Negotiated Communication in an English as a Second Language (ESL) Classroom: Strategies and Patterns

Abstract

This study identified negotiated communication strategies (NCSs) and patterns used by three participants of English as a Second Language (ESL) class in Speech Communication offered by the Language Instruction Towards Excellence (LITE) Program of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). The class was facilitated by a Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher (NNEST), a Filipina. Twelve hours of classroom sessions were video/sound recorded, transcribed, and the strategies and patterns identified.

The teacher often used clarification requests, confirmation, and comprehension checks, while the students used confirmation, rephrasing, and repetition. The choice of NCSs depended on the topic for discussion (e.g., definition/meaning of freedom), and the context of the interaction and the effect on the strategies used. This indicated that when language teachers facilitate negotiated communication, they should consider the topics for discussion, and anticipate communication strategies to be used by the learners and ways in which to address these concerns.

The participants’ attitude; level of English proficiency; personality and role in the ESL class; learning situation; and communication context also affected their choice of strategies to use in negotiating for meanings. Hence, it is important that teachers should profile the learners and give a pre-course proficiency evaluation so they would know what classroom lessons and activities are appropriate for specific learners.

In facilitating negotiated communication in an ESL class, teachers must be observant to students to ensure that everybody is involved and participative so that an effective negotiated communication process can be achieved.

Group interaction, which is always present in an ESL class, needs to be carefully planned by the teacher include activities for a two-way or multi-way exchange of information. Thus, the teacher’s role and behavior are critical not only in providing students with access to grammatical input but also in setting up the condition for successful second-language acquisition in the classroom.