Overcoming vocabulary deficiencies in oral commnication. Training EFL students in the use of circumlocution

Abstract

The present article reports on a study carried out among Spanish students of English as a Foreign Language that made use of circumlocution and other compensatory strategies to overcome vocabulary deficiencies in oral communication. The study focuses on the role of foreign language classroom instruction and the effectiveness of an explicit teaching of circumlocution to improve learners’ fluency and ability to face unknown lexical items when performing speaking activities. Besides, the types of circumlocutions, structures and alternative strategies are analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of the learning process of compensatory strategies. According to the results, this kind of strategies proved to be a useful and effective means of keeping the flow of conversation and coping with problematic vocabulary but short time and punctual training seems to have little effect on the quality of the circumlocutions produced or the avoidance of less desirable strategies such as abandonment or code-switching. From these findings, some pedagogical recommendations can be made with the aim of improving the teaching of compensatory strategies