Abstract
The present study aimed at investigating the relationship among EFL learners’ speaking strategies use, attitude, and English language oral output. The data was collected from 150 EFL language institute students regarding the relationship among their speaking strategies use, attitude, and English language oral output. To this end, three instruments of the Oral Communication Strategy Questionnaire (Nakatani, 2006), Attitude Scale (Rastegar, 2003), and Cambridge Preliminary English Test (PET), placement tool for language proficiency, were used. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between different subscales of communication strategies use and attitude of the intermediate Iranian EFL learners. Moreover, relationship between communication strategy use of EFL learners and their English language oral output was statistically significant. As a major conclusion, the importance of speaking strategy training in learner education with a regard to the learners’ attitude towards language learning and their oral language output should not be ignored.
Highlights
Today, everybody needs to be able to communicate efficiently in English
The answer to the third research question revealed that the learners’ attitudes towards language learning and their Preliminary English Test (PET) scores are positively correlated. It means that most of the learners gain high scores on the PET or at least they pass the exam, so we understand that Iranian students have a positive attitude towards learning English and are a lot eager to pass English exams to get certifications and to be successful in their oral performances which is in line with the findings revealed through the investigations conducted by (e.g., Alkaff, 2013; Al Mamun et al, 2012; Al Samadani & Ibnian, 2015; Chalak & Kassaian, 2010; Latif et al, 2011; Momani, 2009; Vaezi, 2008)
The language teachers must provide the learners with the efficient and useful oral simulated real-life tasks and practices interwoven with strategy training within the EFL context in order to encourage them to think in English prior to making conversations rather than think in their mother tongue which leads to some communication breakdowns influenced by the significant differences between the two languages
Summary
As suggested by Canale and Swain (1980) and Canale (1983), this ability requires communicative competence which includes grammatical, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competences. The one which holds the decisive role is recognized as strategic competence. According to Dörnyei and Thurrell (1991), the underdevelopment of strategic competence causes the lack of fluency and conversation skills about which many learners often complain. Strategic competence can be observed through the use of such Communication Strategies (CSs) as paraphrase, literal translation, language switch, ges-. CSs have been defined as learners’ efforts to maintain the conversation when facing difficulties (Corder, 1983; Dörnyei & Scott, 1997); and/or to enhance the effectiveness of the conversation (Littlemore, 2003)
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