ABSTRACT
Identified as a component of communicative competence by Canale and Swain, strategic competence is typically associated with the ability to convey and negotiate meaning successfully despite obstacles in the communication process. This chapter reviews strategic competence definitions before exploring how it can be exhibited and utilized in the speech of learners at different levels. Reviewing literature into strategic competence inevitably requires knowledge of what communication strategies (CSs) are but with the numerous taxonomies that exist, there still remains no mutually accepted definition. The chapter illustrates the common patterns that B1, B2, and C1 language users display in their interactions and the effects they have on their overall performance as successful speakers of English. It outlines how frequently CEFR strategy statements were satisfied by B1, B2 and C1 speakers throughout their USTC communications. In doing so, the chapter incorporates some CS usage findings from learner-to-learner paired discussion in response to previous research which has focused mainly on learner to native-speaker interactions.
