Topic and Feedback in Native-Speaker/Nonnative-Speaker Conversation

E Much attention has been given to the role of conversational interactions between native speakers (NSs) and nonnative speakers (NNSs) in second language acquisition (SLA). Investigations have been undertaken into the basis for interactions, such as (e.g., Gass & Varonis, 1985; Pica & Doughty, 1985). The study summarized in this report compared sets of three NS/NNS conversations, each set performed by the same speakers: Two were associated with the completion of problem-solving communication tasks, and one was a free conversation, in which there was no explicit task objective. Evidence for different conditions for interlanguage development occurring in these three two-way tasks (Long, 1980) was examined.