Section 6.2.3.3 dealt with the need for realistic expectations for spoken utterances. The focus of this section will be on differentiating between what is normal for speech and what constitutes student strategies for avoiding difficult structures. The difference between the two should be borne in mind when devising assessment guidelines for markers.

You may recall Bygate's exposition of the four ways a speaker facilitates the production of speech:

• simplifying the structure;
• ellipsis;
• using formulaic expressions;
• use of time-creating devices (6.2.3.3).

Since these are strategies employed by a native speaker, they should not be penalized, although as was indicated earlier, there are higher expectations for longer transactional turns. So assessment schemes should aim to take features typical of spoken utterance into account, while at the same time penalizing those errors which are more properly what might be termed learner coping mechanisms, for example:

• using unidiomatic phrases;
• reduction (giving up half-way through an utterance, or falling back on some less challenging construction);
• guessing (making words up, using anglicisms, etc);
• avoiding more complex structures (see assuring progression, 6.6.4).

For further reading on coping strategies, see Bygate (1987: 42-48).