Encouraging Learners' Conversational Participation: The Effect of Content Knowledge

This study investigated the influence of interlocutors' relative content knowledge on conversational participation in interactions between native speakers (NSs) and normative speakers (NNSs) with limited oral skills. Forty-five male NS-NNS dyads were audio taped having two conversations; in the second conversation, which concerned students' major fields, 15 of the dyads included NNSs who had relatively more content knowledge, in another 15, the NSs had more knowledge, and in 15, participants were considered equal. Measures of conversational participation included amount of talk, pause fillers, back-channels, topic moves, and several measures of interactional negotiation. Outcomes of log linear analyses indicated that both NSs and NNSs appeared conversationally active, but there were different patterns of participation that could to some extent be explained by relative content knowledge. As such, this study extends our understanding of the dynamics of NS-NNS interchange.

[1]  Dan Douglas,et al.  Wrestling with ‘Context’ in Interlanguage Theory* , 1985 .

[2]  T. Pica,et al.  Comprehensible Output as an Outcome of Linguistic Demands on the Learner , 1989, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[3]  F. Genesee,et al.  A Conceptual Framework for the Integration of Language and Content in Second/Foreign Language Instruction , 1989 .

[4]  H. Giles,et al.  Speech-accommodation theories: a discussion in terms of second-language acquisition , 1984 .

[5]  Sheida White.  Backchannels across cultures: A study of Americans and Japanese , 1989, Language in Society.

[6]  Teresa Pica,et al.  Language learning through interaction: What role does gender play? , 1991 .

[7]  P. Harder.  DISCOURSE AS SELF-EXPRESSION— ON THE REDUCED PERSONALITY OF THE SECOND-LANGUAGE LEARNER , 1980 .

[8]  John L. D. Clark,et al.  The FSI/ILR/ACTFL Proficiency Scales and Testing Techniques , 1988, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[9]  Michael H. Long.  Linguistic and Conversational Adjustments to Non-Native Speakers , 1983, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[10]  Evangeline Marlos Varonis,et al.  The Effect Of Familiarity On The Comprehensibility Of Nonnative Speech , 1984 .

[11]  R. Young,et al.  Input and Interaction , 1988, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics.

[12]  Michael Milanovic,et al.  Discourse Variation in Oral Proficiency Interviews , 1992, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[13]  Jane Zuengler.  Assessing an Interaction-Based Paradigm , 1989 .

[14]  T. Pica.  Second-language Acquisition, Social Interaction, and the Classroom. , 1987 .

[15]  Jane Zuengler,et al.  Relative Knowledge of Content Domain: An Influence on Native-Non-native Conversations , 1991 .

[16]  Richard Young,et al.  The Impact of Interaction on Comprehension , 1987 .