Modified output of Japanese EFL learners : variable effects of interlocutor vs. feedback types

• Main Author: Sato, Masatoshi.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 2006
• Subjects: English language > Study and teaching > Japanese speakers.; Interaction analysis in education.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=98580

This study investigated the interactional moves of Japanese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and, in particular, how differently they modify their oral output depending on their interlocutor---either a peer or a native speaker (NS). By employing retrospective stimulated recall methodology, this study also explored the participants' feelings and perceptions which arguably determined their interaction patterns during a communicative task. === Participants were eight Japanese first-year university students and four NSs of English. Conversations of eight learner-NS dyads and four learner-learner dyads (six hours in total) were audiotaped, transcribed, and then statistically analyzed. Learners were interviewed two days after the task completion. === Results revealed that learners interacted in significantly different ways depending on whom they interacted with. Specifically, their interlocutor (peer or NS) proved to be a more influential variable than the type of feedback (i.e., elicitation or reformulation) they received. Qualitative analysis of the interview data provides comprehensive explanations for the findings.