ABSTRACT
T he identification an d descrip tion o f com m unication strategies (CS) has traditionally been the subject o f uncerta in ty and dispute in second language research , bu t a stage has now been reached w here leading scholars question w hether th ere is actually any sense at all in trying to study CS as a distinctive issue in L2 enquiry. In this chapter, I shall argue tha t com m unication strate gies should ind eed be cen tral in L2 investigation, b u t tha t the ir full significance can only be understood if the dom ain o f CS research is expanded beyond the particu lar kinds o f psycholin guistic and in teractional approach tha t curren tly dom inate the field. M ore specifically, investigation could usefully look beyond g ram m ar and lexis to o th e r kinds o f p roblem atic knowledge, beyond referen tial to social and in terpersonal m eaning, beyond individuals and dyads to groups, and beyond experim ents with u n d erg rad u a te inform ants. W idened in this way, the no tion o f L2 com m unication strategies can be productively tied in to a very large lite ra tu re outside SLA, and it becom es a rich site for the investigation o f in teractional, social and educational issues.
