The Investigation of Lexical and Discourse-based Communication Strategies Used by EFL Teachers in the Classrooms

Researchers have raised the notion of second Language communication strategies at the beginning of 1970s. These strategies have been defined as a mutual attempt of two interlocutors to agree on a meaning in situations where requisite meaning structures do not seem to be shared. This study was an attempt to investigate lexical and discourse-based communication strategies used by teachers as opposed to previous studies which have considered communication strategies used by students. The study focused on Iranian English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and conducted in Miyandoab, Iran. For this purpose forty teachers were selected from English language institutes. An integrated taxonomy of scholars was used as a questionnaire. Quantitative data analysis techniques were then used to analyze the data. A paired t-test was used to analyze the collected data. Principal statistical analyses including frequencies, means, and standard deviations revealed that there was a significant difference between teachers in terms of using lexical and discourse- based communication strategies. The results showed that the EFL teachers used achievement lexical based Communication Strategies to compensate the break downs and they mostly used discourse-based communication strategies to enhance the effectiveness of communication and to show the salience of the topic. The findings of this study will have some pedagogical implications for the area of English language teaching and learning. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v3n2p31