Oral Communication Strategies Used by Iranian EFL Learners and their Relationship with the Learners’ Self-efficacy Beliefs and Anxiety Level
Subject Areas : Research in English Language PedagogyServat Shirkhani 1 , Effat Alsadat Mir Mohammad Meigouni 2
1 - English Department, Khorram Abad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorram Abad, Iran
2 - English Department, E-Campus, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
Keywords: anxiety, Self-efficacy beliefs, Oral communication strategies, Listening strategies, Speaking strategies,
Abstract :
This study examined the oral communication strategies (OCS) employed by Iranian intermediate English as a foreign language (EFL) learners and the relationship between the use of these strategies and the learners’ self-efficacy beliefs and anxiety level. To this end, 160 participants were selected through convenience sampling. Next, three questionnaires were employed to determine the strategies the participants employ for coping with speaking and listening problems, their anxiety level, and their general self-efficacy. The results indicated that the most and the least frequently used strategies were “accuracy-oriented” and “massage abandonment” strategies when facing speaking problems and “word-oriented” and “fluency-oriented” strategies when confronting speaking problems. In addition, the results showed a significant positive relationship between OCSs and self-efficacy beliefs of the learners and a significant negative relationship between OCSs and their anxiety level. The findings imply that OCSs are helpful in both increasing EFL learners’ self-efficacy beliefs and reducing their anxiety level. Further implications of the results are discussed in the study.
Aida, Y. (1994). Examination of Horwitz, Horwitz, and Cope’s construct of foreign language anxiety: The case of students of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal, 78, 155-168.
Azizfar, A. & Fariadian, E. (2015). The effect of anxiety on Iranian EFL learners’ speaking skill. International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, 3(7), 19-30
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs. NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Brown, J. D. (2001). Using surveys in language programs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Chamot, A. U. (2005). Language learning strategy instruction: Current issues and research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 25, 112-130.
Chamot, A.U. & Kupper, L. (1989). Learning strategies in foreign language instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 22(1), 13- 24.
Chen, H. W. (2009). Oral communication strategies used by English major college students in Taiwan (Unpublished master’s thesis). Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung, Taiwan.
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Goh, C. & Kwah, P. F. (1997). Chinese ESL students‟ learning strategies: A look at frequency, proficiency, and gender. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2, 39-53.
Gonen, M. (2009). The relationship between FL listening anxiety and foreign language listening strategies: the case of Turkish EFL learners. Proceedings of the 5th WSEAS/IASME International Conference on Educational Technologies (EDUTE’ 09).
Green, J., & Oxford, R. L. (1995). A closer look at learning strategies, L2 proficiency and gender. TESOL Quarterly, 29(2), 261-297.
Horwitz, E., & Horwitz, M., & Cope, J. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. The Modern Language Journal, 70, 125-132.
Huang, X.-H., & Van Naerssen, M. (1987). Learning strategies for oral communication. Applied Linguistics, 8, 287-307.
Kellerman, E. (1991). Compensatory strategies in second language research: A critique, a revision, and some (non-)implications for the classroom. In R. Phillipson, E. Kellerman, L. Selinker, M. Sharwood Smith, & M. Swain (eds.), Foreign/second language pedagogy research (pp. 142-161). Clevendon, UK: Multilingual Matters
Khodadady, E., & Khajavy, G. H. (2013). Exploring the role of anxiety and motivation in foreign language achievement: A structural equation modeling approach. Porta Linguarum, 20, 269-280
Lu, Z., & Liu, M. (2011). Foreign language anxiety and strategy use: A study with Chinese undergraduate EFL learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2, 1298-1305.
MacIntyre, P., & Gardner, R. (1989). Anxiety and language learning: Towards a theoretical clarification, Language Learning, 39, 251-75
Mills, N., Pajares, F., & Herron, C. (2007). Self-efficacy of college intermediate French students: Relation to achievement and motivation. Language Learning, 57(3), 417-442.
Nakatani, Y. (2005). The effects of awareness-raising training on oral communication strategy use. Modern Language Journal, 89, 76-91.
Nakatani, Y. (2006). Developing an Oral Communication Strategy Inventory. Modern Language Journal, 90 (2), 151-168.
Nakatani, Y. (2010). Identifying strategies that facilitate EFL learners’ oral communication: A classroom study using multiple data collection procedures. The Modern Language Journal, 94, 116-136.
Nezami, E., Schwarzer, R. & Jerusalem, M. (1996). Persian Adaptation (Farsi) of the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Retrieved from userpage.fu- berlin.de/~health/persean.htm.
Pajares, F., Johnson, M. J., & Usher, E. L. (2007). Sources of writing self-efficacy beliefs of elementary, middle, and high school students. Research in the Teaching of English, 42(1), 104-119.
Pintrich, P., & Schunk, D. (1996). Motivation in education: Theory, research and applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Poulisse, N., & Schils, E. (1989). The influence of task and proficiency related factors on the use of compensatory strategies: A quantitative analysis. Language learning, 39(1), 15-46.
Price, M. (1991). The subjective experience of foreign language anxiety: Interviews with anxiety students. In E. Horwitz & D. Young (Eds.), Language anxiety: From theory to research to classroom Practices. Prentice-Hall, New York, pp. 101-108.
Rahimi, A., & Abedini, A. (2009). The interface between EFL learners’ self-efficacy concerning listening comprehension and listening proficiency. Novitas Royal, 3(1), 14-28.
Rastegar, M., & Gohari, S. (2016). Communication strategies, attitude, and oral output of EFL learners: A study of relations. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 6, 401-419.
Scovel, T. (1978). The effects of affect on foreign language learning: A review of the anxiety research. Language learning, 28,129-142.
Sioson, C. I. (2011). Language learning strategies, beliefs, and anxiety in academic speaking task. Philippine ESL Journal, 7, 3-27.
Spielberger, C. D. (1983). Manual or the State Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Tılfarlıoğlu, F. T., & Cinkara, E. (2009). Self-efficacy in EFL: differences among proficiency groups and relationship with success. Novitas Royal, 3(2), 129-142.
Ting, S. H., & Lau, L. Y. (2008). Lexical and discourse-based communication strategies of Malaysian ESL learners. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research, 4, 18-31.
Woodrow, L. (2006). Anxiety and speaking English as a second language. RELC Journal, 37(3).
Woolfolk, A.E., & Hoy, W. K. (1990). Prospective teachers’ sense of efficacy about control. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 81-91.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: a social-cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner, (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13-39). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.