Iranian EFL learners' perception and performance of communication strategies in different mediums of communication

Abstract

Although language learners spend years developing their competences, they sometimes experience the frustration of not being able to communicate. They have problems in communication mostly due to their insufficient knowledge, but they rely on their ability to communicate within restrictions, using common communication strategies. This descriptive study was set to find out learners' attitudes towards communication strategies and examined areas they vary by medium (oral and written performances), and compared them with their performances. To this end, 100 EFL learners, majoring in English, were selected and asked to fill out a 24 item questionnaire, developed based on Dornyei's taxonomy eliciting their attitudes towards the use of communication strategies in their oral and written performances; later on 60 EFL learners' oral and written performances were analyzed and compared to perceptions. Descriptive statistics showed that the learners' perceptions and performances of communication strategies vary by medium, and some strategies are, generally, used more frequently than others. Moreover, it was revealed that in some cases learners' perceptions and performance are in line with each other, while in some others they are distinct. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.