ENGLISH LEARNERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF ORAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN A SAUDI HIGHER EDUCATION CONTEXT

Abstract

This M.A. thesis research investigates the use of oral communication strategies among academic English as foreign language learners at a Saudi University. The research aims to identify the types of communication strategies employed by academic learners and the frequency of their use. The study also examines the relationship between the use of these strategies and learners’ English proficiency levels and their academic experience. A total of 155 undergraduate students participated, representing diverse disciplines such as Engineering, Medicine, and Business. Data were collected using Nakatani’s Oral Communication Strategies Inventory (OCSI), a validated tool designed to measure strategies for coping with challenges related to speaking and listening in an additional language. The findings reveal that the most frequently used speaking strategies were nonverbal, negotiation for meaning while speaking, and fluency-oriented strategies while the most common listening strategies were nonverbal, negotiation for meaning while listening, and word-oriented strategies. Although proficiency level and academic experience were not found to be predictors for the use of specific oral communication strategies, there was a significant difference found for one strategy. Low proficiency students relied more on the message abandonment strategy compared to high level ones. These results underscore the importance of developing pedagogical approaches to enhance communicative competence and raise the awareness of using oral communication strategies in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts.