The Relationship between Extraversion/Introversion and the Use of Strategic Competence in Oral Referential Communication

This study investigates the relationship between extraversion/introversionpersonality dimension and the use of strategic competence (SC) in oralreferential communication by Iranian EFL learners. Referentialcommunication refers to a kind of guided communication in which thereferents (or topics) are given to the speakers to convey their meanings to thelisteners. 50 sophomore English students of Arak University (in Iran) wereselected from among 70 ones to participate in this study. Using the Persianrestandardized 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 thegroups was given communicative tasks to communicate orally with a partnerwhile his/her performance was tape-recorded and transcribed for lateranalyses. Then, the oral performance of the extravert group was comparedwith that of the introvert group in using compensatory strategies (CSs) interms of type and frequency as identified by a taxonomy. The results revealedthat, as far as total performance is concerned, extravert participants usedinteractional strategies and a sub-type of linguistic strategies i.e.transliteration significantly more than introvert ones whereas introvertparticipants used conceptual strategies significantly more than extravertones. Thus, it can be concluded that the personality trait ofextraversion/introversion is associated with L2 learners’ preference in using,at least, some types of CSs in oral referential communication. The findingscan have some pedagogical significance.