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

外语学习者，无论他/她是说话者还是倾听者，都在努力分享最初想要表达的意思。解码过程通常分为图式知识、语境知识和系统知识。然而，这种静态的成分分类并不能揭示我们交流的动态本质。此外，在实际通信中，解码过程不是一个孤立的活动，而是交互和协作地执行的。本研究主要探讨了学习者作为听话者在解读话语时如何努力推断不熟悉的单词的意义，以及学习者作为交际者如何努力传达其意图。根据听力理解实验，日语学习者在听力理解中因音变而产生的困难依次为：省略>同化>连接。为了能够利用语境线索来提高听力理解，需要一定的英语水平门槛。在交际互动方面，基于长期数据的定性和定量分析表明，无论是本族语参与者还是非本族语参与者，在解决问题时都使用了最有效的交际策略，遵守“最小合作努力原则”。“为了促进对话者的理解，本族语者尤其使用了各种积极策略，尤其是检查对话者背景知识和将其前景化的策略。从上述结果可以看出，在阐明策略的有效使用，尤其是语境和互动线索方面取得了重大进展。这些策略构成了外语学习中宝贵的策略能力，对跨文化交际的成功管理有很大的贡献。

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.