An Interactional Study in Spoken English Communication -Relationship between Communicative Competence and Communication Strategy

外语学习者，无论他/她是说话者还是听话者，都在努力分享原意。译码过程通常被分析为图式知识、语境知识和系统知识。然而，这种对组件的静态分类并不能揭示我们交流的动态本质。此外，在实际的交际中，解码过程不是一个孤立的活动，而是交互和协作地进行的。在这项研究中，我们关注的是学习者作为听者在解读话语时如何努力推断陌生词的意义，以及学习者作为交际者是如何努力传达原意的。根据听力理解的实验，在日语学习者中，语音变化造成的困难排序如下：省略；同化和链接。为了能够利用语境线索来提高听觉理解能力，需要达到一定的英语熟练程度。在交际互动领域，基于长期数据的定性和定量分析表明，母语和非母语参与者在解决问题时都使用了最有效的交际策略，并遵循“最小合作努力原则”。为了便于对话者理解，本族语者尤其使用了各种积极的策略，特别是检查对话者的背景知识和突出背景知识的策略。从上述结果可以看出，在澄清策略的有效使用方面取得了显著的进展，尤其是语境和互动线索。这些策略构成了一门外语的宝贵的策略能力，并极大地有助于跨文化交际的成功管理。

The foreign language learner, whether he/she is the speaker or listener, is struggling to share the meaning originally intended. The decoding process is normally analyzed into schematic knowledge, contextual knowledge and systemic knowledge. However, such a static classification into components does not reveal the dynamic nature of our communication. Moreover, in actual communication a decoding process is not an isolated activity, but is performed interactively and collaboratively. In this research we have focused on how the learner, as a listener, strives to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word when decoding an utterance, and how the learner, as a communicator, struggles to convey the intended meaning.According to the experiments in listening comprehension, difficulties caused by sound changes were ranked in the following order among Japanese learners : elision> assimilation > linking. In order to be able to exploit contextual clues to enhance auditory comprehension, a certain threshold of English proficiency was required. A similar threshold was also found to exist in inferring the meaning of unknown words.In the area of communicative interaction, qualitative as well as quantitative analyses based on the long-term data indicated that both native and non-native participants used the most effective communication strategies in problem solving, observing the "principle of least collaboration effort." In order to facilitate the interlocutor's understanding, native speakers in particular used a variety of active strategies, especially those for checking the interlocutor's background knowledge and foregrounding it.From the above-mentioned results, we can conclude that significant progress was made in clarifying the effective use of strategies, especially contextual and interactive clues. Such strategies constitute valuable strategic competence in a foreign language and greatly contribute to the successful management of intercultural communication.