UCLA

Issues in Applied Linguistics

Title
Communication Strategies: A Psychological Analysis of Second-
Language Use

Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0nm485t0

Journal
Issues in Applied Linguistics, 3(2)

ISSN
1050-4273

Author
Purpura, James E.

Publication Date
1992-12-30

Peer reviewed

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348 Reviews

Communication Strategies: A Psychological Analysis of

Second-Language Use by Ellen Bialystok. Applied Linguistics
Series, D. Crystal and K. Johnson, Eds., Cambridge, MA.: Basil
Blackwell, 1990. vi + 163 pp.

Reviewed by
James E. Purpura
University of California, Los Angeles

Over the past fifteen years, there has been an increased

interest in the cognitive processes which account for how the learner
of a second language (L2) handles conceptual and linguistic input,
how this learner processes this information to allow for intake, and
how the newly-acquired knowledge is used to produce messages in
the L2. Second-language learning strategy research focuses on the
processes and strategies used to perceive, internalize and automatize
new linguistic input, with emphasis on language learning.
Bialystok's work. Communication Strategies, however, differs
from other books on strategy research (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990;
Oxford, 1990; Wenden, 1991) in that it takes a much narrower
focus, concentrating on the processes and strategies a learner
invokes when declarative and procedural knowledge are utilized to
communicate a message. The emphasis of this book is on language
use and the linguistic and cognitive processes involved in
communication. Thus, in providing an in depth analysis of the
processes and strategies used in language production.
Communication Strategies provides a unique contribution to learning
strategy research.
Bialystok's overall goal in Communication Strategies is "to
find a means of explaining how strategies function in the speech of
L2 learners" (p. 13). The book contains a preface, eight chapters,
notes, references and an index. In Chapter 1 Bialystok finds all the
definitions of communication strategies commonly used in strategy
research to be ambiguous. Bialystok also criticizes, although not
explicitly, the undue emphasis in strategy research on definitions
and proposes an approach to investigating communication strategies
which fully incorporates the identification, explanation, and
instruction of communication strategies. The remaining chapters of
the book are organized around these three points. Chapters 2, 3,
and 4 address the question of how to identify and categorize
strategic behavior in the communication of L2 learners. Chapters 5,
 Issues in Applied Linguistics Vol. 3 No. 2 1992 349

6,and 7 explain the processes involved in LI and L2 acquisition and

use and propose a framework for language processing. Finally,
Chapter 8 discusses the pedagogical issues related to communication
strategy instruction.
In Chapter 1 Bialystok criticizes the definitions of
communication strategies used by researchers for their focus on the
features of problematicity, consciousness and intentionality. In her
treatment of these definitions, she highlights their ambiguous nature
such as the fact that (1) learners use communication strategies not
only in problematic situations, but in non-problematic situations as
well; (2) learners might or might not use these strategies
consciously; and (3) these strategies could be invoked with any
degree of intentionality to achieve specific communicative goals.
Instead, Bialystok recommends that we investigate the strategy use
by determining a means to identify and explain strategic behaviors
and by assessing the teachability of these strategies for purposes of
facilitating more effective language learning.
Chapter 2 examines different ways of identifying strategic
behaviors and attempts to clarify the psychological construct of
communication strategy. In this chapter, Bialystok situates
communication strategies within the framework of language use, but
unfortunately makes no attempt to relate language use to a more
general model of communicative competence. Rather, she briefly
describes a hierarchical structure where language use is divided into
processes and strategies and where strategies are further subdivided
into communication and learning strategies. She first discusses the
distinction between strategies and processes and concludes that
"without substantial direction in how to proceed with a distinction
between strategies and process of language production, the
possibility that these are ultimately not different events remains
tenable" (p. 25). She then attempts to differentiate communication
strategies from other types of strategies (e.g., production strategies
(Tarone, 1980), learning strategies (Stern, 1983), and social
strategies (Wong Fillmore, 1979). Bialystok reports on a third
attempt to identify strategic behaviors in communication which
arises from the investigation of systematic differences among
speakers engaged in different types of communication. Here the
manipulation of messages and linguistic forms is studied to
determine to what extent an original message was reduced, deleted,
altered, or avoided. I found Bialystok's attempt to delineate

language use in this chapter somewhat ambiguous. The language

use hierarchy upon which the chapter was based seems to be
inspired by disparate theoretical arguments explaining the construct
350 Reviews

of communication strategies and, in my opinion, the chapter raises

more questions than it answers.
In Chapter 3 Bialystok provides a comprehensive summary of
the major taxonomies used to classify communication strategies
(Tarone, 1977; Varadi, 1980; Bialystok & Frohlich, 1980; Faerch &
Kasper, 1983; Paribakht, 1985). Bialystok notes that researchers
seem to agree on the communicative behaviors used by L2 learner
but asserts that no single specific factor seems to predict the use of
any one strategy. The potential of these taxonomies to describe
strategies is then evaluated in Chapter 4. Here, the author reports on
a study of the strategic behaviors of 18 nine-year-old English-
speaking children learning French. Tarone's taxonomy was used in
this study and Bialystok states that the criteria used to classify
strategic categories were sometimes ambiguous and arbitrary. In
Chapters 3 and 4, Bialystok provides a convincing and insightful
argument illustrating the potential shortcomings of existing
taxonomies, and rightfully concludes that instead of studying
strategies independently through definitions or taxonomies,
strategies should be analyzed within a coherent model of speech
production.
In Chapter 5 Bialystok surveys the research on child and adult
strategy use in LI production and compares this to adult strategy use
in L2 speech. She maintains that the communication problems faced
by children in early phases of acquisition are similar to those
encountered by L2 learners and remarks that aside from the adult's
cognitive conceptual maturity and access to a developed lexicon in
another language, the strategies used by children and adults are
identical. This point, however, seems debatable, if for no other
reason than the comparatively greater variety of strategies used by
adults and the flexibility with which they use them. Furthermore,
this assertion contradicts previous work by Brown, Bransford,
Ferrara, and Campione (1983) who claim that strategic behavior
develops with age. Nonetheless, this point presents an interesting
line of future research to pursue. Finally, Bialystok adds that "there
is no doubt that adults use these strategies more effectively, more
efficiently and more flexibly than children do, but there is no
evidence that the strategies themselves are any different" (p. 101).
In Chapter 6 Bialystok reviews two studies focusing on
children and adults' use of an L2. These studies, she claims, differ
from previous ones in that "the classification [of the L2 utterances]
is based on distinctions between processes" (p. 104). This
reference to "process," however, is the source of considerable
confusion as it is not defined. The only apparent difference between
 Issues in Applied Linguistics Vol. 3 No. 2 1992 351

these studies and the previous ones is that the classifications in the
current studies are not solely generated from observable utterances,
but are structured to require the children to process information on a
metalinguistic level before attempting a task. For example, the first
study investigates the ability of children to construct formal
definitions. Snow and her colleagues (1989) chose this task
because it provided a "decontextualized metalinguistic use of
language" as a process. They found that children could identify and
construct formal definitions as early as age 7. The second study
examined how adults use referential strategies in both their LI and
their L2. The classification of the utterances in this study was
organized according to the production processes speakers use. The
taxonomy emerging from this study consisted of conceptual and
linguistic strategies. The conceptual strategies involved
approximation and circumlocution strategies, while the linguistic
strategies involved borrowing, foreignization, transliteration, and
word coinages. I felt that Chapters 5 and 6 accurately illustrated the
need to go beyond research based on definitions or taxonomies and
demonstrated the explanatory potential of communication strategy
research based on a model of language production as well as on the
definitions and taxonomies.
Bialystok describes her theoretical model of language
acquisition and processing in Chapter 7. In this framework
language proficiency consists of two components of language
processing: the analysis of linguistic knowledge and the control of
linguistic processing. The analysis component refers to how
language knowledge is represented and accessed, while the control
component deals with the executive procedures for performance.
Bialystok applies this framework to communication strategies,
stating that the analysis-based strategy allows the L2 learner to
examine and shape intended meaning, while the control-based
strategy permits the speaker to focus on linguistic form or some
other source of information. I felt that this framework clearly
illustrates the dynamic interaction between these two components
because it reflects the ways all people process language production
when communication requires extension or adaptation. In the case
of children or L2 learners, this production system is often strained
due to an inability to adjust to the communicative event.
Chapter 8 superficially discusses the potential value of
learning and teaching communication strategies. Bialystok presents
a strong view of instruction which maintains that taxonomic listings
can be taught explicitly. In other words, learners can be taught to
paraphrase, to invent new words, and the like. She also discusses
352 Reviews

the moderate view which states that strategies can be presented as

devices to be used in solving communication problems. I felt,
however, that perhaps a more realistic approach to learning and
teaching communication strategies would involve the combination of
both views in accordance with the changing situational demands of
the syllabus.
In sum, despite its shortcomings. Communication Strategies
is an inspiring book for applied linguists who wish to pursue
research in learning or language use strategies. It provides a critical
analysis of research approaches used thus far in investigating
communication strategies and proposes new avenues for further
research by means of an articulated cognitive component. I found
this book to be challenging in places, but a very informative read
indeed. Communication Strategies is an essential source for those
seeking an orientation to the current issues in learner strategies.

REFERENCES

Bialystok, E. & M. (1980). Oral communication strategies for lexical

Frohlich,
difficulties.Interlanguage Studies Bulletin, 5, 3-30.
Brown, A. L., Bransford, J. D., Ferrara, R. A., and Campione, J. C. (1983). Learning,
remembering, and understanding. In J. H. Flavell and M. Markman (Eds.),
Carmichael's manual of child psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 77-166). New York:
Wiley.
Faerch C. & Kasper, G. (1983). Plans and strategies in foreign language
communication. In C. Faerch and G. Kasper (Eds.), Strategies in
interlanguage communication. London, UK: Longman.
O'Malley, M., & Chamot, A. M. (1990). Learning strategies in second language
acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oxford, R. (1990). Language learning stratedies: what every teacher should know.
New York, NY: Newbury House Publishers.
Paribakht, T. (1985). Strategic competence and language proficiency. Applied
Linguistics, 6, 132-146.
Stem, H. H. (1983). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Oxford, UK:
Oxford University Press.
Tarone, E. (1977). Conscious communication strategies in interlanguage. In H.D.
Brown, C.A. Yorio & R.C. Crymes (Eds.). On TESOL Quarterly '77.
Washington. DC: TESOL.
Tarone, E. (1980). Communication strategies, foreigner talk, and repair in
interlanguage. Language Learning, 30, 417-31.
Varadi, T. (1980). Strategies of target language learner communication: message
adjustment. International review of applied linguistics, 18, 59-71.
Wenden, A. (1991). Learner strategies for learner autonomy: planning and
implementing learner training for language learners. New York, NY :

Prentics Hall.
 Issues in Applied Linguistics Vol. 3 No. 2 1992 353

Wong Fillmore, L. (1979). Individual differences in second language acquisition. In

C. J. Fillmore, D. Kempler, and W. S.-Y. Wong (Eds.), Individual
differences in language ability and langauge behavior. New York:
Academic Press.

James E. Purpura is a Ph.D. student in Applied Linguistics at the University

of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include language learning and
test-taking strategies.

Regents of the University of California