Metatalk in a Pair Work Activity: Level of Engagement and Implications for Language Development

This classroom-based study investigated the metatalk of learners working in pairs on a text reconstruction task. Specifically, the study investigated the learners' level of engagement with linguistic choices, and whether the level of engagement affected subsequent language development. Data were collected over a 2-week period. In the first week, students completed one version of a text reconstruction task in pairs and all pair talk was audio recorded. In the second week, students completed another version of the task individually. Analysis of the pair talk data showed that pairs attended to a range of grammatical and lexical items, but that the nature of their engagement ranged from elaborate to limited. Elaborate engagement was operationalised as instances where learners deliberated and discussed language items and limited engagement where one learner made a suggestion and the other repeated, acknowledged or did not respond to the suggestion. Analysis of learner performance on a set of items that were common to the two versions of the text reconstruction task suggests that elaborate engagement was more facilitative of learning/consolidation for both members of the dyad than limited engagement. The findings also suggest that repetitions, common in language classes, need further investigation.

[1]  J. Lantolf,et al.  Sociocultural Theory and the Genesis of Second Language Development , 2006 .

[2]  J. Leeman.  RECASTS AND SECOND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT , 2003, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[3]  R. Lyster,et al.  Patterns of Corrective Feedback and Uptake in an Adult ESL Classroom , 2002 .

[4]  G. Hu.  PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS ON THE UTILITY OF METALINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE IN SECOND LANGUAGE PRODUCTION , 2002, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[5]  Neomy Storch,et al.  Patterns of Interaction in ESL Pair Work , 2002 .

[6]  Donald S. Qi,et al.  Exploring the Role of Noticing in a Three-Stage Second Language Writing Task. , 2001 .

[7]  L. V. Lier,et al.  Negotiation of Meaning in Conversational and Information Gap Activities: A Comparative Discourse Analysis. , 2001 .

[8]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Integrating Language and Content Teaching through Collaborative Tasks , 2001 .

[9]  J. Hall,et al.  Rethinking Recasts: A Learner-Centered Examination of Corrective Feedback in the Japanese Language Classroom , 2000 .

[10]  J. Hall,et al.  Repetition in Foreign Language Classroom Interaction , 2000 .

[11]  S. Gass,et al.  Stimulated Recall Methodology in Second Language Research , 2000 .

[12]  Alison Mackey,et al.  INPUT, INTERACTION, AND SECOND LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT , 1999, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[13]  Neomy Storch,et al.  A classroom-based study: insights from a collaborative text reconstruction task , 1998 .

[14]  Alison Mackey,et al.  Conversational Interaction and Second Language Development: Recasts, Responses, and Red Herrings? , 1998 .

[15]  P. Skehan.  语言学习认知法 = A cognitive approach to language learning , 1998 .

[16]  R. Lyster.  RECASTS, REPETITION, AND AMBIGUITY IN L2 CLASSROOM DISCOURSE , 1998, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[17]  R. Leow.  Attention, Awareness, and Foreign Language Behavior , 1997 .

[18]  Frederick J. Dicamilla,et al.  Repetition in the Collaborative Discourse of L2 Learners: A Vygotskian Perspective , 1997 .

[19]  R. Lyster,et al.  CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK AND LEARNER UPTAKE , 1997, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[20]  R. Oliver.  Negative Feedback in Child NS-NNS Conversation , 1995, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[21]  M. Swain,et al.  Problems in Output and the Cognitive Processes They Generate: A Step Towards Second Language Learning , 1995, Applied Linguistics.

[22]  Julie Kearney,et al.  The Study of Second Language Acquisition.: Rod Ellis , 1995 .

[23]  P. Robinson.  Attention, Memory, and the “Noticing” Hypothesis , 1995 .

[24]  T. Pica.  Research on Negotiation: What Does It Reveal about Second-Language Learning Conditions, Processes, and Outcomes?. , 1994 .

[25]  R. Ellis,et al.  Focused communication tasks and second language acquisition , 1993 .

[26]  Karlheinz Hecht,et al.  Implicit and Explicit Grammar:An Empirical Study , 1992 .

[27]  Rod Ellis,et al.  Communicating about Grammar: A Task-Based Approach , 1991 .

[28]  R. Schmidt.  The role of consciousness in second language learning , 1990 .

[29]  Manfred Pienemann,et al.  Is Language Teachable? Psycholinguistic Experiments and Hypotheses , 1989 .

[30]  Kathleen Bardovi-Harlig,et al.  Attainment of Syntactic and Morphological Accuracy by Advanced Language Learners , 1989, Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

[31]  William E. Rutherford,et al.  Second Language Grammar: Learning and Teaching , 1987 .

[32]  Michael H. Long.  Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of comprehensible input1 , 1983 .

[33]  R. Ellis,et al.  Interaction and Second Language Learning : Two Adolescent French Immersion Students Working Together , 2007 .

[34]  Folkert Kuiken,et al.  The effect of interaction in acquiring the grammar of a second language , 2002 .

[35]  M. Mayo.  Interaction in advanced EFL pedagogy: a comparison of form-focused activities , 2002 .

[36]  Merrill Swain,et al.  Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects , 2001 .

[37]  R. Schmidt.  Cognition and Second Language Instruction: Attention , 2001 .

[38]  M. Grandon.  Awareness and Second Language Acquisition , 1999 .

[39]  Rod Ellis,et al.  Learning a second language through interaction , 1999 .

[40]  Michael H. Long.  The Role of the Linguistic Environment in Second Language Acquisition , 1996 .

[41]  M. Swain.  Three functions of output in second language learning , 1995 .

[42]  M. Swain.  Communicative competence : Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development , 1985 .