Task Type and Second Language Acquisition in Online Chat

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Task Type and Second Language Acquisition in
Online Chat

• Rema Nilakanta
• Engl 526
• Spring 2002

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Background

• Language acquisition is a social process best
  learned through interaction and negotiation of
  meaning.
• Language is learned best by doing it.
• Study draws from two strands of research
• Importance of task type in SLA
• Role of online chat in SLA

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Role of Task Types in SLA

• Task type influences the degree of interaction,
  which is necessary for negotiation of meaning
• Negotiation of meaning leads to modified
  interactions, which initiate language
  acquisition.
• Task typology (Pica, Kanagy, Faloudun, 1993)
• Goals can be convergent or divergent
• Convergent goals require collaboration and
  sharing of interactant responsibilities
• Convergent goals leads to increased interaction
  and hence better for SLA

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Role of Task Types in SLA

• Pelletieres (2000) study supported the
  hypothesis that online chatting used for goal
  oriented activities facilitated comprehension and
  resulted in grammatical competence

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Online chat for SLA

• Studies (Sotillo, 2000 Harrison Toyoda, 2002)
  have shown the effectiveness of online chat for
  language acquisition since it generates patterns
  similar to face-to-face conversation
• Sotillos study compared asynchronous and
  synchronous CMC. Asynchronous communication
  showed more structured and complex syntactic
  forms. Synchronous chat showed more modified
  interactions necessary for SLA

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Research Question

• In an online chat environment would an activity
  with a well-defined goal such as a
  decision-making activity lead to more complex
  target language production than an activity that
  is open-ended with no common goal?

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Methodology

• Participants
• four non-native speakers (NNS) of English, 2
  graduates, 2 undergraduates
• Baseline TOEFL score of 537.5
• Less than 2 years in the US

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Methodology

• Procedure
• 2 dyads, one graduate and one undergraduate in
  each dyad.
• Study lasted 3 days and took a total of 3 hrs. to
  complete
• Members of each dyad was physically separated
• First meeting for administrative matters, second
  two meetings for chat sessions. Two tasks to
  complete (decision-making task Summer Job and
  open-ended task Getting to know)
• Participants had to fill out pre, post surveys
  and a group interview

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Methodology

• Data analysis
• Chapelles framework of CALL evaluation -
  judgmental and empirical evaluation
• Judgmental evaluation concerns the software and
  task type assessments
• Empirical evaluation deals with the analysis of
  the language produced.
• Language learning potential is the most important
  criteria for CALL evaluation. Focus on
  linguistic form
• Language learning potential influenced by 8
  factors
• Modified interaction 5. Support
• Modified output 6. Surprise
• Control 7. Time pressure
• Modality 8. Stakes

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Methodology

• Modified interaction and modified output analyzed
  further using Varonis Gass (1985) Model for
  negotiation of meaning.
• T Trigger, I Indicator, R Response, and RR
  Reaction to Response

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Findings - judgmental
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Findings - empirical
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Discussion

• Absence of focus on linguistic form because there
  was no specific objective for instruction
• The non-understanding routines during SJ were
  only seen in Dyad 2. Possible explanation
• Task order
• Time limitation
• Structured format of the open-ended task
• Problematic turn-taking due to unfamiliarity to
  chatting

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Limitations

• Too small a sample to draw any generalizations.
• Time limit hampered the study
• Structured format of the open-ended task - task
  needs to be truly open-ended to understand its
  potential for SLA.

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Recommendations

• Take into account the oral proficiency levels of
  the students if using online chat because more
  advanced students may prefer to chat with NS and
  engage in more challenging tasks. While less
  advanced students may prefer more open-ended
  tasks to improve their fluency.
• Just focusing on linguistic form may diminish the
  motivation for attaining a comfort level with the
  target language.