Communication Strategies in French Language Learning among Non-Native Adult Speakers / Hazlina Abdul Halim..[etc al.]

This exploratory study aimed to determine and categorize the type of Malaysian non-native speakers’ communication strategies (CS) in learning French with regard to speaking skills. The
study, which was based on Dornyei & Scott’s (1997) model of communication strategy, utilized
both a qualitative and a simple quantitative method of data collection. The subjects consisted of
2nd and 3rd year foreign language students from various programs at Universiti Putra Malaysia
(UPM). A total of 10 Malaysian students in the French language course participated in this study.
The main instruments used were a speaking task prompt, an observation checklist, and an audio
recording. The overall findings based on the observations and transcription of the audio
recordings indicated that among the most frequently used communication strategies were the use
of literal translation (26.4%), the use of all-purpose words (18.4%), topic abandonment (12.8%)
and foreignizing from English (8.8%). The findings have resulted in a framework for foreign
language instruction and materials design. It also suggested that further intensive research should
be conducted to design and develop a communication strategies instruction framework which
would lead to the development of a comprehensive framework for the incorporation of
communication strategy in foreign language learning instruction, materials and tasks for
Malaysian learners.