15 3.1Học Research question 15 Trung tâm liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu 3.2 Research design 15 3.3 Participants 16 3.3.1 Teachers 16 3.3.2 Students 17 3.3.3 Observers 17 3.4 Materials 17 3.5 Instruments 18 3.5.1 Textbook evaluation criteria 19 3.5.2 Classroom Observation Sheet 19 3.5.3 Questionnaires for teachers 20 3.5.4 Questionnaire for students .21 3.6 Procedure 22 3.6.1 Evaluating the textbook 23 3.6.2 Observing the seven GE classes 23 3.6.3 Administering questionnaires for teachers and students 23 Chapter Results 25 4.1 The manifestation of CSIs from unit 30 to 40 in Reward Elementary (Greenall and Pye, 1997) 25 4.1.1 The mean scores of the evaluation of the student’s book and workbook 25 4.1.2 The mean scores of the evaluation of the teacher’s book 26 4.2 The instructions of communication strategies in the classroom 27 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions ii 4.3 Teachers’ perceptions of CSIs in learning and teaching and teachers’ opinions about the significance of CSIs .29 4.3.1 Teachers’ perceptions of CSIs in learning and teaching 29 4.3.2 Teachers’ opinions about the significance of CSIs 30 4.4 Students’ frequency of communication strategy use 31 Chapter Discussions, Limitations, and Suggestions for Further Research 34 5.1 Discussions 34 5.1.1 Theoretical findings 34 5.1.2 The empirical research into the inclusion of CSIs in the curriculum of GE .35 5.1.3 Pedagogical implications .37 5.2 Limitations and Suggestions for further research 38 Bibliography 39 Appendices 41 Appendix Textbook Evaluation Criteria 41 Appendix Observation sheet 43 Appendix Questionnaire for teachers .44 Appendix Questionnaire for students .46 Appendix Bảng câu hỏi cho sinh viên 48 Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the time I conducted the thesis, I have got the help and support from many people from whom I would like to sincerely thank and acknowledge First, I would like to express the deepest gratitude to my supervisors Mr Trinh Quoc Lap and Mrs Duong Thi Phi Oanh, for their valuable insights, comments, and suggestions Without their guidance, my thesis would hardly have been completed I am solely responsible for any remaining errors in the thesis Second, many special thanks are sincerely sent to the seven instructors and students of the classes that I observed I also want to express my appreciation to the instructors that helped me to evaluate the textbook and the instructors who gave me helpful suggestions when piloting the instruments Their generous willingness in participating in the study was the Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu invaluable help for me My special thanks also go to Ms Bui Lan Chi, Ms Phuong Hoang Yen, Mr Nguyen Viet Tien, teachers of the English Department, CTU, for their utmost help at the beginning of my thesis Third, I am very grateful to my friends Nguyen Thi Hong Uyen, Le Ngoc Thu Trung, Le Nhu Ngoc Ha, and Vo Minh Nha who spent their precious time observing the classes with me, and suggested me many interesting materials related to the research I also want to thank many others for being always by my side and giving me timely support Many thanks are also owed to my family for giving me the best conditions to study and complete the thesis An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions iv ABSTRACT The study investigates whether and if yes, to which degree communication strategy instructions (henceforth CSIs) are included in the curriculum of General English at Cantho University (CTU) The research samples are teachers and 226 students of General English classes at CTU, textbook evaluators, who are teachers of the English Department at CTU, and senior English major students, who participated in the study as classroom observers The four instruments of the study consist of Textbook evaluation criteria, Classroom observation sheet, Questionnaire for teachers, and Questionnaire for students The results indicate that (1) CSIs are not clearly manifested in the textbook, (2) although the teachers, in general, were aware of the significance of CSIs and supported CSIs, the implementation of CSIs of the Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần liệu tập cứu teachers in the classroom practice was Thơ@Tài rather limited and (3) học the students just nghiên had an average frequency of communication strategy use From the results of the study, I put forward some recommendations to implement more CSIs in the classroom practice An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions v LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table/Figure Page Table 3.1: Information about the observed Teachers and General English classes .16 Table 3.2: Items in sections of questionnaire for teachers 20 Table 3.3: Items in sections of questionnaire for students 21 Table 4.1: The mean scores of the evaluation of the student’s book and workbook collected from evaluators .26 Table 4.2: The mean scores of the evaluation of the teacher’s book collected from evaluators .27 Table 4.3: Types of CSs and the approaches to CSIs in the classroom 27 Table 4.4: Descriptive Statistics of Teacher’s perceptions of CSIs 29 Table 4.5: Teachers’ opinions about the significance of CSIs 30 Table 4.6: Descriptive Statistics of Students’ frequency of communication strategy use 31 Table 4.7: The mean score for the frequency of each communication strategy use 32 Figure 2.1: The taxonomy of communication strategies (Tarone, 1983) 10 Figure 4.1: The mean of teachers’ perceptions of CSIs 30 Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu Figure 4.2: The mean of students’ frequency of communication strategy use 32 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions CHAPTER INTRODUCTION Effective strategies used to overcome communication difficulties are extremely important for second language (L2) learners (Faucette, 2001) Accordingly, the instructions on how to deal with such communication difficulties may somehow benefit L2 learners Since the early 1980’s, many studies have been conducted on the instructions of communication strategies, the means which L2 learners resort to in order to express an intended meaning The results of these studies generally advocate the teaching of communication strategies (e.g., Dörnyei 1995; Dörnyei & Thurrell, 1991, 1994; Tarone, 1983) Therefore, it is necessary to examine the inclusion of communication strategy instructions in the curriculum of L2 learners 1.1 Rationale According to some of the instructors who are teaching General English at Cantho University, English usually have limited resource and therefore, Trung tâm non-major Học liệu ĐH students Cần Thơ@Tài liệu language học tập nghiên cứu have difficulties communicating in English When they are asked to speak in English, many of them find it difficult to express their ideas and usually just keep silent For English major students, with the textbooks Interaction and Mosaic (Mcgraw-Hill, 1997) they have learned some techniques to get over communicative failures such as paraphrasing, appealing for help from the teacher These techniques belong to communication strategies which are defined as “a systematic technique employed by a speaker to express his meaning when faced with some difficulty” (Corder, 1983) According to Rababah (2001), communication strategies help language learners cope with communication problems they encounter and can help them succeed in communication Some communication strategies are presented in the textbook of English major students (Interactions and Mosaic) and these students are instructed to use communication strategies to get over communication problems, how about non-major students? Whether communication strategies are instructed An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions for non-major students in their General English classes in order to help them tackle difficulties in communication? To find the answer for this question, a research on the inclusion of CSIs in the curriculum of non-major students at Cantho University was conducted 1.2 Research aims The study was done in order to find out whether CSIs are included in General English curriculum at CTU If CSIs are included, the study will aim to investigate the degree to which they are included in the curriculum From the obtained results, some pedagogical implications for English teachers as well as curriculum developers of General English at CTU will be suggested 1.3 Organization of the thesis The report of the study in this thesis consists of five chapters: Introduction, Literature Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu review, Research methodology, Research results, and Discussions, Limitations and Suggestions for further research In chapter 1, research rationale, research aims and the structure of the research are introduced In chapter 2, I will summarize some studies relevant to the research More specifically, the definitions of communicative competence, strategic competence and communication strategies will be presented, followed by the discussion about the significance of CSIs In chapter 3, I will present the methodology of the research by describing the research design, the participants, the materials, the research instruments, and the procedure of conducting the research In chapter 4, the results of the study will be reported In chapter 5, I will present the discussions withdrawn from the analyzed data, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further research An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW In learning an L2, besides phonological, lexical, and grammatical knowledge, it is necessary for learners to know the ways how to communicate with others using the target language As a result, language teachers and curriculum developers worldwide have implemented communication-oriented teaching syllabi to seek for more effective ways to enhance students’ communicative competence In this chapter, I present (1) the definition and the components of communicative competence, (2) strategic competence - one important component of communicative competence, and (3) communication strategies (henceforth CSs) and the significance of communication strategy instructions (CSIs) in language teaching and learning 2.1 Communicative competence Recently, the ultimate goal of language learning, put in any context of teaching and learning English as a foreign language, has been attributed to the ability to communicate Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu competently, not to use the language as accurately as native speakers Therefore, in the past decades, linguists and language teaching experts have paid much attention to Communicative Competence, which is regarded as the knowledge enabling someone to use a language effectively and their actual ability to use this knowledge for communication (Johnson & Johnson, 2001) It has become widely accepted that communicative competence should be the goal of language education, central to good classroom practice (Savignon 1998) According to Canale and Swain's (1980) and later Canale's (1983), there are four different components that make up communicative competence: grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions Grammatical competence As defined by Canale and Swain (ibid.), grammatical competence is the knowledge of linguistic rules, including the four areas of grammar: syntax the sentence patterns of language, phonology - the system of sound patterns, morphology - the formation of words, and semantics - the understanding of word’s meanings Grammatical competence, therefore, asks such questions as: What words should we use? How we put them into phrases and sentences? Discourse competence Canale and Swain (ibid.) regarded discourse competence as the knowledge of how to use a language cohesively and coherently Discourse competence, consequently, asks such question as: What pronouns or grammatical connectors should we use to connect ideas or put sentences together? Socio-linguistic competence According to Canale and Swain (ibid.), socio-linguistic Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu competence is knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately, given the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating In other words, sociallinguistic competence asks: Which words and phrases fit a certain setting and topic? How can we express a specific attitude (courtesy, authority, friendliness, respect)? How we know what attitude another person is expressing? I have just presented the definition, the four components of communicative competence, and the descriptions of its three first components The other component - strategic competence - will be discussed in detail in the following part - 2.2 Strategic competence 2.2 Strategic competence An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 32 presented in Table 4.2 (section 4.1.1 in chapter 4) indicated that CSIs are absolutely NOT manifested in the teacher’s book From the evaluation of teacher’s book and student’s book and workbook, it can be concluded that the textbook of GE draws very little attention to CSIs In other words, teachers of GE might lack the necessary materials which suggest them how to implement CSIs in the classroom practice The instructions of communication strategies in the classroom From Table 4.3 (section 4.2 of the thesis), it is observed that CSs were scarcely instructed in the classroom Also, due to the lack of materials focusing on CSIs, all the teachers who instructed CSs in their classes had to design the instructions of CSs and decide the approaches to CSIs by themselves Consequently, we can infer that the inadequate materials subjected to CSIs might be one of the reasons accounting for the lack of CSIs in the classroom practice Teachers’ perceptions of CSIs in learning and teaching and their opinions about the Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu significance of CSIs The mean score presented in Table 4.4 in section 4.3.1 of the thesis (M = 2.74) showed that teachers, in general, confirmed that they agreed to teach CSs when their students faced communication problems Besides, according to the information provided in Table 4.5 in section 4.3.2, we could see that most of the teachers are well aware of the significance of CSIs Thus, it might be inferred that the teachers, in general, supported CSIs since they were aware that CSIs are beneficial to their students Although the teachers have positive attitudes towards CSIs and advocated the implementations of CSIs, results collected from the classroom observations have indicated that the actual strategic instructions for communication skill in the classroom were very limited The reasons for the lack of CSIs in the classroom might be traced back to the shortcomings of materials designed for CSIs In addition, according to some of the teachers’ opinions collected from the questionnaire, CSs were rarely instructed in GE course because the focus of the An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 33 course is an integration of all four English skills, not only speaking and strategies related to communication skill Students’ frequency of communication strategy use The mean score illustrated in Table 4.6 in section 4.4 of this thesis (M = 2.70) showed that the students had an average frequency of communication strategy use Moreover, although CSs were scarcely instructed in the classroom, Table 4.7 (section 4.4 of this thesis) revealed that the mean scores of the students’ frequency of some CSs use were rather high, including “mime” (M = 3.42), “message abandonment” (M = 3.26) However, these two CSs are the strategies that can be used naturally and can be easily acquired by observing and imitating the teachers or native speakers (Lam, 2005) As a result, to ensure that all strategies, including those that are strongly encouraged to introduce to students such as “appeal for assistance”, “approximation”, “circumlocution” (Lam, 2005 and Dörnyei, 1995) can be used more frequently and Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu effectively, CSs should be taught in a focused and explicit way In summary, theoretical findings on CSIs and the students’ average frequency of communication strategy use presented in this study have emphasized the necessity of including of CSIs in the curriculum From this study, we learn that CSIs are included in the curriculum of GE 4, yet at a rather small degree In particular, the implementation of CSIs in GE classroom practice was rather limited This can be due to the two reasons: (1) CSIs are not clearly manifested in the main textbook for GE (2) According to some teachers’ opinions, CSIs would occupy too much time and teachers could just focus on speaking skill, not on other language skills Accordingly, in order to implement more CSIs in the classroom, the two issues contributing to the limitations of CSIs should be addressed The following part will attempt to provide some solutions for these two issues in order to promote the implementation of CSIs in the classrooms An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 34 5.1.3 Pedagogical implications Firstly, the study has proven that the textbook of GE does not provide evident instructions on CSs, thus, Reward Elementary can not be used as a standard material for CSIs This means that it would be difficult for language teachers to implement CSIs in the classroom due to the unavailability of the instructional practices on CSs Because of the paucity of adequate materials focusing on CSs, the burden may very well fall on the instructor (Faucette, 2001) Hence, supplementary materials such as authentic materials, realia on CSs should be provided as extra resources to supplement the textbook to incorporate communication strategy training into the classroom Secondly, as stated in section 5.1.2 of this thesis, according to some teachers, the focus of GE courses at CTU is an integration of all four English skills, not only speaking and communication skills Thus, it was supposed that the implementation of CSIs would occupy Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu too much time and teachers could not focus on the other English skills However, it is not necessary to teach CSs in speaking skill lessons only CSIs, on the other hand, can be integrated into any skill lessons in which teachers can instruct the students certain CSs For instance, in a reading lesson, before reading, after reading, and even while reading, we can provide students some communication activities related to the reading lesson By organizing these activities, teachers can explicitly implement CSIs in the classroom Considering this perspective, more CSIs should be implemented to enhance students’ frequency of CSs use In summary, the findings of the present study have thrown light on the necessity of implementing CSIs in the ESL classroom This study has also sought to open discussion on the possibility to include the instructions of CSs in the curriculum of non-major students to provide learners more resources to overcome communication difficulties It may thereby be desirable to incorporate strategy-based instruction into the normal curriculum on a long-term basis to yield optimal results An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 35 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further research Due to the limit of time, I just conducted a descriptive research design and therefore, firstly, I could not investigate the consequences of the application of CSIs in teaching and learning Secondly, although questionnaire designed to assess students’ communication strategy use might yield useful information about students’ perceptions of their frequency of communication strategy use, it does not provide sufficient evidence of students’ actual strategic behavior when engaging in specific communication tasks Considering these constraints, in the future, hopefully, experimental studies in which the application of CSIs and their consequences on the students’ actual communication ability will be conducted Besides, more studies on the students’ actual communication strategy use should be done by both observing strategy use when students are engaged in a task and using stimulated recall as an introspective method to elicit data about thought processes of the students in carrying out a task Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, H (1987) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching Prentice- Hall Englewood Cliffs, N.J Bialystok, E (1983) Some factors in the selection and implementation of communication strategies In G Rababah (eds.) Communication problems facing Arab learners of English Journal of Languge and Learning Vol No Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://www.teflwebj.org/v2n1/arab_learners.pdf Canale, M & Swain, M., (1980) Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing Applied Linguistics, I, 1-47 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 36 Chen, S.Q (1990) A study of communication strategiess in interlanguage production by Chinese EFL learners Language Learning, 40(2), 155-187 Dörnyei, Z (1995) On the teachability of communication strategies TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 55-85 Retrieved February 1, 2007, from www.blackwellsynergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/0023-8333.51997005 Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S (1991) Strategic competence and how to teach it ELT Journal, 45(1), 16-23 Retrieved February 1, 2007 from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/45/1/16 Faucette, P (2001) A pedagogical perspective on communication strategies: Benefits of training and an analysis of English language teaching materials Second Language Studies, 19(2), 2001, 1-40 Retrieved February 2007, from http://www.hawaii.edu/sls/uhwpesl/19(2)/Faucette.pdf Faerch, C & G Kasper (1983) Strategies in Interlanguage Communication London : Longman Faerch, C & G Kasper (1986) Strategic Competence in Foreign Language Teaching In Z Zhanguo (eds.) Communicative Competence and Strategic Competence Sino-US English Teaching Volume No.10, Oct 2004 Retrieved January 20, 2007, from http://www.linguist.org.cn/e200410.htm Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu Herbert, W S & Elana, S (1989) Second Languge Research Mehods Oxford: Oxford University Press Johnson, K & Johnson, H (2001) Communicative Competence In Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics: A Handbook for Language Teaching, Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press and Blackwell Publishers Ltd Lam, W.Y.K (2005) Gauging the Effects of ESL Oral Communication Strategy Teaching: A Multi-method Approach Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2006, Vol 3, No 2, Centre for Language Studies, National University of Singapore Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://www.ied.edu.hk/eng/staff/academic_wlam.htm Larsen-Freeman, D., & Long, M (Eds.) (1991) An introduction to second language acquisition research London: Longman Mariani, L (1994) Developing Strategic Competence: Towards Autonomy in Oral Interaction Perspectives - A Journal of TESOL, Italy, Vol.20 No.1, June 1994 Retrieved February 1, 2007, from www.learningpaths.org/papers/papercommunication.htm Oxford, R (1990) Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know In P Faucette (eds.), A pedagogical perspective on communication strategies: Benefits of training and an analysis of English language teaching materials Second Language Studies,19(2), 2001, 2-4 Retrieved February 2007, from http://www.hawaii.edu/sls/uhwpesl/19(2)/Faucette.pdf An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 37 Rababah, G (2001) Strategic Competence and Language Teaching Retrieved November 26, 2006, from http://edres.org/eric/ED472697.htm Savignon, S (1998) Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice Retrieved February 1, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_competence Tarone, E., & Yule, G (1989) Focus on the language learner In G Rababah (eds.), Strategic Competence and Language Teaching Retrieved November 26, 2006, from http://edres.org/eric/ED472697.htm Tarone, E 1983 “Some thoughts on the notion of communication strategy” TESOL Quarterly, 15 (3), 285-95 Tarone, E (1983) “Teaching Strategic Competence in the foreign language classroom.” Abstract retrieved January 20, 2007, from ERIC database Trung tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu APPENDIX TEXTBOOK EVALUATION CRITERIA FOR COMMUNICATION STRATEGY INSTRUCTIONS I am conducting a research on Communication Strategies Instructions and I need your help in evaluating the textbook for General English Course (REWARD Elementary from Unit 30 to Unit 40) in terms of Communication Strategy Instructions The aim of the textbook evaluation is to find out whether/to which degree Communication Strategy Instructions are provided in the textbook according certain criteria Please use the criteria below, rate the degree to which the stated criterion is present or absent in Reward Elementary (from Unit 30-Unit 40) (3-fully evident; 2-mostly evident; 1-partially evident; 0-very little or no evidence) 38 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions STUDENT’S BOOK AND WORKBOOK Introducing the name of the strategy Providing a list of expressions of the strategy (e.g could you say that again? can you repeat, please?…) TEACHER’S BOOK Presenting the benefits of communication strategies Providing tasks/activities/ exercises to use the strategy for real communication Stating the aims for communication strategy instructions Providing suggestions for teaching communication strategies 3 3 2 Description Strategy Using a single alternative lexical item, which shares semantic features with the target word (e.g spoon for fork ) Strategy Making up a new word in order to communicate a desired concept (e.g “typer” for “typist”) Trung tâm Strategy Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu Describing, illustrating, exemplifying the properties of the target object or action (e.g “become water” instead of “melt”) STUDENT’S BOOK AND WORKBOOK Introducing the name of the strategy Descriptio Strategy Translating word for word from the native language (e.g number telephone instead of telephone number) Providing a list of expressions of the strategy (e.g could you say that again? Pardon?…) Presenting the benefits of communication strategies 3 2 TEACHER’S BOOK Providing tasks/activities/ exercises to use the strategy for real communication Stating the aims for communication strategy instructions Providing suggestions for teaching communication strategies 39 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions Strategy Switching to L1 to express the target word Strategy Asking for help from the other speakers such as asking for repetition, clarification, confirmation (e.g What is this? What you call ? Pardon? Do you mean ?) Strategy Using non-verbal strategies (gestures, body language) in place of a lexical item or action Strategy Trying not to talk about concepts for which the topic or the language structure is not known tâm (e.g Học I’m Trung not sure By the way, ) Strategy Leaving a message unfinished because of some language difficulty (e.g It is a person er who is I don’t know ) liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu APPENDIX OBSERVATION SHEET Date: Teacher: Lesson: Period: Class: Observed behavior: Teacher’s approaches to Communication Strategy Instructions (Adapted from Dörnyei, 1995) (1 Teach directly by presenting language device and communicative potential Provide models for the use Provide opportunities for practice in strategy use, e.g activities, tasks ) 40 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions Teach directly Paraphrase Provide models Provide opportunities for practice Approximation Word coinage Circumlocution Borrowing Literal translation Language switch Appeal assistance for Mime Avoidance Topic avoidance Message abandonment The approaches CSIs ĐH of theCần teachers are based on:liệu học tập nghiên cứu Trung tâm Họctoliệu Thơ@Tài … The instructions in the textbook … Teacher’s self-designed materials Observer: APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS [ \ I am conducting a research on Communication Strategy Instructions and I need your help with the questionnaire The questions are to find out whether/to which degree communication strategies are instructed for students of GENERAL ENGLISH course PART A: You will find statements about Communication Strategy Instructions Please read each one and state your answers by ticking one of the appropriate boxes (Strongly agree; Agree; Disagree; Strongly disagree) There are no right or wrong answers to these statements Please answer in terms of how well the statement describes you 41 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions No Statements Scale When my students can’t think of a word/phrase during Strongly agree a conversation in English, I teach them to use words or phrases with similar characteristics with the word(s) they want to say (e.g “shirt” instead of “blouse”) translate word for word from the native language instead of keeping silent (e.g “go under the rain” instead of “walk in the rain”) make up a new word (basing on their vocabulary knowledge) in order to communicate a desired concept (e.g “typer” for a person who types) switch the word or the phrase into the mother tongue use phrases to describe the characteristics of the word (e.g a thing to sharpen the pencil for “pencil sharpener”) use facial expressions, use their hands to express what they want to say put prefixes/suffixes into the roots to express the meaning of the target word (e.g “unpolite” instead of impolite) use an alternative word, which shares the same features with the target word (e.g spoon for fork ) resort to Vietnamese express the meaning of the liệu word Trung tâm Học liệutoĐH Cần Thơ@Tài (e.g Traveling helps us know more “phong tục”“customs”) 10 create new words if they don’t know the right ones in English (“tourist guider” instead of “tourist guide”) 11 use gestures to express the meanings of that word Agree Disagree Strongly disagree 12 13 illustrate, or exemplify the properties of the target word (e.g become water instead of “melt”) resort to body language, point to something to express the targeted meaning học tập nghiên cứu 42 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions No 14 15 16 Statements Scale When my students don’t understand what is said to them, I Strongly agree teach them to use phrases to ask for repetition, clarification, confirmation from the speakers (e.g What does “X” mean ?, What you mean by , Could you repeat that?, You said ?) When my students are not sure about a certain topic, I teach them to try to avoid that topic by saying I’m not sure, how about you? What you think about ? or use phrases to switch to a different one: by the way ; talking about When my students are unable to keep on expressing a message, I teach them to signal to the listeners that they can’t continue with the message (e.g stop speaking in mid-sentence, pause for a long time, or say: “I’m sorry”, “I don’t know”, “I don’t know how to say it!”) Agree Disagree Strongly disagree PART B The above strategies refer to COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES To which degree you think the INSTRUCTIONS of COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES are important to your students? Please choose the option that suits you and state the reason for choosing Trung it tâm Học liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài liệu học tập nghiên cứu A very important B important C rather important D not important at all Why? - THE END THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME!! APPENDIX An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 43 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I am conducting a research on Communication Strategies Instructions and I need your help with this questionnaire The questions are to find out to which degree students of General English can use Communication Strategies You will find statements about the using of communication strategies Please read each one and tick in the appropriate box (Always, Usually, Occasionally, Rarely, Never) that tells how true of you the statement is There are no right or wrong answers to these statements Do not answer how you think you should be, or what other people Please answer in terms of how well the statement describes you by ticking the appropriate boxes No Statements Frequency Always/ When I can’t think of a word/phrase during a Never/ SomeAlmost Almost Rarely Usually times conversation in English, I never always use words or phrases with similar characteristics with the word(s) I want to say (e.g “shirt” instead of “blouse”) translate word for word from the native language insteadHọc of keeping silentCần (e.g Thơ@Tài “go under the liệu rain” học tập nghiên cứu Trung tâm liệu ĐH instead of “walk in the rain”) make up a new word (basing on my vocabulary knowledge) in order to communicate a desired concept (e.g “typer” for a person who types) switch the word or the phrase into the mother tongue 10 11 use phrases to describe the characteristics of the word (e.g a thing to sharpen the pencil for “pencil sharpener”) use facial expressions, or use hands to express what they want to say put prefixes/suffixes into the roots to express the meaning of the target word (e.g “unpolite” instead of impolite) use an alternative word, which shares the same features with the target word (e.g spoon for fork ) resort to Vietnamese to express the meaning of the word (e.g Traveling helps us know more “phong tục”“customs”) create new words if I don’t know the right ones in English (“tourist guider” instead of “tourist guide”) use gestures to express the meanings of that word 44 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions No Statements Frequency When I can’t think of a word/phrase during a conversation in English, I illustrate, or exemplify the properties of the target word 12 (e.g become water instead of “melt”) resort to body language, point to something to express the 13 targeted meaning When my students don’t understand what is said to them, I teach them to 14 use phrases to ask for repetition, clarification, confirmation from the speakers (e.g What does “X” mean ?, What you mean by , Could you repeat that?, You said ?) When my students are not sure about a certain topic, I teach them to 15 try to avoid that topic by saying I’m not sure, how about you? What you think about ? or use phrases to switch to a different one: by the way ; talking about When my students are unable to keep on expressing a message, I teach them to 16 signal to the listeners that they can’t continue with the message (e.g.Học stop speaking in mid-sentence, pause forliệu a Trung tâm liệu ĐH Cần Thơ@Tài long time, or say: “I’m sorry”, “I don’t know”, “I don’t know how to say it!”) Never/ Almost never Rarely Occasio -nally Usually học tập nghiên cứu - THE END THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR COOPERATION!!! APPENDIX Always/ Almost always 45 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions BẢNG CÂU HỎI CHO SINH VIÊN (Vietnamese version) Tôi làm nghiên cứu chiến lược giao tiếp tiếng Anh Bảng câu hỏi nhằm tìm hiểu sinh viên Anh văn sử dụng chiến lược giao tiếp tiếng Anh mức độ Xin vui lòng đọc câu bảng câu hỏi đánh dấu tick (3) vào ô thích hợp với lựa chọn bạn Không có câu trả lời hay sai cho câu Xin đừng trả lời theo người khác cho Xin trả lời cách đánh dấu tick (3) vào ô diễn tả mức độ thường xuyên bạn sử dụng chiến lược giao tiếp gặp tình nêu Có mức độ diễn tả mức độ thường xuyên bạn: Không bao giờ/Hầu không bao giờ, Ít khi, Thỉnh thoảng, Thường xuyên, Luôn luôn/Hầu luôn S TT Tình Khi nói từ/một cụm từ tiếng Anh giao tiếp, Mức độ thường xuyên Không bao giờ/Hầu không Ít Thỉnh thoảng Thường xuyên Luôn luôn/ Hầu luôn Trung liệu Cần Thơ@Tài liệu thaytâm từ cầnHọc nói từ cóĐH đặc tính giống với từ cần nói (vd: học tập nghiên cứu từ “áo kiểu”–blouse nói “shirt” để thay thể) dịch cụm từ cần nói từ theo cấu trúc tiếng Việt (vd: “đi mưa” nói thành “go under the rain” thay “walk in the rain”) tạo từ (dựa kiến thức từ vựng) để diễn đạt ý muốn nói (v: “typer”-người đánh máy thay “typist”) chuyển hẳn từ hay cụm từ cần nói tiếng mẹ đẻ (vd: tomorrow, the weather will be “ảm đạm” (gloomy).” mô tả đặc điểm từ cần nói (vd: “a thing to make the pencil sharp” thay cho “pencil sharpener”- đồ chuốt viết chì) sử dụng chân tay, nét mặt để diễn đạt ý ráp tiền tố, hậu tố với từ gốc để tạo nên từ cần nói (có thể không đúng) (vd: ráp tiền tố “un” vào “polite”: unpolite để diễn đạt nghĩa “bất lịch sự” từ “impolite”) dùng từ có đặc tính giống với từ cần nói để thay (vd: “nĩa”-fork nói “spoon”-muỗng thay thế) nói từ hẳn tiếng Việt (vd: Traveling helps us know more “phong tục”) 46 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions S TT Tình Mức độ thường xuyên Khi nói từ/một cụm từ tiếng Anh giao tiếp, 10 11 12 13 Không bao giờ/Hầu không Ít Thỉnh thoảng Thường xuyên tạo từ để diễn đạt từ cần nói dù bạn biết từ không (vd: “tourist guider” thay “tourist guide”hướng dẫn viên du lịch) dùng điệu bộ, cử để diễn đạt ý cần nói dùng từ biết, diễn giải nghĩa từ (vd: từ “melt”-tan, nói: “become water”) dùng ngôn ngữ chân tay, trỏ vật để diễn đạt ý Trong giao tiếp tiếng Anh, không hiếu rõ người nói chuyện với muốn nói, 14 sử dụng cụm từ nhờ người nói lặp lại, giải thích hay xác nhận lại thông tin (vd: Could you repeat that?, You mean ? Pardon? ) Trung tâm liệubằng ĐHtiếng Cần Thơ@Tài liệu TrongHọc giao tiếp Anh, không biếthọc rõ chủ đề đó, 15 cố gắng phớt lờ chủ đề (vd: nói “I’m not sure, how about you? What you think about ) sử dụng cụm từ chuyển sang chủ đề khác: by the way ; talking about Khi tiếp tục diễn đạt thông tin tiếng Anh, 16 dấu với người nghe tiếp tục với thông tin muốn nói (vd: ngưng câu, ngừng khoảng lâu, nói “I’m sorry”, “I don’t know”, “I don’t know how to say it!” tập nghiên cứu - Hết Cám ơn hợp tác bạn!!! Luôn luôn/ Hầu luôn [...]... results of the investigations into (1) The manifestation of CSIs from unit 30 to 40 in Reward Elementary (Greenall and Pye, 1997), (2) The instructions of communication strategies in the classroom, (3) Teachers’ perceptions of CSIs in learning and teaching and teachers’ opinions about the significance of CSIs, and (4) Students’ frequency of communication strategy use 23 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy. .. list of expressions of the strategy (e.g could you say that again? can you repeat, please?…) Presenting the benefits of CSs Providing tasks/activities/ exercises to use the strategy for real communication MEAN TOTAL 0.53 1.01 0.33 1.00 0.72 24 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions As can be seen from the table, two criteria “Providing a list of expressions of the strategy use” and “Providing... provided, reported by the mean score of 0 for each criterion and the total mean of the two criteria 4.2 The instructions of communication strategies in the classroom 25 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions In addition to the evaluation of textbook, observations were conducted to find out whether CSIs were introduced in the classroom, basing on either the instructions of the textbook or teacher’s... Minimum 1.75 Maximum 4.06 Mean 2.70 SD 46 As can be seen from the table, the overall mean score of the students’ frequency of communication strategy use is M = 2.70 This mean is a little higher than the average mean of the five-point scale Figure 4.2 will display the mean of the students’ frequency of communication strategy use in comparison with the assigned scales 2 and 3 of the questionnaire for students... Mean of students' frequency of communication strategy use 5 Scale 4 3 2 1 Assigned scale 2 "Rarely" M Assigned scale 3 "Sometimes" Figure 4.2 The mean of students’ frequency of communication strategy use In comparison with the five-point scale, the mean score of students’ frequency (M = 2.70) implies that the students, in general just had an average frequency of communication strategy use 30 An Evaluation. .. AVOIDANCE Approximation Literal translation Topic avoidance Word coinage Language switch Message abandonment Circumlocution Appeal for assistance Mime An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 10 Figure 2.1 The taxonomy of communication strategies (Tarone, 1983) As mentioned in 2.2.1 Definition of strategic competence, Canale and Swain (ibid.) emphasized that both verbal and non-verbal CSs constitute... The result of the scale test showed that the reliability coefficient of the questionnaire is α = 704, an acceptable degree of reliability Then, we ran the Descriptive Statistics Test to check for the overall mean 27 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions score, the maximum, the minimum, and the SD 4 of the whole group The results of the descriptive statistics analyzed by SPSS software are... cứu Mean of teachers' perceptions of CSIs Scale 4 3 2 1 Assigned scale 2 "Disagree" M Assigned scale 3 "Agree" Figure 4.1 The mean of teachers’ perceptions of CSIs The figure shows us that the mean of the teacher’s perceptions of CSIs in learning and teaching is relatively high (M = 2.74) and nearly reaches the assigned scale 3, the scale 4 SD: Standard Deviation 28 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy. .. coefficient of the questionnaire, as shown from the result of the scale test, was α = 29 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions 75, indicating that the data collected was reliable Then we ran the Descriptive Statistics Test to check for the mean score, the minimum, the maximum and the SD of 226 students Table 4.6: Descriptive Statistics of Students’ frequency of communication strategy use MEAN... the mean scores of four criteria were averaged out to provide the mean for the manifestation of CSIs in the textbook Table 4.1 presents the mean scores of the evaluation of CSs corresponding to the provided criteria in the student’s book and workbook Table 4.1: The mean scores of the evaluation of the student’s book and workbook collected from 8 evaluators CRITERIA Introducing the name of the strategy ... of CSIs in learning and teaching and teachers’ opinions about the significance of CSIs, and (4) Students’ frequency of communication strategy use 23 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions. .. just had an average frequency of communication strategy use 30 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions The overall mean score of the students’ frequency of communication strategy. .. the mean score of for each criterion and the total mean of the two criteria 4.2 The instructions of communication strategies in the classroom 25 An Evaluation of Communication Strategy Instructions