Shared Nomenclature: An Analysis of Students' Communicative Strategies in a Foreign Language

A research project on the communicative strategies of secondary school language students indicates that even those in their second year of study are able to understand one another as they ask and answer questions in French or Spanish. Though they make errors in grammar and vocabulary, they begin at an early stage to use paraphrases and circumlocutions in the second language. Longer sequences of study clearly enable students to express themselves with ever increasing precision and depth.