TBLT Conference Lancaster, 2009 Collaborative dialogue in task-based oral interaction: a comparison of pair and group work Ana Fernández Dobao University of Washington

BACKGROUND

The sociocultural theory of mind (Vygotsky, 1978, 1987)  Language is a cognitive tool that mediates learning  Cognitive development occurs in social interaction

BACKGROUND Language-related episodes (LREs) Any part of dialogue where the students talk about the language they are producing, question their language use, or correct themselves or others (Swain & Lapkin, 1998: 326)  Form-focused LREs (F-LREs)  Lexical LREs (L-LREs)  Mechanical LREs (M-LREs)

BACKGROUND Previous research  LREs and L2 learning (Kim, 2008; Lapkin, Swain & Smith, 2002; Swain & Lapkin, 1998, 2002; Watanabe & Swain, 2007)  Collaborative tasks and L2 learning  Collaborative tasks versus individual tasks (Kim, 2008; Storch, 1999, 2005, 2007; Storch & Wigglesworth, 2007) Limitations of previous research  Small group interaction and L2 learning (Donato, 1994)  Pair interaction versus small group interaction

PRESENT STUDY

RESEARCH QUESTIONS  Does the number of participants in the interaction affect the fluency, complexity and accuracy of the written texts produced during a collaborative writing task?  Does the number of participants in the interaction affect the amount, focus and outcome of LREs produced during a collaborative writing task?  Is pair or small group interaction more effective for L2 learning?

METHOD  Participants 34 intermediate level learners of Spanish ̵ 7 dyads ̵ 5 groups  Instruments and procedure Day 1:pre-test Day 2:grammar review lesson collaborative writing task Day 9: post-test

DATA ANALYSIS  Written text ̵ Fluency ̵ Complexity ̵ Accuracy  Oral interaction ̵ LREs

DATA ANALYSIS LREs ̵ Frequency ̵ Focus ̵ F-LREs ̵ L-LREs ̵ M-LREs ̵ Outcome ̵ Correctly resolved LREs ̵ Incorrectly resolved LREs ̵ Unresolved LREs

FORM-FOCUSED LRE L1: esquí: esquiaban?... o esquiaron? L2: como:... esquí: L3: esquiaron L2: esquiaban?... eh? L4: esquiaron... porque es un día L2: sí L4: los dos esquiaron

LEXICAL LRE L1: mm cómo se dice travel? L2: viajar L1: u:h... viajar... todo el mundo

MECHANICAL LRE L1: cer:ve:zas:? L2: efe heh heh L3: zeta L4: zeta L2: oh! zeta sí L1: cervezas! ok

INCORRECTLY RESOLVED LRE L1: o consultaba? L2: sí L3: consultó L2: consultó? o consultaba?... qué piensas? L4: mm con:sul:-? L1: es... indefinido porque lleva: no sé L2: pero no es: una acción com- L1: es, sí, es, no no es completa L2: creo que es consultaba? ok está bien... consultaba:

UNRESOLVED LRE L1: u:h... pero: antes... de:el viaje... un: fortune-teller? L2: mhm L1: cómo se dice fortune-teller? L2: no sé L1: un:... clairvoyant? un: L2: heh heh L1: no sé

RESULTS

WRITTEN TEXT: FLUENCY WordsT-unitsClauses GROUPS (n=5) PAIRS (n=7)

WRITTEN TEXT: COMPLEXITY C/TDC/C (%) GROUPS (n=5) % PAIRS (n=7) %

WRITTEN TEXT: ACCURACY Errors E/wordsEFCEFC/C (%) EFTEFT/T (%) GROUPS (n=5) % % PAIRS (n=7) % %

LREs: FREQUENCY LREsTime (min.)LREs/min. GROUPS (n=5) PAIRS (n=7)

LREs: FOCUS F-LREsL-LREsM-LREs No.% % % GROUPS (n=5) % % % PAIRS (n=7) % % %

LREs: OUTCOME Correct LREs Incorrect LREs Unresolved LREs No.% % % GROUPS (n=5) % % % PAIRS (n=7) % % %

COLLECTIVE SCAFFOLDING L1: recomendó que: mm ella:... es en sub- subjuntivo?... después de:... recomendó que? L2: sí sí L1: que: ella: uh... vaya? a: um:... el sur L3: pero es en el pasado entonces es: uh: L1: oh sí uh L3: que ella mm L1: mm: L2: fuera? L3: fuera L1: sí, fuera:

SUMMARY OF RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

QUESTION 1 Does the number of participants in the interaction affect the fluency, complexity and accuracy of the written texts produced during a collaborative writing task?  Groups did not produce much longer texts than pairs  Groups did not produce more complex texts than pairs  Groups produced more accurate texts than pairs

QUESTION 2 Does the number of participants in the interaction affect the amount, type and outcome of LREs?  Groups produced more LREs than pairs  Both groups and pairs produced more F-LREs than L-LREs or M-LREs  Groups produced a higher percentage of correctly resolved LREs than pairs

CONCLUSIONS Groups produced more accurate written texts than pairs because:  they produced more LREs than pairs  and they were able to correctly resolve their LREs more frequently than pairs

QUESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH  Is pair or small group interaction more effective for L2 learning?  Do more LREs mean more L2 learning opportunities in small group interaction?  Do all the learners in the group benefit from the LREs? Or does the learner’s role as initiator, supplier of the information or observer of the LRE have an influence on L2 learning?

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