Chapter published in:
Cross-theoretical Explorations of Interlocutors and their Individual Differences
Edited by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 53] 2020
► pp. 247–266

Chapter 10
Synthesizing cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences

| Indiana University

The theoretical and empirical contributions of this current volume are united in their efforts to examine interlocutors and their individual differences. In this final chapter, I demonstrate how the four approaches – the cognitive-interactionist approach (Philp & Gurzynski-Weiss; Pawlak); sociocultural theory (Lantolf; Back); the variationist approach (Geeslin; Long & Geeslin); and complex dynamic systems theory (Larsen-Freeman; Serafini) – while, on the surface may appear to be markedly different, are all moving in harmony towards a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of interlocutors and their individual differences. I will also discuss how this shared advancement provides a more accurate picture of the complex influences that affect second language development. Finally, I will highlight the trends and areas for future research common across all approaches, providing concrete suggestions for those interested in conducting research on this topic.

Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Who are the interlocutors of relevance?
  • What are the interlocutors’ roles?
  • Which interlocutor IDs might influence SLA?
  • Looking back: What do we know so far about interlocutor IDs?
  • Looking forward: Where do we go from here?
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 January 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.53.10gur
References
Atkinson, D., Churchill, E., Nishino, T., & Okada, H.
(2007) Alignment and interaction in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 169–188. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Back, M.
this volume). Interlocutor differences and the role of social others in a Spanish peer tutoring context. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 99 123 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
Bongiovanni, S., Long, A. Y., Solon, M., & Willis, E.
(2015) The effect of short-term study abroad on second language Spanish phonetic development. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 8, 243–283. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boudreau, C., MacIntyre, P. D., & Dewaele, J.-M.
(2018) Enjoyment and anxiety in second language communication: An idiodynamic approach. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 149–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cao, Y., & Philp, J.
(2006) Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group, and dyadic interaction. System, 34(4), 480–493. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, J. -M., & Alfawzan, M.
(2018) Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 21–45. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dewaele, J. -M., & MacIntyre, P. D.
(2014) The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 237–274. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Donovan, L. A., & MacIntyre, P. D.
(2004) Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self-perceived competence. Communication Research Reports, 21(4), 420–427. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geeslin, K.
this volume). Variationist perspective(s) on interlocutor individual differences. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 127 157 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
Geeslin, K. L., García-Amaya, L. J., Hasler-Barker, M., Henriksen, N. C., & Killam, J.
(2010) The SLA of direct object pronouns in a study abroad immersion environment where use is variable. In C. Borgonovo, M. Español-Echevarría, & P. Prévost (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 12th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 246–259). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
(2012) The L2 acquisition of variable perfective past time reference in Spanish in an overseas immersion setting. In K. Geeslin & M. Díaz-Campos (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 197–213). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar
Gregersen, T., MacIntyre, P. D., & Meza, M. D.
(2014) The motion of emotion: Idiodynamic case studies of learners’ foreign language anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 574–588. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gries, S. T.
(2005) Syntactic priming: A corpus-based approach. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 34(4), 365–399. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L.
(Ed.) (2017) Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., & Plonsky, L.
(2017) Look who’s interacting: A scoping review of research involving non-teacher/non-peer interlocutors. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 305–324). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., Geeslin, K., Daidone, D., Linford, B., Long, A., Michalski, I., & M. Solon
(2018) L2 classrooms as multi-faceted sources of input: The synergy of variationist and usage-based approaches. In A. Tyler & L. Ortega (eds.), Usage-based L2 instruction (pp. 293–313). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., Geeslin, K. L., Long, A. Y., & Daidone, D.
(2017) Linguistic variation in instructor provision of oral input. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 225–254). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harvey, L.
(2015) Beyond member-checking: A dialogic approach to the research interview. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 38(1), 23–38. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Henriksen, N. C., Geeslin, K. L., & Willis, E. W.
(2010) The development of L2 Spanish intonation during a study abroad immersion program in León, Spain: Global contours and final boundary movements. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 3, 113–162. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lantolf, J. P.
this volume). I ~ You > I ~ Me: The hidden other in L2 development. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 79 97 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
Larsen-Freeman, D.
this volume). Complexity theory: Relational systems in interaction and in interlocutor differences in second language development. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 189 208 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
Long, A. Y., & Geeslin, K. L.
this volume). Examining the role of instructor first language in classroom-based oral input. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 159 185 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
MacIntyre, P. D.
(1994) Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A causal analysis. Communication Research Reports, 11(2), 135–142. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017) An overview of language anxiety research and trends in its development. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney, & J.-M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 11–30). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C.
(1989) Anxiety and second-language learning: Toward a theoretical clarification. Language Learning, 39(2), 251–275. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1994) The subtle effects of language anxiety on cognitive processing in the second language. Language Learning, 44(2), 283–305. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., Babin, P. A., & Clément, R.
(1999) Willingness to communicate: Antecedents & consequences. Communication Quarterly, 47(2), 215–229. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mackey, A. J., Park, H. I., Akiyama, Y., & Pipes, A.
(2014, March). The role of cognitive creativity in L2 learning processes. Paper presented at the Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages and Linguistics, Washington, DC.
Macqueen, S.
(2012) The emergence of patterns in second language writing: A sociocognitive exploration of lexical trails. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A.
(2006) Responses to recasts: Repetitions, primed production, and linguistic development. Language Learning, 56(4), 693–720. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McNeill, D.
(2016) Why we gesture. The surprising role of hand movements in communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mercer, S.
(2016) The contexts within me: L2 self as a complex dynamic system. In J. King (Ed.), The dynamic interplay between context and the language learner (pp. 11–28). Houndmills, UK: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Naiman, N., Fröhlich, M., Stern, H. H., & Todesco, A.
(1996) The good language learner. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Niedzielski, N.
(1999) The effect of social information on the perception of sociolinguistic variables. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18, 62–85. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pawlak, M.
this volume). The effect of proficiency, gender, and learning styles on the occurrence of negotiated interaction in communicative task performance. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 51 75 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
(Ed.) (2012) New perspectives on individual differences in language learning and teaching. Heidelberg: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017) Overview of learner individual differences and their mediating effects on the process and outcome of interaction. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 19–40). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pawlak, M., & Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A.
(2015) Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate. System, 50, 1–9. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Philp, J., & Gurzynski-Weiss, L.
this volume). On the role of the interlocutor in second language development: A cognitive-interactionist approach. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 19 50 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
Preston, D.
(2000) Three kinds of sociolinguistics and SLA: A psycholinguistic perspective. In B. Swierzbin, M. Anderson, C. Klee, & E. Tarone (Eds.), Social and cognitive factors in SLA (pp. 3–30). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla.Google Scholar
Rubin, J.
(1975) What “the good language learner” can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Serafini, E. J.
this volume). The impact of learner perceptions of interlocutor individual differences on learner possible selves during a short-term experience abroad. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss Ed. Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences pp. 209 243 Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins
Staum Casasanto, L.
(2008) Does social information influence sentence processing? Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 30, 799–804.Google Scholar
Teimouri, Y.
(2017) L2 selves, emotions, and motivated behaviors. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(4), 681–709. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Teimouri, Y., Goetze, J., & Plonsky, L.
(2019) Second language anxiety and achievement: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1–25.Google Scholar
Willis, E., Geeslin, K. & Henriksen, N.
(2009, October). The acquisition of /θ/ by study abroad learners in León, Spain. Paper presented at the 13th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, San Juan, Puerto Rico.