[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-594303-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":79,"doc-detail-594303-en":129},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":72,"head_meta":74,"extra_data":76,"updated_unix":78},105,"en","perceptions-of-how-foreign-language-instructional-strategies-may-enhance-adult-learners-speaking-skills","Perceptions of how foreign language instructional strategies may enhance adult learners’ speaking skills","","A qualitative action research study examines how compensation and related oral conversation strategies influence adult learners’ speaking skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). After analyzing college students’ oral performance, the study targets poor speaking ability that affects exit examinations and degree opportunities. A purposive sample of 20 intermediate learners used circumlocution, approximation, coining words, and self-repetition, with data from journals and semi-structured interviews analyzed via thematic analysis in MAXQDA. Results show gains in grammatical accuracy, fluency, and motivation, reduced affective filter, no effect on level-appropriate vocabulary, and coining words as least influential.",{"@graph":14,"@context":71},[15,34,54],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/perceptions-of-how-foreign-language-instructional-strategies-may-enhance-adult-learners-speaking-skills/594303/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":48,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":49,"interactionStatistic":50},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/perceptions-of-how-foreign-language-instructional-strategies-may-enhance-adult-learners-speaking-skills/594303.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Kurz","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":51,"interactionType":52,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":53},"ViewAction",{"@type":55,"mainEntity":56},"FAQPage",[57,63,67],{"name":58,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":60},"What problem does the study focus on regarding adult EFL learners?","Question",{"text":61,"@type":62},"Many adult learners exhibit poor oral English communication skills, which negatively affect exit examinations and degree opportunities.","Answer",{"name":64,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":65},"Which compensation strategies were taught to learners?",{"text":66,"@type":62},"Learners were taught circumlocution, approximation, coining words, and self-repetition to prevent communication breakdowns caused by knowledge gaps.",{"name":68,"@type":59,"acceptedAnswer":69},"What were the main findings about the impact of these strategies?",{"text":70,"@type":62},"Compensatory strategies supported improvements in grammatical accuracy, fluency, and language learning motivation, helped reduce the affective filter, and coining words had the least influence; strategies did not affect the use of level-appropriate vocabulary.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":73,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":75,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":77,"site_id":7},594303,1792078903,{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":81},"success",[82,86,90,94,99,104,109,113,118,121,125],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":83,"show_sort_weight":84,"slug":85},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":87,"show_sort_weight":88,"slug":89},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":91,"show_sort_weight":92,"slug":93},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":95,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},8,30,"research-report",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":120},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":122,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":124},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":127,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":128},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":80,"data":130},{"doc_id":77,"user_id":131,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":110,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":138,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":78,"read_time":143},2336478945635,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics ISSN 2209-0959  \n[https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/](https://www.castledown.com/journals/ajal/)  \nAustralian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8 (3), 102574 (2025)  \n[https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v8n3.102574](https://doi.org/10.29140/ajal.v8n3.102574)  \nPerceptions of how foreign language instructional strategies may enhance adult learners’ speaking skills  \nAKEEM ALPHANSO NASHa   \nODILIA RAMIREZ CONTRERASb   \naCorporación Universitaria del Caribe—CECAR, Colombia  \nbUniversidad de Caldas – Institución EducativaAtanasio Girardot, Colombia  \nAbstract  \nThis article reports a qualitative action research study regarding the influence of strategies that may be used in oral conversation to avoid communication breakdowns. After analyzing college students’ performance in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes, the problem was that many adult learners exhibited poor oral English communication skills, which negatively affected their exit examinations and opportunities to earn a degree. Grounded in sociocultural and cognitive load theories, the purpose of this study was to explore adult learners’ perceptions at a private university in Northern Colombia regarding the influence of compensation strategies on their English-speaking skills. A purposive sample of 20 intermediate-level students was taught how to use circumlocution, approximation, coining words, and self-repetition to preclude communication breakdown caused by knowledge gaps. Data collection instruments included journal entries and transcriptions from semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis aided by MAXQDA. The analysis discovered that compensatory strategies supported the enhancement of students’ grammatical accuracy, fluency, and language learning motivation. Findings also showed that compensatory strategies did not influence the use of level appropriate vocabulary, and coining words was the least influential strategy. However, introducing the strategies helped reduce students’ affective filter and boost their speaking performance. As a pedagogical implication, teachers should facilitate the intentional integration of compensation strategies to scaffold adult learners’ confident and fluent communication.  \nKeywords: approximation, circumlocution, coining words, compensation strategies, EFL, self-repetition  \nIntroduction  \nInterpersonal communication is central to human existence and critical to language learning and instruction (Bachelor, 2023; Ostovar-Namaghi et al., 2022) . Communication is the primary goal of human interaction, the act of conveying information (Putri, 2013), and “a mode of the imparting or exchanging of messages by speaking, writing, or using some other medium”(Reddy & Gupta, 2020, p. 3793). Failing to impart or exchange an intended message results in poor communication (Chand, 2021), which may lead to varied outcomes. In foreign language education, teaching and learning non-native languages occurs in environments where they are not commonly spoken (Saud, 2019) . A less inconsequential outcome of poor student communication in a foreign language could be delayed response. Meanwhile, a more serious outcome may manifest as low exam scores, course failure, and even missed career opportunities.  \nPoor communication may occur due to linguistic incapabilities or non-verbal challenges (Syafryadin et al., 2020) . When a communication breakdown is imminent, new or basic language speakers may resort to partial messaging avoidance by switching to their first language or adjusting the message to compensate for their language deficits (Oxford, 1990) . In this sense, compensation strategies maybe used to avert communication breakdowns—the partial or absolute failure to impart information (Rubis & Dumlao, 2013; Shofiya & Basuni, 2023) . Resorting to alternatives that enable language users to compensate for a linguistic gap and communicate an intended message implies that, for some foreig","cbCaijugDDUHD87Q","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijugDDUHD87Q","pdf",348407,18,"English","# Introduction\n## Compensation Strategies as Mediation","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the study focus on regarding adult EFL learners?\",\"answer\":\"Many adult learners exhibit poor oral English communication skills, which negatively affect exit examinations and degree opportunities.\"},{\"question\":\"Which compensation strategies were taught to learners?\",\"answer\":\"Learners were taught circumlocution, approximation, coining words, and self-repetition to prevent communication breakdowns caused by knowledge gaps.\"},{\"question\":\"What were the main findings about the impact of these strategies?\",\"answer\":\"Compensatory strategies supported improvements in grammatical accuracy, fluency, and language learning motivation, helped reduce the affective filter, and coining words had the least influence; strategies did not affect the use of level-appropriate vocabulary.\"}]","Perceptions of how foreign language instructional strategies may enhance adult learners’ speaking skills | PDF",45]