A Study On The Application Of Communication Strategies In The Oral Test Of PETS 3

Communication strategies, as one of the important components of communicativecompetence, refer to techniques adopted by language learners for making up for theirinsufficient or unavailable linguistic knowledge so as to achieve communicative goals. Insecond language acquisition and foreign language learning, learners often cannot express theirthoughts fluently due to limitation of linguistic knowledge. The employment ofcommunication strategies is conductive to enhance learners’confidence and avoid breakdownin communication.Communication strategy use is influenced by many factors. This paper aims to study theuse of communication strategies in the oral test of PETS 3(Public English Test System). Thesubjects in the study were from three oral examination rooms chosen randomly from fourteenoral examination rooms of PETS 3 in Linfen College test site, 105 examinees in total. Afterthe oral test, six out of the 105 subjects were chosen to complete verbal report tasks at random.The oral test and verbal report were videoed and transcribed. Communication strategies usedby examinees during the test were marked by hand. Based on the classifications of Tarone,F rch & Kasper and D rnyei, eleven communication strategies were investigated in the oraltest of PETS 3. The author adopted qualitative research and quantitative research to analysethree questions: 1) What is the general situation of communication strategies used byexaminees in PETS 3 oral test? 2) Are there any significant differences between high-scoregroup and low-score group in the use of communication strategies? 3) Is there any significantcorrelation existing between the employment of communication strategies and the oral scoresof PETS 3?By performing descriptive statistics, Two-Independent-Samples T Test and Pearsoncorrelation analysis, the main findings of the study can be briefly summed up as follows:1) Communication strategies are utilized by the examinees during the oral test of PETS3. Repetition strategies, filler strategies and restructuring strategies are most frequently used bythe examinees while para-linguistic strategies, topic avoidance strategies, appeal for help andword coinage strategies are seldom used in the oral test.2) The examinees from high-score group use repetition strategies, filler strategies,restructuring strategies and circumlocution strategies more frequently than those fromlow-score group. The examinees from low-score group employ message abandonmentstrategies and literal translation strategies more widely than those from high-score group.3) Communication strategy employment correlates significantly with the oral scores.Avoidance strategies have significantly negative correlation with oral scores. Amongachievement strategies, circumlocution strategies and restructuring strategies havesignificantly positive correlation with the oral scores while literal translation strategies havesignificantly negative correlation with the oral scores. Stalling strategies have significantlypositive correlation with the oral scores.