Application of Interactional Tasks in Foreign Language Pedagogy

1. Junko Hondo j.hondo@lancaster.ac.uk Paper Presentation at the International Conference on Task Based Language Teaching September, 2005 Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Mitoko Yamabe mitoko@cat.zero.ad.jp Tsuda College Junichi Saito junta@tkk.att.ne.jp Kanagawa University Application of Interactional Tasks in Foreign Language Pedagogy

2. The primary features of tasks: an activity or work that encompasses a specific goal or purpose that facilitates language learning via language use focusing on meaning “form is best learnt when the learner’s attention is on meaning” (Prabhu quoted by Brumfit, 1984), Focus on Form (Johnson, 1983, Widdowson, 1978 Long, 1991, Doughty &Williams, 1998) Tasks “provide a vehicle for the presentation of appropriate target language samples to learners” (Long and Crookes, 1992. p. 43 ) Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) i.e. the language should be presented in such ways as to reveal its character as communication (Allen and Widdowson, 1979, Johnson and Morrow, 1981 among others) Advanced concerns regarding the product of CLT as fluent but inaccurate language use ↓ Partial response: Development of TBLT 1970 – current

3. “negotiation of meaning, and especially negotiation work that triggers interactional adjustment … facilitates acquisition” (Long, 1996, pp. 451-2) - Line of feedback studies Re introduction of ZPD (Vygotsky,193?) “Peer learning has the potential of learners to share their strength with one another, together producing performance that is of a higher level than” individual learning (Ohta, 2001, pp. 74). Socio-cultural oriented claims also found in Donato, 1988, Lantolf, 1990 among others. Interaction Hypothesis : Socio-Cultural Perspectives Having these additional theoretical supports for TBLT - How applicable is TBLT in FL settings?

4. Research Questions • Does peer interaction provide scaffolding for language learning in FLA classes? • What type of feedback in L2 takes place during peer interactions? eg: Clarification requests, Confirmation checks, Comprehension checks, Recasts, Overt error correction? • Are there any indications of interactional adjustments facilitating acquisition? • Is form attainment possible during a task? • If item IV above is shown to be true, does form focused intervention play a role in the rate of attainment?

5. Experimental Design • EFL University Students in Japan, 4 classes, Total of 92 Ss • Closed, structure based interactional task: Spot the Difference • Unit type: dyads • Focused form: tense aspect was selected in consideration of learnability and it’s universally problematic character • Pre task activity: Familiarize Ss with the task activity

6. L1 was the primary language for communication No peer assistance, provision of scaffolding observed (Actual communication – ‘which is correct;’ ‘don’t know’ etc.) In Target Language (TL), Clarification request? None Confirmation check? None Comprehension check?None Recast? None Error correction? None Interaction None Mutual intelligibility might be relinquished prior to the onset of conversation in TL/L2 Learners who share the same L1, TL/L2 use in task is not guaranteed Between NNS/NNS, individual participants might not own a strong belief system or hold a solid opinion of their own L2 use even to initiate an inquiry Voices from the everyday practitioner in the actual Classroom - L1 or Target Language?

7. L1? L2? • In all of our studies, L1 was used for the medium of the communication during the task • FL environmental issues • Incentives for English learning • Cultural matters • …..

8. Form Attainment during a Task

9. Results: • Does peer interaction provide scaffolding in FLA classes? - Not observed • What type of feedback in L2 takes place during the interaction? - NONE III. Is there any indication of interactional adjustment facilitating acquisition? Not necessarily acquisition but initial attainment of form is indicated by the the positive delta. IV. Is form attainment possible during a task? - YES V. If the above is proven, does the form focused - YESintervention play a role in attainment rate? + form focused intervention 14%-18% - form focused intervention 4% + form focus intervention group a higher attainment rate compared to the – form focus intervention. Initial stage for attainment: Cognitive operational stage at which information is being encoded in the sensory system (in a bottom-up operation) or at which the executive control initiates the expression of attention (in a top down operation). This is presumed to be either voluntary or involuntary. This may constitute preliminary uptake or the triggering agent for attainment.

10. Discussion What actually took place during the task? • Noticing of form : 100% of differing forms were marked and notes made • The conveyance of information occurred in ‘semantically contingent sequences’ (Pica, 2002) “Conveyance of information and communication are similar, though not identical” (Johnson, 1979, p. 200). • Contemplation of focused form occurred with repetition Noticing form → Conveying information → Noticing the gap between what they already know about the particular form and what they do not know→ Orienting/integrating knowledge within a contextualized situation → Operating reflected focused form on-line with repetition • “conscious content can evoke selective attention…(attention) resembling a bright spot on the stage of immediate memory, directed there by a spotlight of attention…the sovereign remedy for learning” (Baars, 2002) • noticing is the necessary condition for converting input to intake (Schmidt, 1990) • contingency learning tuned with frequency (N. Ellis, 2004)

11. Summary • Among the learners who share the same L1, interaction in TL/L2 is not necessarily guaranteed. • However, the specific type of task could promote the conveyance of information in contingent sequences – leading to securing the attentional orientation on the essential forms, and repeated reflections on target forms. • Without the usage of TL/L2, the results still indicated the attainment of form during a task completion. • Explicit information in the form focused intervention produced a higher attainment of forms.

12. Thank youj.hondo@lancaster.ac.uk  mitoko@cat.zero.ad.jpjunta@tkk.att.ne.jp