An Investigation into EFL Algerian Students’ Communication Strategies

The present study investigated the use of communication strategies of 118 Algerian University majors at the department of English at Badji Mokhtar University in relation to gender, years of study, ability and proficiency level as variables. Strategy use was assessed through a self-reported questionnaire based mainly on Oxford’s (1990) Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and level of proficiency was determined by the number of years of English study. Various analyses were then administered to see to what extent earlier studies could be generalized. The major finding was that English language majors’ use of communication strategies is at a medium level; code modification strategies were found to be the most used strategies and physical communication strategies the least used ones. It also appeared that each of the independent variables (gender, years of study, ability and proficiency level) had a significant relationship with students’ use of communication strategies (CSs).