An Exploration of EFL Teachers' Perceptions of the Teaching of Communication Strategies

This thesis is a study of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ perceptions of the teaching of communication strategies in some universities in the United Kingdom. This is an exploration to understand how EFL teachers perceive the idea of teaching communication strategies in their classrooms. The relevant literature suggests that there are contrasting points of view among researchers about the pedagogical effectiveness of the teaching of communication strategies. Consequently, the focus of this research is to look at the current EFL teachers’ perceptions and experiences of teaching communication strategies. The participants of this study were thirteen EFL teachers from two universities in the United Kingdom. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were the main methods used to elicit teachers’ views and experiences on teaching communication strategies. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) with the assistance of the NVIVO computer software. The findings of this study revealed that EFL teachers in some universities in the United Kingdom recommend and support the teaching of communication strategies. I also found out that students are becoming more dependent on their electronic devices and especially the translation applications installed on their mobile phones to help them search for the meaning of the vocabulary which they do not know. This issue intensified the teachers’ concerns about their students learning. This study also revealed that culture has an important role in the teaching and learning of communication strategies. This thesis argues that the teaching of communication strategies can be pedagogically effective to learners. It also suggests further research into the impact of the use of technology on learners’ communication strategies in the classroom.