Estratégias de comunicação na interlíngua de aprendizes de inglês como língua estrangeira

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and describe the use of Communication Strategies in texts written by university-level Brazilian English learners as a foreign language in the classroom. Based on the results of the proficiency test Pre-TOEFL – section 2, and on the answers to the self-report questionnaire, adapted from Seliger’s LCP questionnaire (1977) and Freed et al. (2004) extended version, we draw the participants’ profile in relation to the Learning Context. All data relating to Communication Strategies were collected by means of three sessions of English writing. The study thus investigated 1) the relation between proficiency level and the use of different types of Communication Strategies; 2) the way proficiency level impacts on the frequency of Communication Strategies use by the participants; 3) the influence of Learning Context on the use of Communication Strategies, and their use frequency. We adopted the theoretical-methodological framework of Communication Strategies in L2 within a psycholinguistic perspective (FAERCH; KASPER, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987) in dialogue with the studies focusing the Learning Context (DEKEYSER, 1991; LAFFORD, 1995; WOOD 2001; TOWELL 2002, 2012; LAFFORD, 2004, 2006; SEGALOWITZ; FREED, 2008; SERRANO et al., 2011) as theoretical background to analyze our research data. Furthermore, in order to elicit the data, the research employed the Introspective Method (RAPAUCH, 1983; ERICSSON; SIMON, 1984; GASS; MACKEY, 2000), to investigate the processes underlying the use of Communication Strategies. We found a narrow relation between the types of Communication Strategies and the frequency in which they are used, both in the proficiency level and in the Learning Context. We have come to the conclusion that both groups proved to rely on the mother tongue as a way to make up for their limited resources in English. Lexical and grammatical difficulties on the part of the participants were responsible for their strategic behavior within their communicative limitations. The low frequency of strategies based on the interlanguage appears to be related to the use of these strategic mechanisms as well as to the proficiency level of the participants. The data also revealed the learning context was more determining, regardless the category of communication strategy, on the most proficient group.