Who is this for?

This leaflet is for anyone who is thinking about ways of dealing with some of the problems that arise when using spoken English.

The aim of this leaflet

This advice sheet offers some tips (sometimes called ‘compensation strategies’) which may help you overcome two of the most common problems learners face when using spoken English: 1) Following other speakers; and 2) Expressing yourself when you don’t have the ‘exact’ words

Following other speakers

During a conversation, many learners of English find it difficult to follow other speakers. Learners generally feel that this is due to the speakers’ natural (often considered too fast) speaking speed and/or their use of some unfamiliar vocabulary. The following strategies are useful in dealing with these problems:

• Guessing
  Good learners and even native speakers use guessing when they haven’t heard or understood something well enough, when they don’t know a new word, or when they suspect that there is meaning hidden ‘between the lines’. Guessing is sometimes also called ‘inferencing’.
  
  When trying to follow a conversation, you can use two different types of ‘clues’ to help you make guesses – ‘linguistic’ (language) and ‘other’ clues.

1. Linguistic clues
   These are language-based clues. For example, you may guess the meaning of an unknown word from its context in a sentence (found amongst other words that you do know). Similarly, if you are familiar with the topic of a conversation, you might be able to guess a word that you’re not sure you heard properly by thinking about ‘keywords’ associated with the topic. Sometimes unknown words might sound like other words in English or even in another language that you know. You can use this knowledge to guess the meaning of these words.



2. Other clues
   Non-language clues can be of various kinds: knowledge of the conversation situation, of the relationships between the speakers and of the topic, as well as general ‘world knowledge’ can be very valuable in making guesses.
   
   However, perhaps the most valuable clue in communication is non-verbal behaviour. Non-verbal behaviour includes things such as intonation, pitch, gestures, body movements, eye contact and facial expressions. Taking note of non-verbal behaviour is essential in making guesses when following a conversation. You can, for example, usually get a good idea about a person’s feelings from his/her facial expressions. Likewise, intonation is often a good indicator of ‘implicit’ or ‘hidden’ meanings and feelings.

• Taking control of a conversation
  This strategy requires you to be much more active when trying to follow a conversation. Many learners are reluctant to do this. ‘Taking control’ includes using the following ‘sub-strategies’:
  
  • Asking your conversation partner to slow down.
  • Asking for repetition / clarification / verification
  • Using synonyms (similar words) to check your understanding of unknown words
  • Repeating information back to the speaker
  • Giving feedback to show that you understand (or don’t understand) e.g. nodding/shaking your head
  • Summarizing what you have understood to be the key points of a conversation

For a good example of a conversation involving a learner using these kinds of strategies, see the book Learning to Learn English Unit 2.3 (pp.62-63), available on the shelf marked ‘Learning a Language’ in the SAC Multimedia Area.

In this example, Pieter, a learner of English, uses the strategies listed above to take control of the conversation with Jane, a native speaker of English. In order to fully understand Jane, Pieter frequently makes requests such as "Excuse me, could you speak a bit slowly please?", "I’m sorry, but could you say that again, please", "Did you say … or … ?", "Can I repeat what you’ve said?", "19 or 90?" etc. These kinds of expressions are fairly easy to learn but very effective for taking control of a conversation. Ask yourself ‘Do I often use these expressions in conversation?’

Expressing yourself when you don’t have the ‘exact’ words

Many learners feel they don’t have enough vocabulary to express themselves fully or completely clearly in English. The following strategies could be useful for you in dealing with this problem:

• Avoiding communication partially (or totally)
  While we don’t really recommend that you completely avoid communication because you’re afraid that your vocabulary is inadequate, sometimes it might be necessary to just listen (and pay careful attention) when a conversation is on a topic that is unfamiliar to you. If you’re very brave, another strategy is to try to change the topic of the conversation to one that you are familiar with. The following strategies may, however, be of greater use to you.


• Adjusting or approximating the message
  This means altering what you want to say slightly by omitting some items of information, making ideas simpler or less precise, or saying something slightly different that means almost the same thing. Imagine, for example, that you wanted to borrow a pen from somebody but forgot the word ‘pen’. Would asking for a ‘pencil’ (instead of a ‘pen’) affect your message very significantly? In this situation, another strategy would be to ask for ‘something used for writing’. This practice of using a number of words to replace a single (forgotten/unknown) word is called ‘circumlocution’ and is a very important compensation strategy.


• ‘Coining’ new words
  This strategy is somewhat similar to the one above. Quite often when learners are trying to make do with the language they have and carry on with a conversation, they will invent new words. Here are a couple of examples: Wordbook for ‘dictionary’, Moving stairs for ‘escalator’. Using these new 'coined' words in place of the unknown words would not affect your message very much.

In fact, native speakers coin new words a lot too, especially when referring to new ideas and concepts or the latest developments in technology. This is part of the natural development of a language.

• Getting help
  Sometimes when you can’t think of the word(s) for expressing your ideas, you need to get help from your conversation partner(s). For example, you may ask them to provide you with a word in English by asking for a translation of a mother-tongue word (assuming that they can speak your mother tongue). Another commonly used way of getting the word you need is physically pointing to the object you mean or miming (using gestures) to indicate meaning. Don’t be afraid to use a few drama techniques when you’re speaking.

Over to you…

The strategies listed above are recommended for dealing with problems that arise in conversation. Why not try one/some of them next time you encounter problems using spoken English? There are, of course, many other strategies you could use and it’s important that you ‘experiment’ and find the right ones for you. We hope that equipped with these strategies, you will feel more confident and ready to create opportunities for practising and developing your speaking skills (see S2, Creating Practice Opportunities).

And Now...

Please remember that although these strategies will help you feel more confident about your speaking, all learners sometimes need help or advice, so please use the SAC advisers - we are here to support your learning! To contact us:

• see an Adviser, on duty at the SAC Advice Desk (for details of advisers and their availability, please go to http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/sacadviser.html)
• e-mail lcsac (lccommons@ust.hk) with your query;
• ask at the reception counter of the SAC — if the receptionist cannot help you directly, s/he will pass your query on to one of the SAC advisers

Note This is part of a series of introductory leaflets supporting independent language learning produced by the HKUST Language Center SAC team. This leaflet was re-written by Melissa Megan, 2001. If you copy from this leaflet, please acknowledge the source. Thanks.