The Impact of Compensation Strategies on Learners’ Speaking Skill.

Abstract

The majority of foreign language learners encounter various speaking difficulties. To some extent, what these learners need is to develop some communicative strategies that can help them to solve their problems in actual classroom oral performance. This study attempted to identify the commonly used compensation strategies among Master one learners in the department of English at Guelma University to enhance their oral production. Hence, the present research hypothesized that compensation strategies would help learners to enhance their speaking skill. To carry out this research and to test the anticipated hypothesis, this paper followed a quantitative descriptive method in which a structured questionnaire and observation have been organized to collect the necessary data. Both the two procedures are based on Oxford’s (1990) typology of compensation strategies. The findings from the analysis of data gathered provided evidences that confirm to a certain extent the positive impact of compensation strategies use on learners’ oral performance. The main conclusion is that master one learners tend to utilize some types of these strategies to communicate their ideas. Besides, based on the findings, this study recommends some suggestions for students that may aid them to enhance their speaking skill.