Communication strategies: Implications for EFL 
university students

Eğitim Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi, vol.3, no.2, pp.255-268, 2013 (SSCI)

Oral communication is an interactive process in which an individual alternately takes the

roles of speaker and listener. Thus, rather than focusing on each skill separately, these skills

should be considered integratedly. In order for students to overcome the burdens in listening

and speaking skills, they need to develop communicative competence, especially strategic

competence. With reference to speaking, strategic competence points out the ability to know

how to keep a conversation going, how to terminate the conversation, and how to clear up

communication breakdowns and comprehension problems (Shumin, 1994). Therefore, the

aim of this quantitative study is to investigate both speaking and listening strategies (so

called “communication strategies”) used by EFL students to cope with problems during

communication so they can be integrated into language teaching in order to develop

students’ strategic competence. Two hundred ninety-one Turkish EFL university students

participated in this study. Researchers used the “Communication Strategy Inventory”, a 5

point Likert-type scale developed by Yaman, Irgin and Kavasoglu (2011). The findings of this

study revealed that EFL students used negotiation for meaning, compensatory, and getting the

gist strategies in communication. It also found that female students used communication

strategies more than males and advanced level students.

Key Words: Communication, Strategy, EFL learner