Abstract:

This article reports the results of an exploratory study investigating the use of four communication strategies in synchronous written chat and asynchronous threaded discussion. Task-based interactions among 15 Egyptian university learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) were analyzed. The results showed that topic continuation was used in synchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) at a significantly higher rate compared to the significantly low use of hypothesis testing. Several factors were identified as potential reasons for variation in communication strategy use. The data also indicated factors that closely related to low interactivity in asynchronous CMC. The findings of the study suggest that the nature of communication strategies, the nature of medium type, and/or intra-/interpersonal factors may (de-)activate communication strategy use. The study highlights the importance of studying learner interactions with a problem-free lens, focusing more on EFL learners' communicative successes than their linguistic and communicative deficiencies. The article concludes that further investigation is needed to study how interactivity relates to communication strategies, medium types, medium preferences, intra-/interpersonal factors, and task design.

Author: Hanaa Khamis