Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Strategy Use in Oral Communication with Competent Synthesis and Complex Interaction

  • Published:
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Strategy use is a critical competence for academic achievement and problem solving in globalised and information-based knowledge economies. It involves skills such as synthesising information from task source materials and elaborating on interlocutors’ viewpoints during integrated group discussions. However, evidence from empirical studies on this topic is scarce. We recruited 171 local Hong Kong undergraduate students to participate in an integrated group discussion task in Putonghua as an L2 (i.e., second language) and to complete a strategy use inventory of the task. The students’ performances and responses were analysed with multiple statistical methods. The strategy use inventory of the integrated group discussion was validated. Five categories of strategy were identified: active engagement, non-verbal, synthesis, clarification and affective strategies. These strategies significantly predicted task performance (with 19.9% variation), leading to significant improvement in oral production quality. Both the synthesis (the integrative use of information) and active engagement (including elaborating viewpoints) strategies were significantly associated with task performance, which are rarely found in existing oral communication strategy inventories. The participants with high levels of task performance demonstrated significantly more use of the active engagement, clarification and synthesis strategies (with the first two merged in the complex interaction strategy) than those with medium or low task performance levels. The implications of the results are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, N. J., Bachman, L., Perkins, K., & Cohen, A. (1991). An exploratory study into the construct validity of a reading comprehension test: Triangulation of data sources. Language Testing, 8(1), 41–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Au, A. K., & Yeung, M. C. (2014). Chinese cultural values and knowledge sharing. International Journal of Knowledge Society Research (IJKSR), 5(1), 60–68. https://doi.org/10.4018/ijksr.2014010105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bachman, L. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (1996). Language testing in practice: Designing and developing useful language tests (Vol. 1). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barkaoui, K., Brooks, L., Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (2012). Test-takers’ strategic behaviors in independent and integrated speaking tasks. Applied Linguistics, 34(3), 304–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brisk, M. E. (2005). Bilingual education. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 7–24). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Celce-Murcia, M. (2008). Rethinking the role of communicative competence in language teaching. In E. A. Soler & M. P. S. Jorda (Eds.), Intercultural language use and language learning (pp. 41–57). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Census and Statistics Department. (2016). Snapshot of the Hong Kong population. Hong Kong: HKSAR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, S. D., Zhu, X., Lau, M. C., & Yeung, K. (2012). A study on Putonghua proficiency test for secondary school students (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Chung Hwa Book Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, S. D., Zhu, X., Wen, H., & Liao, X. (2016). The Putonghua performances of university students in Hong Kong: Problem areas and countermeasures in teaching (in Chinese). Journal of Chinese Language Education, 14(1), 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cheong, C. M., Zhu, X., Li, G. Y., & Wen, H. (2019). Effects of intertextual processing on L2 integrated writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 44, 63–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2019.03.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheong, C. M., Zhu, X., & Liao, X. (2018). Differences between the relationship of L1 learners’ performance in integrated writing with both independent listening and independent reading cognitive skills. Reading and Writing, 31(4), 779–811.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. D. (2003). The learner’s side of foreign language learning: Where do style, strategies, and tasks meet? International Review of Applied Linguistics, 41, 279–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. D. (2010). Focus on the language learner: Styles, strategies and motivation. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), An introduction to applied linguistics (2nd ed., pp. 161–178). London: Hodder Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. D., & Wang, I. K. H. (2018). Fluctuation in the functions of language learner strategies. System, 74, 169–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damico, J. S., Wilson, B. T., Simmons-Mackie, N. N., & Tetnowski, J. A. (2008). Overcoming unintelligibility in aphasia: The impact of non-verbal interactive strategies. Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics, 22(10–11), 775–782. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699200801950518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Damşa, C. I., & Ludvigsen, S. (2016). Learning through interaction and co-construction of knowledge objects in teacher education. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 11, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delaney, Y. A. (2008). Investigating the reading-to-write construct. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7(3), 140–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in second language acquisition. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, D. (1997). Testing speaking ability in academic contexts: Theoretical considerations. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faerch, C., & Kasper, G. (1984). Two ways of defining communication strategies. Language Learning, 34(1), 45–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Field, A. P. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gan, Z. (2010). Interaction in group oral assessment: A case study of higher- and lower-scoring students. Language Testing, 27(4), 585–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebril, A. (2009). Score generalizability of academic writing tasks: Does one test method fit it all? Language Testing, 26(4), 507–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gumperz, J. J. (1999). On interactional sociolinguistic method. In S. Sarangi & C. Roberts (Eds.), Talk, work and institutional order: Discourse in medical, mediation and management settings (pp. 453–471). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. (2014). Multivariate data analysis. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargie, O. (2011). Skilled interpersonal communication: Research, theory and practice. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huang, L. (2013). Cognitive processes involved in performing the IELTS speaking test: Respondents’ strategic behaviours in simulated testing and non-testing contexts. In IELTS Research Reports Series, No.1. IDP and IELTS Australia.

  • Huang, H. T. D. (2016a). Exploring strategy use in L2 speaking assessment. System, 63, 13–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, H. T. D. (2016b). Test-taking strategies in L2 assessment: The test of english for international communication speaking test. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 123(1), 64–90.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hymes, D. (1967). Models of the interaction of language and social setting. Journal of Social Issues, 23(2), 8–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1967.tb00572.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: Selected readings (pp. 269–293). Harmondsworth: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacoby, S., & Ochs, E. (1995). Co-construction: An introduction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 28(3), 171–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lai-Au Yeung, Y. W. (1997). Positioning the teaching of Putonghua as a subject in Hong Kong (in Chinese). In S. T. Lee & C. S. Lam (Eds.), Brainstorming the Putonghua curriculum towards the 21st century—Curriculum and teaching (pp. 5–11). Hong Kong: Chinese Language Section, Curriculum Development Institute, Education Department.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, D. C. S. (2017). Multilingual Hong Kong: Languages, literacies and identities. Switzerland: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Li, X., To, K. S., & Ng, M. L. (2016). Effects of L1 tone on perception of L2 tone—A study of Mandarin tone learning by native Cantonese children. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20(03), 549–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, T. F. (1996). Measuring second language performance. Boston: Addison Wesley Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakatani, Y. (2006). Developing an oral communication strategy inventory. The Modern Language Journal, 90(2), 151–168. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2006.00390.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakatani, Y. (2010). Identifying strategies that facilitate EFL learners’ oral communication: A classroom study using multiple data collection procedures. The Modern Language Journal, 94(1), 116–136. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00987.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naughton, D. (2006). Cooperative strategy training and oral interaction: Enhancing small group communication in the language classroom. The Modern Language Journal, 90(2), 169–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2006.00391.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, R. (1998). Negotiation of meaning in child interactions. The Modern Language Journal, 82(3), 372–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, R. (2002). The patterns of negotiation for meaning in child interactions. The Modern Language Journal, 86(1), 97–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies. New York: Newbury House Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxford, R. L. (2011). Teaching and researching language learning strategies (1st ed.). Harlow: Pearson Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oxford, R. L. (2017). Teaching and researching language learning strategies: Self-regulation in context (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phakiti, A. (2003). A closer look at the relationship of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use to EFL reading achievement test performance. Language Testing, 20(1), 26–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plakans, L., & Gebril, A. (2012). A close investigation into source use in integrated second language writing tasks. Assessing Writing, 17(1), 18–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2011.09.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodriguez, C. A., & Rodríguez, R. R. (2014). The use of communication strategies in the beginner EFL classroom. GIST Education and Learning Research Journal, 6, 111–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segev-Miller, R. (2007). Cognitive processes in discourse synthesis: The case of intertextual processing strategies. In M. Torrance, L. Van Waes, & D. Galbraith (Eds.), Writing and cognition: Research and applications  (Studies in Writing, Vol. 20, pp. 231–250). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spivey, N. N., & King, J. R. (1989). Readers as writers composing from sources. Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 7–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swain, M., Huang, L.-S., Barkaoui, K., Brooks, L., & Lapkin, S. (2009). The speaking section of the TOEFL ÏBT (SSTiBT): Test-takers’ reported strategic behaviors (TOEFL iBT Research Report No. iBT-10). Princeton: Educational Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarone, E. (1980). Communication strategies, foreigner talk, and repair in interlanguage. Language Learning, 30(2), 417–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1980.tb00326.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, L., Wigglesworth, G., & Brooks, L. (2009). Interacting in pairs in a test of oral proficiency: Co-constructing a better performance. Language Testing, 26(3), 341–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, V. C., & Torrisi-Steele, G. (2015). Confucian and Western teaching and learning. International Journal of Adult Vocational Education and Technology (IJAVET), 6(1), 52–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, H. C., & Plakans, L. (2012). Second language writers’ strategy use and performance on an integrated reading-listening-writing task. TESOL Quarterly, 46(1), 80–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeung, P. S., Ho, C. S. H., Chan, D. W. O., & Chung, K. K. H. (2013). Contribution of oral language skills, linguistic skills, and transcription skills to Chinese written composition among fourth-grade students. Discourse Processes, 50(7), 498–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida-Morise, Y. (1998). The use of communication strategies in language proficiency interviews (pp. 205–238). Talking and Testing: Discourse Approaches to the Assessment of Oral Proficiency.

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, R. F. (2000). Interactional competence: Challenges for validity.  Paper presented at a joint symposium ‘Interdisciplinary Interfaces with Language Testing’ held at the annual meeting of the American Association for Applied Linguistics and the Language Testing Research Colloquium. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Retrieved April 24, 2019 from http://www.wisc.edu/english/rfyoung/IC_C4V.Paper.PDF.

  • Zhu, X. (2005). A study of setting standards of Chinese Language assessment in reading, writing and integrated skills. Technical report (unpublished). Project No: CD/C/13-0309. Commissioned by Education and Manpower Bureau, HKSAR. Singapore: National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University.

  • Zhu, X. (2014). A system of assessing students’ listening, speaking and oral interaction skills for implementing assessment for learning (AfL) in Chinese language education (in Chinese). Journal of Chinese Language Education, 12(1), 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, X. (2016). Assessment for learning: Listening and speaking (in Chinese). Beijing: People’s Education Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, X., Cai, Y., Fan, J., Chan, S. D., & Cheong, C. M. (2017). Validation of the oral interaction strategy scale for speakers of Chinese as a first language in elementary schools. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 17, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.17239/L1ESLL-2017.17.03.02.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, X., Li, X., Yu, G., Cheong, C. M., & Liao, X. (2016). Exploring the relationships between independent listening and listening-reading-writing tasks in Chinese language testing: Toward a better understanding of the construct underlying integrated writing tasks. Language Assessment Quarterly, 13(3), 167–185. https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2016.1210609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu, X., & Wu, Y. L. (2013). Secondary school students’ difficulties and learning expectation in integrated Chinese language tasks in Hong Kong (in Chinese). Education Journal, 41(1–2), 27–45.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants involved. We gratefully acknowledge the meticulous work of Mr. Hanliang Chen, Miss Xie Pan, and Miss Wing-Cze Wu as research/project assistants, and Yin Lei Wu as research associate in our research team. We had valuable comments from the journal’s editor Professor Rafael Art. Javier, and the anonymous reviewers, for which we are very grateful too.

Funding

The study is partly funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) through the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the project “Enhancement of Students’ Strategic Competence in Integrated Speaking Tasks by Developing Teaching and Assessment Instruments and Applying them in Teaching of Chinese Language (LEG16-19/SS/CBS16)”.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Xinhua Zhu

  2. Department of Chinese Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po N.T, Hong Kong

    Xian Liao

  3. Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong

    Choo Mui Cheong

Authors
  1. Xinhua Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Xian Liao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Choo Mui Cheong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xian Liao.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhu, X., Liao, X. & Cheong, C. Strategy Use in Oral Communication with Competent Synthesis and Complex Interaction. J Psycholinguist Res 48, 1163–1183 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09651-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-019-09651-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation