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When trying to communicate in a second or foreign language (L2), non-native speakers (NNSs) or learners encounter inevitable communicative difficulties. In order to overcome this confrontation and prevent miscommunication, they usually need more time than native speakers, as well as they have to negotiate for meaning . Despite these difficulties, learners are normally able to cope with foreign language communication. The focus of the present research is to examine the different techniques, that is, communication strategies (CS), used by learners to communicate in interactional situations in a foreign language.
The methodology employed analyzed 4 hours approximately of oral production in Spanish involving six NNSs of intermediate level while conversing with two native speakers (NSs). A total of 834 communication strategies were identified, classified, and analyzed. This study has yielded evidence of the existence and usage of communication strategies, as well as has noticed that communication strategies remain an important element in the learning of a foreign language. Although there was not significant variance in the choice of specific communication strategies used amongst the interlocutors, a strong interference from native language with the use of borrowing strategies was unexpectedly found. This finding suggests that communicative classroom tasks aimed at eliciting communication strategies should be employed, so that students could be offered the opportunity to acquire and practice the more problematic patterns in their language.
