Cover not available
Part of
Expanding Individual Difference Research in the Interaction Approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors
Edited by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 16] 2017
► pp. 121–148

Chapter 6
Interaction and phonetic form in task completion

An examination of interlocutor effects in learner-learner and learner-heritage speaker interaction

| University at Albany, SUNY

The present study examines the effect of interlocutor type – second language (L2) learner versus heritage speaker – on interaction and phonetic accuracy during the completion of a dyadic map task in Spanish. Twenty intermediate-level, native English-speaking learners of Spanish and 10 heritage speakers of Spanish participated. Data collection occurred over two sessions; at each session, participants completed a dyadic map task on which pronunciation had been made task-essential via street names that constituted vocalic minimal pairs (e.g., Calle Poca vs. Calle Pica). At one session, L2 learners interacted with another L2 learner; at the other, they interacted with a heritage speaker, with the order of interlocutor interaction conditions counterbalanced across learner participants. Dyads were audio-recorded during the completion of the task, and the recordings were analyzed in two ways: (a) with regard to the number and type of language-related episodes (LREs; Swain & Lapkin, 1998, 2001) present in the interaction, with a focus on pronunciation-related LREs, and (b) with regard to the phonetic accuracy of learner Spanish vowel productions as measured by first and second formant frequencies. Results suggest little change in LRE production by interlocutor type but significantly less targetlike realizations of /o/ and /u/ during interaction with a heritage speaker than with another L2 learner. The findings are discussed in light of previous research on interlocutor effects on interaction and linguistic outcomes and with special attention given to how and why pronunciation as a target feature may differ from other foci.

Keywords: heritage learners, language-related episodes, L2 learners, phonetic accuracy, task-based interaction
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Background
    • Interaction, L2 development, and language-related episodes
    • Interlocutor individual differences and effects on interaction and L2 production
      • Native versus nonnative speaker interlocutor
      • Heritage speaker interlocutors
    • Interaction and phonetic and phonological development
    • Acquisition of L2 pronunciation
      • Attention
      • Heritage speaker phonology
      • Target structure: Spanish vowels
    • Present study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Materials and procedure
    • Coding and analysis
  • Results
    • LREs
    • Vowel production
  • Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 12 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.16.06sol
References
Adams, R. J.
(2007) Do second language learners benefit from interacting with each other? In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition (pp. 29–51). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Alvord, S. M., & Rogers, B. M. A.
(2014) Miami-Cuban Spanish vowels in contact. Sociolinguistic Studies, 8, 139–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Babel, M.
(2009) Phonetic and social selectivity in speech accommodation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Blake, R. J., & Zyzik, E. C.
(2003) Who’s helping whom?: Learner/heritage speakers’ networked discussions in Spanish. Applied Linguistics, 24, 519–544. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bongaerts, T.
(1999) Ultimate attainment in foreign language pronunciation: The case of very advanced late language learners. In D. Birdsong (Ed.), Second language acquisition and the Critical Period Hypothesis (pp. 133–159). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bowles, M. A.
(2011) Exploring the role of modality: L2-heritage learner interactions in the Spanish language classroom. Heritage Language Journal, 8, 30–65.Google Scholar
Bowles, M. A., & Adams, R. J.
(2015) An interaction approach to learner-learner interaction in second and foreign language classrooms. In N. Markee (Ed.), Handbook on classroom discourse (pp. 198–212). Boston, MA: Wiley.Google Scholar
Bowles, M. A., Adams, R. J., & Toth, P. D.
(2014) A comparison of L2-L2 and L2-heritage learner interactions in Spanish language classrooms. Modern Language Journal, 98, 497–517. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bueno-Alastuey, M. C.
(2012) Focus on form and negotiation of meaning in synchronous voice-based computer mediated communication: Effect of dyad. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 34, 39–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) Interactional feedback in synchronous voice-based computer mediated communication: Effect of dyad. System, 41, 543–559. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cobb, K., & Simonet, M.
(2015) Adult second language learning of Spanish vowels. Hispania, 98, 47–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Donato, R.
(1994) Collective scaffolding in second language learning. In J. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.), Vygotskian approaches to second language learning (pp. 33–56). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Elliott, R.
(1997) On the teaching and acquisition of pronunciation within a communicative approach. Hispania, 80, 95–108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R., Basturkmen, H., & Loewen, S.
(2001) Learner uptake in communicative ESL lessons. Language Learning, 51, 281–318. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gass, S. M., & Varonis, E.
(1985) Variation in native speaker speech modification to non-native speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 7, 37–57. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Giles, H., Coupland, J., & Coupland, N.
(Eds.) (1991) Contexts of accommodation: Developments in applied sociolinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hatch, E.
(1978) Acquisition of syntax in a second language. In J. Richards (Ed.), Understanding second and foreign language learning (pp. 34–70). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Hualde, J. I.
(2005) The sounds of Spanish. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Kim, Y., & McDonough, K.
(2008) The effect of interlocutor proficiency on the collaborative dialogue between Korean as a second language learners. Language Teaching Research, 12, 211–234. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kissling, E. M.
(2013) Teaching pronunciation: Is explicit phonetics instruction beneficial for FL learners? Modern Language Journal, 97, 720–744. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, J., Jang, J., & Plonsky, L.
(2015) The effectiveness of second language pronunciation instruction: A meta-analysis. Applied Linguistics, 36, 345–366. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeser, M. J.
(2004) Learner proficiency and focus on form during collaborative dialogue. Language Teaching Research, 8, 55–81. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Loewen, S.
(2005) Incidental focus on form and second language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 361–386. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Loewen, S., & Isbell, D. R.
(2017) Pronunciation in face-to-face and audio-only synchronous computer-mediated learner interactions. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(2), 225–256. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H.
(1980) Input and interaction in second language acquisition (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of California at Los Angeles.Google Scholar
(1981) Input, interaction, and second language acquisition. In H. Winitz (Ed.), Native language and foreign language acquisition: Annals of the New York Academy of Science (Vol. 379) (pp. 259–278). New York, NY: The New York Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
(1983) Linguistic and conversational adjustments to nonnative speakers. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 12, 177–193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Long, M.
(1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & T. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of research second language acquisition (Vol. 2, pp. 413–468). New York, NY: Academy Press.Google Scholar
Long, M. H., & Porter, P. A.
(1985) Group work, interlanguage talk, and second language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 207–228. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lord, G.
(2010) The combined effects of instruction and immersion on second language pronunciation. Foreign Language Annals, 43, 488–503. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A.
(1999) Input, interaction, and second language development: An empirical study of question formation in ESL. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 557–587. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Introduction: The role of conversational interaction in second language acquisition. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition: A collection of empirical studies (pp. 1–26). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mackey, A., Abbuhl, R., & Gass, S. M.
(2012) Interactionist approach. In S. M. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 7–23). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mackey, A., Gass, S. M., & McDonough, K.
(2000) How do learners perceive interactional feedback? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 22, 471–497. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A., Oliver, R., & Leeman, J.
(2003) Interactional input and the incorporation of feedback: An exploration of NS-NNS and NNS-NNS adult and child dyads. Language Learning, 53, 35–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Menke, M. R.
(2015) How native do they sound?: An acoustic analysis of the Spanish vowels of elementary Spanish immersion students. Hispania, 98, 804–824. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Menke, M. R., & Face, T. L.
(2010) Second language Spanish vowel production: An acoustic analysis. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 3, 181–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S.
(2012) Is the heritage language like a second language? In L. Roberts, C. Lindqvust, C. Bardel, & N. Abrahamsson (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 2012. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Montrul, S., Foote, R., & Perpiñán, S.
(2008) Gender agreement in adult second language learners and Spanish heritage speakers: The effects of age and context of acquisition. Language Learning, 58, 503–553. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moyer, A.
(1999) Ultimate attainment in L2 phonology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 81–108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2015) Autonomy in second language phonology: Choice vs. limits. Language Teaching. Advance online publication. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pardo, J. S.
(2006) On phonetic convergence during conversational interaction. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 119, 2382–2393. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pica, T., Holliday, L., Lewis, N., Berducci, D., & Newman, J.
(1991) Language learning through interaction: What role does gender play? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 13, 343–376. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pica, T., Lincoln-Porter, F., Paninos, D., & Linnell, J.
(1996) Language learners’ interaction: How does it address the input, output, and feedback needs of L2 learners? TESOL Quarterly, 30, 59–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pickering, M. J., & Garrod, S.
(2006) Alignment as the basis for successful communication. Research on Language and Computation, 4, 203–228. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Polinsky, M.
(2006) American Russian: Incomplete acquisition. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 14, 325–366.Google Scholar
Polinsky, M., & Kagan, O.
(2007) Heritage languages: In the “wild” and in the classroom. Language and Linguistics Compass, 1, 368–395. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Porter, P. A.
(1983) Variations in the conversations of adult learners of English as a function of the proficiency level of the participants (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Stanford University, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar
Potowski, K.
(2002) Experiences of Spanish heritage speakers in university foreign language courses and implications for teacher training. Association of Departments of Foreign Languages, 33(3), 35–42.Google Scholar
(2014) Heritage learners of Spanish. In K. L. Geeslin (Ed.), The handbook of Spanish second language acquisition (pp. 404–422). Malden, MA: Wiley.Google Scholar
Ronquest, R. E.
(2012) An acoustic analysis of heritage speaker vowels (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.Google Scholar
Ronquest, R.
(2013) An acoustic examination of unstressed vowel reduction in Heritage Spanish. In S. Blackwell & C. Howe (Eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 15th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 157–171). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.Google Scholar
Saito, K.
(2011) Re-examining the role of explicit phonetic instruction in native-like and comprehensible pronunciation development: An instructed SLA approach to L2 phonology. Language Awareness, 20, 45–59. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) Reexamining effects of form-focused instruction on L2 pronunciation development: The role of explicit phonetic information. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35, 1–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saito, K., & Lyster, R.
(2012a) Effects of form-focused instruction and corrective feedback on L2 pronunciation development of /ɹ/ by Japanese learners of English. Language Learning, 62, 595–633. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2012b) Investigating the pedagogical potential of recasts for L2 vowel acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 46, 387–398. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sato, M., & Lyster, R.
(2007) Modified output of Japanese EFL learners: Variable effects of interlocutor vs. feedback types. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition: A collection of empirical studies (pp. 123–142). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Silva-Corvalán, C.
(1994) Language contact and change: Spanish in Los Angeles. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Simoẽs, A. R. M.
(1996) Phonetics in second language acquisition: An acoustic study of fluency in adult learners of Spanish. Hispania, 79, 87–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Solon, M., Long, A. Y., & Gurzynski-Weiss, L.
(2017) Task complexity, language-related episodes, and production of L2 Spanish vowels. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(2), 347–380. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Swain, M.
(1985) Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible out in its development. In S. M. Gass & C. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–253). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
(1995) Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principle and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honour of H. G. Widdowson (pp. 125–144). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(1998) Focus on form through conscious reflection. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 64–81). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
(2005) The output hypothesis: Theory and research. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp. 471–483). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Swain, M., & Lapkin, S.
(1995) Problems in output and the cognitive processes they generate: A step towards second language learning. Applied Linguistics, 16, 371–391. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1998) Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–337. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2001) Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching, and testing (pp. 99–118). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Thomas, E. R., & Kendall, T.
(2012) NORM (Version 1.1) [Software]. Retrieved from [URL]
Valdés, G.
(2001) Heritage language students: Profiles and possibilities. In J. Peyton, J. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 37–80). McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems.Google Scholar
Varonis, E. M., & Gass, S. M.
(1985) Non-native/Non-native conversations: A model for negotiation of meaning. Applied Linguistics, 6, 71–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Williams, J.
(2001) The effectiveness of spontaneous attention to form. System, 29, 325–340. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Willis, E. W.
(2005) An initial examination of Southwest Spanish vowels. Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 24, 185–198.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

Pawlak, Miroslaw
2020. Chapter 3. The effect of proficiency, gender, and learning style on the occurrence of negotiated interaction in communicative task performance. In Cross-theoretical Explorations of Interlocutors and their Individual Differences [Language Learning & Language Teaching, 53], ► pp. 52 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.