Understanding Circumlocution in Communication Strategies and

Its Implication to TEFL

Presented by:

Dian Anggoro Pramesti Eba Utami (NPM 2223042009)

Faiza Istifa Pirka (NPM 2223042018)

Mulia Zalmetri (NPM 2223042011)

MASTER OF ENGLISH EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG

2022
1. INTRODUCTION

Written and spoken language can both be used for communication. Language is
undoubtedly utilized as a tool of communication when people speak to one
another. A system of arbitrary, conventionalized spoken, written, or gestural
symbols is known as language, and it allows members of a certain community to
understand and communicate with one another (Brown, 2000). It implies that
language plays the most significant role in oral communication as a mechanism to
comprehend the message. The speaker must be able to use the language precisely
and correctly to convey the information. Developing students' communicative
competence and having a strong ability to speak in a variety of communicative
situations is the main objective of English language teaching in Indonesia.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Communication Strategies

Increasing their proficiency in communicating in English is a common goal of

EFL students. The ability to communicate effectively requires grammatical,
sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic competency. Communication strategies
can be used to assess strategic competence. Littlemore (2003) claims that people
use a variety of communicative strategies to improve the efficiency of their
communication. When trying to communicate in a second or foreign language
with a limited interlanguage system, individuals use communication strategies.
Dornyei and Scott (1997) define communication strategies as problem-solving
strategies used in foreign language communication that aid learners of foreign or
second languages in overcoming communication challenges.

There are five purposes of communication strategies according to some

researchers. First, communication techniques can help students improve their
communication efficacy (Canale, 1983). Second, speakers and interlocutors can
negotiate meaning by using communication strategies (O'Malley & Chamot,
1990). Third, employing communication strategies can assist you to overcome
barriers to communicating in your target language (Dornyei, 1995). Fourth,
employing communication techniques can assist in resolving problems and
achieving certain communicative objectives (Faerch & Kasper, 1983). Fifth, you
can employ communication techniques to keep the dialogue going (Nakatani,
2006).

From the discussion above, it can be concluded that communication strategies are
the strategies to communicate that non-native speakers of a language should be
familiar with to prevent potential issues when speaking with interlocutors. By
making the students aware of it, students may solve their communication issues
and make a proper decision regarding the communication strategies they should
employ. According to its importance, teachers should introduce communication
strategies to their students because it has an impact on how successfully they can
solve communication issues that arise in everyday life.

2.2 Tarone’s Typology of Communication Strategies

Tarone’s definition of communication strategies, which has been used

productively by many researchers is one that view conscious communication
strategies are used by an individual to overcome a crisis that occurs when
language structures are inadequate to convey the individual’s thought (Tarone,
1980). According to Torone (1978), there are three categories of communication
strategies, namely (1) paraphrasing, (2) transferring, and (3) avoiding.

Paraphrasing are divided into approximation (use of a single target language

vocabulary item or structure, which the learner knows is not correct, but which
shares enough semantic features in common with the desired item to satisfy the
speaker), word coinage (the learner makes up a new word to communicate a
desired concept), circumlocution (the learner describes the characteristics of
elements of the object or action instead of using the appropriate target language
item or structure).

Moreover, transferring are divided into literal translation (the learner translates
word for word from the native language), language switch (the learner uses the
native language term without bothering to translate), appeal for assistance (the
learner asks for the correct term), mime (the learner uses non-verbal strategies in
place of lexical item or action).
Furthermore, avoiding is differentiated into topic avoidance (the learner simply
tries not to talk about concepts for which the TL item or structure is not known),
and message abandonment (the learner begins to talk about a concept but it is
unable to continue and stops in mid-utterance).

In the statements above, Tarone points out that communication strategy is a

systematic attempt by the learners to express or code the meaning in the target
language rules that have not been formatted.

2.3 Factors in the Choice of Strategies

The use of communication strategies affects the result of communication. Four

major effects influence the choice of strategies. They are the effects of proficiency
level, effects of problem source, effects of personality, and effects of the learning
situation.

The effects of proficiency level mean that the proficiency level of participants
influences the choice of strategy. Besides, the effects of problem source mean that
is likely that avoidance depends on the grammatical structure involved. Moreover,
the effect of personality means that the personality factors of the speaker may
highly correlate with the strategy preference. One learner may speak quickly in
retelling a story, whereas another elaborates and appeal for instance. Then, the
effect of the learning situation means that situation can affect the communication
strategies and the type of strategy used. Second language learners will use strategy
less in the classroom than in the natural environment.

2.4 Circumlocution

Circumlocution is a communication strategy that can be simply defined as using a

description of an object, concept, place, or action in place of the target vocabulary
when the target vocabulary is not known.

Circumlocution is defined by Hedge (2000) as “Knowing how to use different

kinds of strategies to express something when language resources are lacking”. As
circumlocution allows language learners to communicate semantic content that is
beyond their current linguistic knowledge, its value as a tool for functional.
2.5 The Implication Circumlocution in TEFL
Examples of phrases are as follows:

"This is something for ..."

"This is a place where ..."

"This is an animal that has ..."

"This is the opposite of ..."

"It is similar to ..." and

"This is a person who...", should be presented so that students can use words to
derive the names of common objects, activities, and so on by completing the
given structure with their vocabulary. After being shown how the learner is
usually able to come up with a description such as:

“This is an animal from Komodo Island”.

This is an animal that has a long nose and big ears”, to get an elephant.
Moreover, the following are activities that meet the above criteria as fluency
development activities; the learner must first have a good knowledge of the
language needed to complete the task successfully.

Guess the word

In this activity, each student in pairs has a worksheet with a different set of words.
First, Student A has two minutes to use convoluted sentences to help Student B
guess the word. Word order is up to the student. They are free to choose words
that seem easy. They have to keep track of how many words they managed to get
and how many (if any) they are forced to give up. After two minutes, the teacher
can ask students to count how many words their partner can guess. This gives the
activity a competitive aspect that encourages students to perform at a faster pace
than usual. Teachers can also ask which words are difficult, providing an
opportunity to focus on form, with the teacher introducing or reinforcing language
structures to the class as needed. The same process is then repeated for Student
B's turn. After Student B has finished, students can then rotate and make new
pairs in turn.

CONCLUSION

Based on the discussion above, communication strategy is one of the important

elements in teaching and learning English. Circumlocution is part of a
communication strategy that allows learners to elaborate their ideas with longer
utterances and this kind of communication strategy is used by learners in daily
interactions. Everyday interaction can be called effective when students and
interlocutors understand each other.