Communication Strategy Training Among Non-english Majors In The Independent College: An Empirical Study

This thesis reports an empirical study of communication strategy(CS) training among non-English majors in the independent college.The study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the present situation of CS use among non-English majors in the independent college?(1) What is their CS awareness?(2) What is their assumed CS use? 2. What are the effects of CS training on learners’ oral performance and their strategy use? 3. Are there any differences between the immediate effects and the delayed effects of the CS training? 4.What are learners’ attitudes toward CS training and what are the factors affecting learners’ CS use?The subjects selected in the present study were two intact classes of 58non-English majors in Jingjiang Independent College, Jiangsu University. One class was randomly designated as the experimental group(EG), while the other as the control group(CG). Prior to the CS training, no significant differences in language proficiency and CS use were found between the two groups. The EG received explicit CS training while the CG only followed the regular EFL curricular with no explicit focus on communication strategies(CSs). The CS training continued up to 16 weeks, in which two stages were involved: the theoretical instruction stage and the practice stage.The first stage serving as the theoretical support for the second stage was responsible for imparting related theoretical knowledge of CSs such as the definitions and categories of CSs to learners in the EG. The second stage highlighted the practice of CS use through multiple communicative activities. The study adopted the pretest,posttest and delayed posttest procedures. Before the CS training, questionnaires were administered to both groups to investigate the present situation of CS use among non-English majors in the independent college. After the confirmation of the necessityof CS training, the researcher conducted a16-week CS training among the EG. Learners in both the EG and the CG experienced an oral test separately before and after the CS training. The immediate effects of CS training were examined by the comparison of learners’ performance in these two oral tests. After the CS training, an interview was conducted among the EG to find out learners’ attitudes to the CS training and the factors affecting their CS use. In the following semester, both the EG and the CG followed the regular way of teaching with no explicit focus on CSs. At the end of the semester, learners in the EG received a third oral test. The differences between the immediate effects and the delayed effects of CS training were examined by comparing EG’s performance in the last two oral tests. Learners in the EG were divided into highand-low-proficiency groups according to their scores in the final exam which was carried out at the end of the first semester. For a deeper investigation of the differences between the immediate effects and the delayed effects of the CS training, CSs used by these learners of different proficiency levels in the last two oral tests were examined as well. Detailed analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data yielded the following findings:1. The present situation of the CS use of non-English majors in the independent college was far from satisfactory. Learners had a vague awareness of CSs and tended to utilize them less frequently in the communication as well.2. The CS training had positive effects on learners’ oral performance and frequency of CS use, which was embodied specifically in the following three aspects.First, learners in the EG significantly outperformed those in the CG in the post oral test scores and their oral scores improved a lot more than did in the pre-oral test. Second, in the post oral test, learners in the EG employed significantly more CSs than those in the CG and compared with the pre-oral test, the EG had a significantly remarkable improvement in their frequency of CS use in the post oral test. Third, learners’ CS use positively correlated to their oral performance; that is, the more CSs the learner employed, the higher oral score he/she tended to gain.3. There existed significant differences between the CS training’s immediateeffects and delayed effects. First, compared with the post oral test, learners in the EG scored lower and used fewer CSs in the delayed post oral test. Second, on the whole,the frequency of CS use of both high-proficiency learners and low-proficiency learners declined significantly in the delayed post test.4.The majority of learners being interviewed held positive attitudes toward CS training, reporting that it was of great help in boosting their confidence in the communication and in improving their oral performance. Such factors as personality,language proficiency, anxiety, task type, awareness of CSs, testing environment and time limit in accomplishing the task were found to affect learners’ CS use.The findings of the present study could cast some light on foreign language teaching and learning. First, incorporating CS training into regular classroom events in an explicit way proves to be effective in improving learners’ oral performance. And its positive effects need to be strengthened continually. Second, the model of the CS training adopted in the present study can be used for reference by teachers who intend to improve Chinese EFL learners’ oral performance. Third, factors affecting learners’ CS use, such as language proficiency, personality and task type should be given due attention to in the process of CS training. Fourth, it is an effective way to enhance learners’ oral proficiency and CS use through various communicative tasks. Therefore,it is advocated that future curricular should involve as many communicative tasks as possible so that learners can have more opportunities to practice their oral English.