Some Thoughts on the Notion of Communication Strategy

An attempt is made to clarify what is meant by the term communication strategy, as opposed to terms such as learning strategy and production/perception strategy. It is proposed that communication strategies are descriptive of the learners' pattern of use of what they know as they try to communicate with speakers of the target language. Further, it is proposed that communication strategies have an interfactional function, as they are used for a joint negotiation of meaning between speaker and hearer. Specific criteria are proposed, to be used in defining the notion of communication strategy and separating this from learning and production strategies. Suggestions for future research are presented.