Abstract:
This study investigates the relationship between extraversion/introversionpersonality dimension and the use of strategic competence (SC) in oral referential communication by Iranian EFL learners. Referential communication refers to a kind of guided communication in which the referents (or topics) are given to the speakers to convey their meanings to the listeners. 50 sophomore English students of Arak University (in Iran) were selected from among 70 ones to participate in this study. Using the Persian restandardized version of the adult EPQ (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, 1975) the subjects were divided into two groups of extravert and introvert. The homogeneity of the participants was determined by the Michigan test (1982) at the upper-intermediate level of proficiency. Each individual in the groups was given communicative tasks to communicate orally with a partner while his/her performance was tape-recorded and transcribed for later analyses. Then, the oral performance of the extravert group was compared with that of the introvert group in using compensatory strategies (CSs) in terms of type and frequency as identified by a taxonomy. The results revealed that, as far as total performance is concerned, extravert participants used interactional strategies and a sub-type of linguistic strategies i.e. transliteration significantly more than introvert ones whereas introvert participants used conceptual strategies significantly more than extravert ones. Thus, it can be concluded that the personality trait of extraversion/introversion is associated with L2 learners’ preference in using, at least, some types of CSs in oral referential communication. The findings can have some pedagogical significance.
Machine summary:
"If it becomes clear that personality trait of EXT/INT is associated with L2 learners’ preference for using various types of CSs in oral (referential) communication, then the findings of this study may have some pedagogical significance: the findings may suggest some information and guidelines for providing appropriate communicative tasks and helping L2 learners develop their strategic competence in oral communication.
As far as the psychological characteristics of extravert participants are concerned, because extravert participants talk more, and they are good at interpreting body language and facial expressions (Taylor, 1998), therefore, they are likely to use self- repetition (as a sub-type of interactional strategies) more than introvert participants in oral communication.
, 1994), it creates more meaningful and communicative situations for the speakers of L1 and L2 than other contexts (Ahmadian, 1995) and it motivates individuals to express their experiences (Lantolf, 2006; Stinson, 2008), thus, it may have been that it draws more on interactional strategies than other strategies, and consequently, extravert participants due to their higher interpersonal communication abilities or "positive interpersonal awareness" (Brislin & Yoshida, 1994:30-31), used more interactional strategies (comprehension check and confirmation check) than introvert participants in performing the given task.
It was discussed that a more practical approach to second /foreign language teaching is to develop the L2 learners’ SC and their ability to use CSs in order to solve their communication problems (Widdowson, 1990; Kasper and Kellerman, 1997; Omaggio Hadley, 2003; Lantolf, 2006).
Moreover, teachers can group students based on their personality traits, give them appropriate communicative tasks in actual classroom activities, and teach extravert and introvert learners how to use different strategies to achieve their communicative goals, and thereby to develop their speaking skills, and hopefully their writing skills as well."