Influence of Learning Context on Learners' Use of Communication Strategies

This study examines the influence of a meaning-focused versus a form-focused
learning context upon learners' choices of communication strategies and their
overall communicative performance. For this purpose, an ll-week study was
conducted with three groups of students at a university in Japan. The control
group studied English in a form-focused learning context. The experimental
groups (I and 2) studied English in a meaning-focused learning context. In
addition, experimental group 2 received training in communication strategies.
Two types of communicative tasks, 1) description of pictures and 2) narration
of a picture story, were administered before and after treatments. Communication
strategies were identified by two raters, based on the subjects' audio-taped
communicative performance and immediate retrospection. Performances were
evaluated separately by the same raters. The results show that both experimental
groups significantly reduced use of reduction strategies and increased use of
achievement strategies. Similarly, results show that communicative performance
by the experimental groups was evaluated higher than that of the control
group on the post-test. The findings suggest that learning context has an
important influence on learners' use of communication strategies and their
communicative performance.