Iranian EFL Learners’ Perception of the use of Communication Strategies and Gender Effect

One of the main factors which enhance learning and teaching a foreign or second language is communication strategies applied by learners in the learning process and instructors in the teaching process. This study investigated the perception of Iranian EFL (English as a foreign language) learners regarding the use of communication strategies in their English learning efforts. The study was also aimed at finding out if gender had an effect on the perception of learners regarding use of communication strategies. To do so, the researchers sampled 60 students and divided them into two groups, control and experimental group. Each group consisted of 30 students (15 males and 15 females). The researcher used Dornyei and Scott’s (1997) inventory of CSs, which was a self-report questionnaire, as a data collection method. After analysing data by running a T-test statistical procedure, it was found that teaching communication strategies had significantly affected perception of the learners who reported more frequent use of communication strategies (mean for control group = 15.69; mean for experimental group = 19.93). Moreover, data analysed using a chisquare depicted that females outperformed males in the application of the communication strategies regardless of the treatment they received. The study indicated that teaching communication strategies to language learners, especially to males, is necessary. In fact, it can help the male learners to communicate more efficiently with their classmates and instructors and enhance their learning.