A training to enhance oral communication strategies for Spanish learners of English

Abstract

This experimental study investigates the use of oral communication strategies (CSs) by Spanish learners of English and the effect of the conducted oral CSs training on the subjects’ use of the CSs. This study is adding value to the fields of teaching and communication by including a training on the use of communication strategies instead of observation. It also counts with data collected from a total of 116 participants and 464 protocols including 2 high and 2 low proficient groups. Our subjects took part in a training on CSs before setting a pre and post-test (interview and storytelling). To compare the results of the use of CSs before and after the training for each of the levels and also manage a cross-sectional comparison between the groups, the researchers used the Canonical Biplot free program. The results of this empirical study proved the effectiveness of the CSs training. It also confirmed that the high proficient group benefited more from the training when compared to the low proficient students.