A study investigated how learners of a second language cope with the linguistic difficulties in oral interaction with a native speaker. The four subjects were training to become bilingual secretaries and were faced with job interviews. The study's objectives were: (1) to analyze the subjects' oral performance and show that learners differ widely in their use of communication strategies; and (2) to assess the practicality of using learners' introspection to promote their awareness of the role that compensation strategies can play in oral performance. The subjects were interviewed twice in the target language (French), once before and once after a 6-month period in France or Belgium. Immediately following each interview, each subject was asked to comment on her performance. Results confirmed the emergence of differential coping strategies in the four subjects, and found greater disparity between the styles in the second interview. Results also indicate that learners vary in their ability to recall or verbalize these processes and in their degree of linguistic awareness during and after the oral performances. Transcripts of the interviews and introspections are appended, and an 82-item bibliography is included. (MSE)