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ELT FORUM 10 (3) (2021) 

 

Journal of English Language Teaching 

 
http://journal.unnes.ac.id/sju/index.php/elt 

 

 

Exploring the oral communication strategies used in online classroom discussion  

 

Richard E. Parcon1, Zenaida Q. Reyes2 
 
1Tañong High School, DepEd Marikina Philippines 
2Philippine Normal University, Manila Philippines 

 

Article Info 
________________ 
Article History: 
Received on 6 June 
2021 

Approved on 9 
September 2021 
Published on 24 
November 2021 

________________ 
Keywords: 
Oral Communication 
Strategies; classroom 
discussion; 
communication 
problems; English 
Language 
____________________ 

 

 

 

 

 

Abstract 
____________________________________________________________________ 

This study explored the oral communication strategies used by grade 12 students in online 
classroom discussion. In specific, it dealt with the following research objectives: 

identifying the types of oral communication strategies used by the students during online 
classroom discussion and determining the factors that influenced the grade 12 students in 

using specific types of oral communication strategies. Using content analysis, the 

recorded discussion in an online classroom, particularly the responses of the students, 
were transcribed, analyzed, and interpreted. A semi-structured interview was conducted 

to determine the factors that influenced the students in using the specific type of oral 
communication strategies. Thus, the triangulation method was used. The findings of this 

study revealed that 18 out 34 oral communication strategies in Dornyei and Scott (1997)’s 
taxonomy of oral communication strategies was evidently implemented during online 

classroom discussion. The lack of linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and structure of 

English language), and the lack of confidence in using English language during online 
classroom discussion, combined with the inability to grasp ideas, experiencing speaking 

anxiety, and other external factors such as having a poor internet connection and the 
choice of language used by the teacher during online classroom discussion, were the 

factors that influenced the students in using oral communication strategies during online 
classroom discussion.

  
Correspondence Address: p-ISSN 2252-6706 | e-ISSN 2721-4532 

Tañong High School, DepEd Marikina  

NCR, Philippines, 1802  

E-mail: richardparcon04@gmail.com  

http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1333515478&1&&
http://issn.pdii.lipi.go.id/issn.cgi?daftar&1576658845&1&&


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INTRODUCTION 

Learning the target or second language consists of using it in written and in spoken forms. Students who 

learn English are sometimes put in a particular situation or context in which they are required to speak the 

target the language. But, nowadays, focusing on using English in spoken form has become more in demand 

because of globalization (Hardianati, 2016). Mirazaei and Heidari (2012) stated that speaking English 

language is considered as one of the main goals of most L2 learners. However, communicating orally using 

English language is considered as one of the crucial skills that students need to learn to use it naturally 

(Crystal, 2003). Rabahbah (2015) stated some of the problems mentioned in learning spoken English, one of 

them is schools are not taking into consideration the level of language proficiency of the students, and they 

fail to construct enough opportunities for language used and interaction inside the classroom. Khadidja 

(2010) also added that learner’s lack of grammar and vocabulary resulted in difficulties in expressing what 

they want to say. Moreover, the problem in oral English proficiency can also be associated with learner’s 

restricted opportunities to use the language they are learning.  It is mainly due to the glitch of school’s 

curriculum program (Ella & Dapudong, 2014). Zhang (2007) cited in the paper of Gan (2017), discussed 

that oral Communication skills such as speaking and listening are always regarded as difficult and frustrating 

for most of the students to practice in their classroom, and even in some places that require oral 

communication skills. It could be concluded that the main reason is that learners face communication 

anxiety and lexical insufficiency.  

In order to overcome those aforementioned problems, learners require not only the linguistic 

competence and other type of skills in the target language but also communication strategies to produce a 

smooth flow of conversation. Strategic Competence in the paper of Widiarini (2019), is a verbal and non-

verbal strategies which may considered as an alternative or action for failure in communication because of 

insufficient knowledge in some competencies (p.68). Moreover, Abdelati (2019) stated that communication 

strategies may provide assistance to the students to proceed in their discourse and give them an opportunity 

to construct new attention. In addition, Faerch and Kasper (1983) stated that communication strategies 

could possibly be utilized to resolve some difficulties encountered by the students in using English language 

in the classroom. Faucette (2001) defined communication strategies in her article as the ways where learners 

or speakers control to improve a gap (specifically, struggle to use proper expression or grammatical 

construction when attempting to speak English) between a person’s attempt to communicate and his/her 

direct access to the linguistic resources. Moreover, Nakatani and Goh (2011) in the paper of Gan (2017) 

defined communication strategies as student’s pursuit to overcome difficulties in order to attain 

communicative goals. Therefore, communication strategy performs a vital role to assist the learners in 

enhancing their language to achieve their communicative goals. 

Several studies conducted regarding the use of Oral Communication strategies in classroom 

interaction such as Dideriksen et al. (2019) studied the contextualization of conversational strategies with 

the used of mixed-method approach, they focused on two contrasting contexts: the spontaneously occurring 

conversation (SOC) and tasked-oriented conversation. In the end, they found out that a spontaneous 

conversation indicated an increase in the number of backchannels, a reduced and more generic repair format 

as well as the higher rates of lexical and syntactic alignment. While TOC described as higher number of 

specific repair but lower rate in terms of lexical and syntactic alignment. These findings indicate that 

conversational strategies suit to contextual demands. Using the quantitative dominant mix-method 

triangulation design in their study regarding oral communication strategies used by Turkish EFL learners, 

Demir et al. (2018) revealed that participants anticipated to utilize oral communication strategies to some 

duration with bargaining for meaning as the first priority. Moreover, participants stated that they utilized 

communication strategies primarily for communication-bound reasons. Rastegar and Gohari (2016) 

investigated the communication strategies, attitude, and oral output of EFL learners and its relation, 

indicated that there was a significant relationship between the subscales of communication strategies utilized 

and the attitude of the students. In the end, the essence of speaking strategy enhancement program in 

student’s education regarding to the learner’s attitude towards language learning and their spoken language 

should not be neglected. In addition, Hardianti (2016) found out in her research regarding oral 

communication strategies in discussion, learners keep on using achievement strategies more often than 

avoidance strategies. Also, among the twelve communication strategies utilized by the learners, the most 

frequently used during the discussion is the filler strategy in making reasons. Moreover, according to the 

result of interview, students are using filler strategy because they do not have sufficient vocabulary and 

content knowledge of topics being discussed. Lastly, learners experience communication difficulties as the 

result of the linguistic insufficiency. Meanwhile, the study about knowledge of grammar and communication 

strategies of Iranian learners found out that both implicit and explicit knowledge of grammar had a greater 

impact on the use of oral communication strategies (Heidari & Alavi, 2015).  



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Hua et al. (2012), studied how and when oral communication strategies are utilized in a classroom 

discussion of interaction students in public university in Malaysia. The most often communication strategy 

employed is the code-switching as interlingual strategy and the least communication strategy used is word 

coinage as interlingual strategy. It also implies that learners should be aware in utilizing communication 

strategies based on their level of proficiency that will ease their communication. Inkaew and Thumawongsa 

(2018) found in their study that the result corresponded to the study conducted by Chuanchasit and Prappah 

(2009) that stated the advanced level of students tended to use risk taking strategies such ascircumlocution 

and clarification request and the beginning level students utilized topic avoidance and body language 

strategies. In terms of implementing communication strategy instruction in the classroom, Lam (2010) 

revealed that communication strategy instruction might influence low-proficiency students than high-

proficiency students in both communication strategy use and performance task implemented in the 

classroom. Linbland (2011) also found out in the study communication strategies in speaking English as a 

foreign language that the frequently used oral communication strategies were pauses, filled, and unfilled. 

She also noted that group activity played a vital role when conducting the assessment. Maldonado (2015) 

also showed the relationship between students’ proficiency level and the communication strategies used by 

the different level of English language learners in oral interaction, In the end, students’ linguistic competence 

is not only connected to the frequency of communication strategies but most likely to the type of 

communication strategies.  

In the study conducted by Manzano (2018) regarding the examination of oral communication 

strategies used by the adult learners in EFL context, revealed four findings. First, the participants’ 

experienced ample amount of communication difficulties as reflected in several gap-makers. Second, 

linguistic errors were flourished in their narrations but were neglected because of their communication goals. 

Third, most of the oral communication strategies were avoidance strategies but, in terms of non-verbal 

communication strategies, achievement strategies were used. The last finding revealed that through 

examining the communication strategies by the participants became a way to new strategies that were 

utilized during story telling. Manzano (2018) also stated that these findings gave new inputs to the existing 

communication strategies utilized by English language learners. Meigouni and Shirkani (2020) implied that 

oral communication strategies were very important in developing student’s self-efficacy beliefs and lower 

their anxiety level. Isa (2017) noted that negotiation meaning and non-verbal strategies were the most 

frequently used communication strategies. In addition, the study of Isa (2017) showed that the most 

frequently showed challenge and solution to the learners had a relationship with lack of vocabulary and how 

to improve it. Meanwhile, the study about communication strategies used in EFL classrooms in Iran 

reflected that the frequency of communication strategies is approximately low compared to other researches 

on students in other contexts. Thus, it can be gleaned that a minimal number of learners could utilized 

conversational strategies for conversation tasks (Nakatani et al., 2012). Furthermore, Pallawa (2013) stated 

in her study that communication strategies could assist the learners to receive  appropriate feedback from 

each other during their performance as well as to overcome the problems in linguistic knowledge of the target 

language.  

The current situation that most countries are facing right now, which is the global pandemic, 

according to Tria (2020), should not hinder the teaching and learning process. In the Philippine settings, 

specifically in Basic Education, the Department of Education through its learning continuity plan suggested 

various learning modalities to cope with this learning challenges in time of pandemic. One of the strategies 

mentioned is synchronous learning. Berry (2017) stated that synchronous learning gave an online learning 

environment which could be a collaborative process between the teacher and the students. It would also 

allow simultaneous discussion and conversation incorporated with online activities. According to Meigouni 

and Shirkhani (2020), just like in classroom conversation or discussion, communication strategies were also 

implemented in synchronous class, particularly in the conversation between the teacher and the students. 

This situation can also be subjected for a study in order to determine the communication strategies used in 

the online class. Based on this empirical observation, the research prompted to conduct the study entitled 

“Exploring Oral Communication Strategies Used in Online Classroom”to investigate the following sub-

problems:  

1. What type of oral communication strategies do students employ in online classroom discussion? 

2. What are the factors that influence the students in using a particular type of oral communication 

strategies during online classroom discussion? 

This study utilized the communication strategies framework by Dornyei and Scott (1997). In the 

context of English as a second language and as a foreign language, the learners usually experience some 

difficulties in various forms of communication either face to face or virtual means of communication. 

Dornyei and Scott (1997) also pointed out that the discrepancy between L2 speakers’ linguistic resources 



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and communication intention led to numerous systematic language phenomena whose main function was 

to control difficulties or communication breakdown. Therefore, communicative strategies perform vital role 

to assist the learners in employing or changing their language to achieve their communicative goals.  

The taxonomy of communication strategy by Dornyei and Scott (1997) was derived from the 

conversation, how to maintain a conversation going, how to end the conversation, and how to patch up 

communication problems as well as comprehension problems (Widiarini, 2019). In addition, this taxonomy 

of communication strategy is based on communication problems, and how the second language learners 

manage those problems identified by Dornyei and Scott (1997). First, the resource deficit- problems in which 

the first or second language-based gaps knowledge inhibiting them from uttering the messages (Khan, 2017). 

Second, the own-performance problems where the speaker has come to realization that verbalized message 

is something incorrectly or partly correct. Third, other-performance problems in which something is 

anticipated as ambiguous in the interlocutor’s speech because it is considered to be incorrect or a result of 

not being able to totally comprehend something. Lastly, the processing time-pressure related problems where 

the second language learners need to take more time to process and plan the second language utterances 

(Widiarini, 2019). Moreover, in order to manage these communication problems, Dornyei and Scott (1997) 

classified the taxonomy of communication strategies into three categories: direct strategies, indirect 

strategies, and interactional strategies. Dornyei and Scott’s taxonomy (1997) can be considered as a 

compilation of most previous works related to problem solving features. There are other additional strategies 

that are paramount to this issue, those are “utilization of similar sounding words” and “mumbling”. In 

conclusion, their taxonomy is considered as a milestone in the far-reaching history of communication 

strategies research. Therefore, this study is anchored with the taxonomy of communication strategies of 

Dornyei and Scott (1997) because the researcher believes that the classification or taxonomy is the 

compilation of the notable framework in the field of communication strategies. The three categories in 

Dornyei and Scott (1997)’s taxonomy of communication strategies, such as direct, indirect, and interactional 

strategies were utilized to identify and classify the types of communication strategies and to determine and 

analyze the communication strategies that works in an online interview task.  

This study would serve as an additional baseline in the voluminous literature regarding 

communication strategies. In addition, it would give an information regarding the type of communication 

strategies that could be used in an online interview task. 

 

METHODS 

Research design 

This study utilized qualitative research design. Qualitative research was chosen in order to explore and 

understand the social phenomenon (Creswell, 2009). Specifically content analysis was utilized to categorize 

the verbal data for the purpose of classification, summarization and tabulation.  

 

 Respondents 

The respondents were the Grade 12 students from 2 sections from Accountancy Business and Management 

Class and 1 class from Technical Vocational Track-Food and Beverages Services of Tañong High School in 

Marikina city. During the observation, students attended their Media and Information Literacy class. The 

table below presented the distribution of respondents according to their track and strand.   

 

Table 1. The distribution of respondents 
Grade and 

Section 

Track and Strand Number of 

Respondents 

Percentage 

12- Honest Academic Track/Accountancy Business and 

Management Strand 

10 27.8 

12- Trustworthy Academic Track/ Accountancy, Business, and 

Management Strand 

15 41.7 

12- Disciplined Technical Vocational Track/Food and Beverages Strand 11 30.6 

Total   36 100 

   

Source of data 

The data utilized in this study was the verbal transcription of the recorded response of the students in the 

interview task recorded via Google Meet application.  

 

Data collection procedure  

In gathering the data, the researcher sought first, the permission from the office of Schools Division 

Superintendent of Division of Marikina to conduct the study. Then, the researcher utilized three (3) days 



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recorded online discussion of Media and Information Literacy class. Each day, they discussed one (1) news 

article regarding legal, ethical, and societal issues in Media and Information, and only the responses of the 

students during the discussion were taken into account. Then, semi-structured interview was conducted to 

obtain the response from the students to determine the factors in using specific oral communication strategies 

during online classroom discussion. The responses of the students were transcribed, analyzed, and 

interpreted. Thus, triangulation method was utilized.  

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

Types of oral communication strategies used in online classroom  

According to Widiarini (2019), language learners commonly experience some problems in various form of 

oral communication either face to face or in virtual communication while using English language. Thus, 

communication strategies play a vital role to facilitate learning. The following tables showed the types of 

oral communication strategies used by the students in online discussion when they encountered 

communication problems such as the lack of resources-related problems, own-performance problems, other 

performance-related problems, and processing time pressure. 

 

Direct strategies 

 

Table 2. Sub-Categories of Oral Communication Strategies under Direct Strategy 
DIRECT STRATEGIES Frequency Percentage Rank 

Resource Deficit-Related Strategies 

1.      Message abandonment 31 31.0 2 

2.      Message reduction 0 0   

3.      Message replacement 5 5.0 3 

4.      Circumlocution 4 4.0 4 

5.      Approximation 3 3.0 5 

6.      Use of all-purpose words 0 0   

7.      Word-coinage 0 0   

8.      Restructuring 2 2.0 6 

9.      Literal translation 5 5.0 4 

10.  Foreign zing 0 0   

11.  Code-Switching 46 46.0 1 

12.  Use of Similar Sounding words 0 0   

13.  Mumbling 0 0   

14.  Omission 0 0   

15.  Retrieval 0 0   

16.  Mime 0 0   

Own-Performance Problem Related Strategies 

1.      Self-rephrasing 2 2.0 7 

2.      Self-repair 2 2.0 7 

Other-Performance Problem Related Strategies 

1.      Other-repair 0 0   

TOTAL 100 100.0   

 

As reflected in the table, there were 9 sub-categories of oral communication strategies under direct 

strategy used by the students during the online classroom discussion when they encountered resource deficit 

problems. Jidong (2011) stated that direct strategies produced an opportunity, convenient, and self-contained 

strategy of obtaining meaning across circumlocution in atoning lack of word specifically in expressing their 

thoughts orally. Code Switching which was used (46) times, followed by message abandonment which was used 

(31) times, and message replacement was used (5) times. Other strategies used by the learners were 

circumlocution, approximation, and literal translation, restructuring, self-rephrasing, and self-repair.  



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Code switching 

It could be gleaned that the most frequently used oral communication strategy was the code-switching. As 

defined code-switching in the paper of Zhou and Wei (2007) as the alternative means of bilinguals in using 

two or more languages.  

 
(R1): “Mark Joseph manage a football program para sa mga batang lansangan” 

(R2): “Based on my understanding, yung football club ay may players na may edad eight to twelve years old” 

(R3): “yung goal ng football program is to enhance the character of batang lansangan in terms of sports” 

 

Based on these transcribed responses of the students, it was evident they used code-switching 

specifically the “taglish” variation (combination of English and Filipino, but the statement dominated by 

Filipino language) in order to answer the questions in their activity orally and express themselves easily. 

This claim was supported by Simon (2001) in which code-switching could be a means of establishing a 

good rapport between the teacher and students since it provided them an opportunity to express themselves. 

Code-switching can be helpful to prevent the risk of misunderstanding among the learners because of L2 

deficiency.  

 
Message abandonment 

Message abandonment which was used (31) times by the respondents during the discussion was defined as 

incomplete sentence (Nakatani et al., 2017). While Khan (2017) stated that message abandonment was 

used when learners wanted to talk but unable to express the meaning of statement because the lack of 

vocabulary and grammar knowledge. The following excerpt showed how the learners used message 

abandonment during online classroom discussion.  

 
(R4): “Mark Joseph Solis manage a football mm…” 

(R5): “The program was created because they were inspired by the uhh...mm..players of South America”  

(R6): “ Also, as stated in the article, more than the skills, their project aim to give these children with opportunities 

for p…….development: 

 

As reflected in their responses, (R4) left his response or message by using fillers, then he went silent 

for almost 5 seconds and responded to the teacher that he would give his answer later. In the case (R5), the 

sentence was uttered almost complete but in the middle of response, a specific descriptive word was left 

unfinished because she did not know the specific term that could possibly best describe the football players. 

The same case occurred to (R6), the student abandoned the words before “development”. In the study of 

Hardianti (2016), these types of responses utilized message abandonment because their vocabulary and 

linguistic knowledge did not help students to respond effectively in the question given by the teacher. 

However, Lin (2011) proved in her study that abandonment strategy was very helpful for learners or even 

speakers who are experiencing communication difficulties. Abandoning words or phrases makes the learners 

or speakers easier to continue talking. 

 
Message replacement 

This sub-category of oral communication strategy under direct strategies described as the process of 

substituting the original message through avoiding specific language structure or topic which is considered 

as problematic. for some cases, it would leave out some predetermined elements because of linguistic 

resources deficiency (Khan, 2017).  

 
“There will always a chance to…………….. a moment to improve lives”  

“The darkest moment in our life reveals the..the..ther…shows our good character” 

 

Based on these excerpts, it could be concluded that responses of the students experienced substitution 

process. In (R7), the students wanted to convey that there would always a chance our lives, but because 

there was a lack of linguistic resources, and the student restated it to “a moment to improve lives”. The same 

as (R8), the student was about to day “the darkest moment in our life reveals the positive traits of 

individuals”, but it was replaced by “show our good character.  

 
Circumlocution 



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Tonyo and Sylvia (2004) mentioned in their article that this strategy was being utilized by the students where 

they described or paraphrased the target object or action. Khan (2007) defined it as the process of 

exemplification, illustration, or description of the target object or action.  

 
(R9): “The survey found that girls spent more time chatting with their friends using their “account” in cellphone 

in sending messages” 

(R10): “Teenagers are displaying sign of addiction in using their gadgets to the point that they are like holding 

or it’s like touching their gadgets in bed”  

(R11): “It is advice to add the stopping or should I say not letting the children to take their gadget in bed” 

 

As reflected in these responses, circumlocution happened when the students were not able to express 

exactly what they wanted to say by describing it using other terms. In (R9), the students used “account in 

cellphone” instead of using “social media account”. While in (R10), instead of using “taking their gadgets 

in bed”, the student described the action by using words such as “like holding or touching gadgets”. 

 
Approximation 

The term approximation is best described as a strategy in which speaker utilized different lexical item or 

related term to convey the meaning of the target single lexical item or a specific word (Widiarini, 2019). The 

following responses showed approximation strategy: 
(R12): “The minors are already addicted in using internet” 

(R13): “It is to believed their device should be strictly monitored”  

(R14): “Because of internet addiction, it affects the style of the youngster”  

 

Based on these responses, it could be gleaned that there was a single-item lexical substitution. (R12) 

used the lexical item “minor” instead of using “youngster” or “teenager”, while in (R13) the word “device” 

was used instead of “gadget” and (R14) used the word style which referred to the behavior of the youngster.  
 

Restructuring 

Restructuring refers to the abandonment of execution of a verbal plan because of language difficulties, by 

dropping the utterance unfinished, and talking to the intended message based on alternative plan (Khan, 

2017).  

 
(R15): “Carbuena was caught in the camera sla…..; Carbuena was caught in the camera hurting MMDA 

traffic aide because of traffic violation.” 

(R16): “The MMDA decided to file a direct ass….case to court; The MMDA traffic aide went to court to file a 

direct assault case to Carbuena”   

 

In these two responses, it could be seen that restructuring process was done when they gave their 

response to the question given by the teacher. In (R14), the first line uttered by the students was dropped 

because of language difficulty (lack of vocabulary) was experienced by the students. Instead of finishing it, 

the students restructured it to a new sentence “Carbuena was caught in the camera hurting the MMDA 

traffic aide because traffic violation”. The same happened to (R15), the statement was also restructured.  

In short, the own-performance problem encountered by the students during online classroom 

discussion. The following sub-classification of direct strategies were used  

 
Self-rephrasing 

Khan (2017) described self-rephrasing as a “repeating term” but not quite as it is by adding something or 

using paraphrasing.  

 
(R17): “Robert Carbuena was labeled in some social media pages as “patayin si Robert Blair Carbuena”; or in 

general, Robert Carbuena was bullied in social media because of what he did.” 

 

Based on this response, it can be gleaned that the student rephrased the statement using a simple term.  

 
Self-repair 

Widiarini (2019) described self-repair as an act of doing a self-initiated correction in one’s own dialogue or 

response.  

 



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(R18): “After seeing the reports and posts in social media, Carbuena felt discomfort and was rushes,  I mean was 

rushed to the hospital”  

(R19): “Some people said that Carbuena who was a bully, now being cyberbullies or cyberbullied 

 

As reflected in these responses, it could be said that students changed a specific word which they felt 

wrong or inappropriate in the sentence, for instance the word “rushes” in (R17) was changed to “rushed” 

because the sentence was in past tense. While in (R18) the word “cyberbullies” was changed to 

“cyberbullied” since the response described the current situation of Carbuena. Thus, self-repair was being 

implemented in this response. 

 

Interactional strategies 

The next category of Oral Communication Strategy (OCS) in the framework of Dornyei and Scott (1997) is 

interactional strategy. As cited by Khan (2017) in the work of Dornyei and Scott (1997) regarding 

interactional strategy, it enables participants to repair the exchange accordingly. This, mutual understanding 

is the purpose of the successful execution of both pair parts of the exchange. The table below which shows 

the sub-categories of OCS under interactional strategy used by learners when they encounter three problems 

during online discussion, namely: resource deficit-related problems, own-performance problem, and other-

performance problem-related strategies.  

 

Table 3 Sub-Categories of OCS under Interactional Strategies 
INTERACTIONAL STRATEGIES Frequency Percentage Rank 

Resource Deficit-Related Strategies 

1.      Appeal for help 10 38.5 1 

Own-Performance Problem 

1.      Comprehension Check 0 0 0 

2.      Own-Accuracy check 0 0 0 

Other-Performance Problem-Related Strategies 

1.      Asking for repetition 2 7.7 4 

2.      Asking for clarification 5 19.2 3 

3.      Asking for confirmation 0 0   

4.      Guessing 1 3.8 5 

5.      Expressing Non-Understanding 8 30.8 2 

6.      Interpretative Summary 0 0 0 

7.      Responses 0 0 0 

TOTAL 26 100   

 

Based on this table, there were five sub-categories of OCS utilized by the students. Appeal for help 

under resource deficit-related strategy was used (10) times, while OCS under other-performance related 

problem strategies, expressing non-understanding was used (8) times, and asking clarification was used (5) 

times. Other OCS used were asking repetition and guessing.  

 
Appeal for help 

Nakatani et al. (2012) mentioned that this strategy was demonstrated either in rising intonation or directly 

or indirectly asking for repetition or help directly or indirectly asking for repetition or help.  

 
(R20): “Mark Joseph is managing a football program for…; Sir, What’s the English of Batang Palaboy?”  

(R21): “The goal of this program is to enhance children’s, I’m not sure if that is the character of the children?” 

(R22): Sir, I think the football program was created after plagiarism issue? (rising intonation)  

 

Based on these responses, it could be reflected that the students used appeal for help strategy. In 

(R20),the form of appealing help made by the students was in a form of asking the English version of the 

Filipino term “Batang Palaboy” which meant “street children”. While in (R21), the students appealed for 

through asking the appropriate word to use in the statement. Lastly, (R22) utilized the confirmation manner 

through raising the intonation when mentioning plagiarism. Thus, it was evident that student asked the 



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assistance of their teacher because they do not really know the exact word or structure to be used in their 

responses.  

 
Expressing non-understanding 

This strategy is used by the speaker if one cannot understand something properly either verbally or non-

verbally (Nakatani et al., 2012).  

 
(R23): “Sorry sir, I did not understand the question” 

(R24): “Pardon sir, I did not get the point of my classmates”  

(R25): “to be honest po there are terms na hindi ko po talaga naintindihan”  

Based on these responses, it could be observed that the students explicitly did not understand the 

question of the teacher, response of their classmates, and the terms in the text used during the discussion.  

 
Asking for repetition 

Khan (2017) cited the description of Scott and Dornyei (1997) about asking repetition in which, this strategy 

is being done when not hearing or understanding something properly.  

 
(R25): “Sir, can you repeat the question?” 

(R26): “I was not able to fully hear the name of the case, is that direct assault?”  

(R27): “Sir, can you speak louder. We did not hear the last part of the question. 

 

As reflected in these responses, it could  be gleaned that the student  asked  to repeat the questions. 

 
Asking for clarification  

It is requesting repetition when not hearing or understanding something properly (Widiarini, 2019).  

 
(R28): “Sir What’s the meaning of redeem?  

(R29): “Sir, may I clarify po; is it okay to use the word gadget” 

 

It can be seen that the responses of the students were asking clarification on a certain point. In (28), 

the student clarified a specific word in the question which was the definition or meaning of “redeem”. While 

in (R29), the student clarified or sought an approval if she could use the word gadget as her response.  

 

Indirect strategies 

Indirect strategies under the OCS framework of Dornyei and Scott (1997) are not strictly problem-solving 

device. They do not actually provide an alternative meaning structure, but rather act as carrier of meaning 

by creating the conditions in attaining the consensus ideas in the conversation. The table below shows the 

sub-categories of OCS under indirect strategies when the students encountered the following problems such 

as resource-deficit related problems, own-performance problem, and other performance-related problem.  

 

Table 4. Sub-categories of OCS under Indirect Strategy 
INDIRECT STRATEGIES Frequency Percentage Rank 

Processing Time Pressure-Related Strategies 

1.      Use of fillers 11 91.7 1 

2.      Repetitions 0 0   

Own-Performance Problem Related Strategies 

1.      Verbal Strategy Markers 1 8 2 

Other-Performance Problem-Related Strategies 

1.      Feigning Understanding 0 0.0 0 

TOTAL 12 100.0   

 

Table 4 shows the sub-category of OCS under indirect strategies used by the students during online 

discussion. The most frequently used OCS was the utilization of fillers which was used (8) times which 

comprised of 91.7% and verbal strategy markers which was used (3) times, comprised of 8%. 

 



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Use of fillers 

A speaker may use filler words to fill pause and to take some time to think (Tonio & Sylvia, 2004). In 

addition, Dornyei and Scott (1997) described the use fillers as a mean to fill pauses, to stall, and to increase 

time in order to keep communication channel open and preserve discourse at times of difficulty.  

 
(R30): “Carabuena was uhmm being bashed in social media” 

(R31): “yeah, actually, he was also ahh ahh being cursed in social media” 

(R32): “well, I think Carabuena apologize on what happened”  

 

In those responses, it can said that the students utilized filler in a form of vocal disinfluence such as 

“uhm” which is evident in (R30) in order to continue what the speaker wants to say. The use of “yeah” and 

“actually” in (R31); and “well” in (R32) at the beginning of the statement to introduce the idea or the proper 

response from the students.  

 
Verbal strategy markers 

These are the verbal markers phrases before or after a strategy to signify that the word or structure does not 

carry the intended meaning perfectly in the second language (Khan, 2017).  

 
(R33): “I forgot the right term, but using gadgets more than a habit is bad”  

 

Based on this response, it could be seen that the students utilized a verbal marking phrase “I forgot 

the right term” before the intended response.  

In accordance to the literature on oral communication strategies that is previously presented, the 

taxonomy of Dornyei and Scott (1997) contains the largest number of communication strategies and it is 

considered as one of the recent taxonomies in the field of oral communication strategies. Based on the 

responses that were explained before, those reflected the three basic categories of OCS of Dornyei and Scott 

(1997)’s taxonomy. It actually helped the students to manage their responses in the conversation and to 

answer the lack of linguistic resources they encountered during the conversation. This idea is supported by 

the claim of Lin (2011), which stated in his study that the direct strategy, indirect strategy, and interactional 

strategy were considered as method of problem-management strategy in communicating to others using L2. 

In addition, it provided an assistance to the non-native speakers in arranging and learning difficult terms in 

L2. Furthermore, Phuong Thao (2018) mentioned that with the understanding of discrepancy between L2 

speakers’ linguistic resources and communicative target, direct strategies, indirect strategies, and 

interactional strategies had become the dominant phenomena of research among other field of linguistics.  

  

Factors that influence the students in using a particular type of oral communication strategies during 

online classroom discussion.  

This portion presents the responses of the students in order to obtain and analyze the reasons or the factors 

considered by the students in using specific type of oral communication strategies.  

 

Lack of linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and structure)  

 

(R1): I used taglish because there are words which I do not really know the English term so that I can 

completely say my response. 

(R2): I wasn’t able to finish the whole sentence in my answer a while ago, because it don’t know the 

appropriate word to be used 

(R3): I’m quite confused on what to use in the sentence either have been or has been 

 

 

Not confident in using English language  

 

(R2): I decided to stop the first message that I uttered because I felt that it has no sense at all. 

(R3): There are words or statement that I uttered which I do not know how use that is why I changed it a 

statement which I was comfortable to use 

(R4): I just described the word I that I was about to use a while ago because I felt pressured, probably because all 

my classmates were listening attentively a while ago. 

 



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Based on these responses, it could be gleaned that each student had his/her own reason in using 

certain type of oral communication strategy. In (R1), it was clearly stated by the student that she used 

“taglish” because of lack of vocabulary in L2, then she continued answering the given questions. This 

response is parallel to the description of code-switching by Zion & Wei (2017) as the alternative means of 

bilinguals in using two or more languages to bridge the linguistic gap between L1 and L2. Based on the 

observation made in (R2), it was known that the reason of the student was quite similar to the process of 

using message abandonment strategy. Khan (2017), emphasized that speakers who were using message 

abandonment when they were unable to express the meaning of their own statement because the of lack 

vocabulary and grammar knowledge. In the case of (R3), it could be gleaned that the student’s response was 

the same as what Dornyei and Scott (1997) described regarding message replacement, which was to 

substitute the original message by avoiding specific term/structure or topic which is that was quite 

problematic.  

 

Non-understanding of ideas 

 

(R5): “Honestly, I really don’t know the English term for “Batang Palaboy” that’s why I asked you sir its 

English term” 

(R6): “I decided not to answer the question and directly told you, that I do not know the answer”  

 

External factors  

 

(R7): “I was not able to hear the question probably because of poor internet connection, so I asked you (sir) to 

repeat the question”  

(R8): “Headset is not working properly that is why I was not able to hear the question properly” 

(R8): “there are words you used (sir) in your question which I did not understand that’s why I wasn’t able to 

fully uttered my response in your question” 

 

In this set of responses, (R5) expressed that he really did not know the English term for “Batang 

Palaboy”, that was why he demonstrated the gesture of asking for assistance to the teacher, which was also 

emphasized by Nakatani et al. (2012) regarding the appeal for help strategy. In regard to (R6), it was evident 

that he did not understand the question of the teacher. Regarding the (R7), the student stated that poor 

internet connection was the main reason in using “asking clarification strategy” in online classroom 

discussion. Thus, not understanding ideas and other external factors such as teacher’s choice of words in 

asking question and internet connection were considered as their reasons in using oral communication 

strategies.  

 

Speaking anxiety 

 

(R18): “I was not able to control myself in using “uhm” and “yeah in my answer a while ago because I’m not 

confident with what I’m saying specially in expressing English statements.” 

(R19): “I was still thinking the next word to be used because I’m not use to speak in English and I’m afraid I 

would commit mistake in front of many people”  

 

From all the responses made by the students in providing their reasons or factors in using specific type 

of oral communication strategies, it indicated that their reasons varied by the appropriate meaning of the 

responses were the same on the description of sub-categories of OCS in the taxonomy of Dornyei and Scott 

(1997). Felt pressured, not sure of words to be used, non-understanding of ideas and external factors such as 

teacher’s choice of language, and poor internet connection were the recurring reasons made by the students 

in using specific type of OCS. According to Spromberg (2011), Dornyei and Scott (1997) argued that 

communication strategies should “include every potentially intentional attempt to cope with any language-

related problem of which the speaker is aware during the course of communication” (p. 179).  Hardianati 

(2016) emphasized that students encountered communication problems as the results of target linguistic 

inadequacy. In order to overcome these problems, the students resort to several types of communication 

strategies. Thus, oral communication strategy used by the students is not indicating a sign of communication 

failure. Conversely, communication strategies surface as the students realize that they have problems of 

expressing their intended meaning and they need to solve the problems. 

 

 



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CONCLUSION 

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn. There were eighteen (18) out of 

thirty four (34) oral communication strategies implemented or applied during online classroom discussion. 

In direct strategies, nine (9) OCS were utilized by the students, those are code-switching, message 

abandonment, message replacement, circumlocution, approximation, restructuring, literal translation, self-

rephrasing, and self-repair. While, in interactional strategy, five (5) OCS were utilized: appeal for help, 

expressing of non-understanding, asking for clarification, asking for repetition, and guessing. Lastly, in 

indirect strategy, two (2) OCS were used by the students: which were using filters and verbal strategy 

markers. On the other hand, the lack of linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and structure), not confident in 

using English language during the discussion, not understanding ideas, speaking anxiety, and external 

factors such as poor internet connection and the choice language used by the teacher during online classroom 

discussion were the factors that influence the students in using oral communication strategies during online 

classroom discussion.  

The result of this study provided an information on how the senior high school students demonstrate 

their communication problems. The thirty-four (34) oral communication strategies may serve as a marker 

or signal for the teacher in helping the students to express themselves in language classroom discussion or 

in doing communicative tasks. In addition, the findings should be helpful in determining the field in which 

students are experiencing communication problems. Thus, applicable teaching strategies or interventions 

could be provided specially in teaching oral communication strategies. As stated by Manzano (2018), 

teaching oral communication strategies is very important to develop the strategic competence of the students. 

Manzano (2018) also asserted that English teachers may also examine or analyze if the oral communication 

strategies used by the students are really intended to overcome their communication problems. Therefore, 

English teachers should closely monitor the linguistic background of their students.  Further studies should 

be conducted related to oral communication strategies, mainly the subject on the effectiveness of oral 

communication strategies used by the students in performing oral task. All in all, the findings of this study 

supported the existing literature in oral communication strategies regarding its strong function in expressing 

oneself using English. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

The researchers would like to express their grateful appreciation to the DepEd Marikina specifically Ms. 

Sheryll T. Gayola, ASDS, OIC- Office of the Schools Division Superintendent and Ms. Jeanette J. Coroza, 

School Principal for allowing the researchers to conduct the study in Tañong High School. Grade 12 Students 

who served as the participants of the study. The Professors from College of Graduate Studies and Teacher 

Educatation Research of Philippine Normal University specifically, Dr. Zenaida Q. Reyes and Dr. Arceli M. 

Amarles for encouraging the corresponding author to write and publish research article as academic 

requirement in doctorate program.  

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