Self- and Other-Initiated Modified Output during Task-Based Interaction

This study examines the role self- and other-initiations play in providing opportunities for modified output (MO), which Swain (1995, 1998) and Swain and Lapkin (1995) suggest is important for successful second language acquisition. Thirty-five adult participants—8 native speakers (NSs) and 27 nonnative speakers (NNSs) of English representing 13 different L1 backgrounds—performed three tasks (picture description, opinion exchange, and decision making). The first two tasks were performed in NS-NNS and NNS-NNS pairs and were audiotaped, and the third was completed in NNS groups and was audio- and videotaped. The results showed that both self- and other-initiations provided NNSs with abundant opportunities to produce MO. However, in four of the five interactional contexts examined in the study, significantly more instances of MO resulted from self-initiation than from other-initiation. These results suggest that self-initiations play an important role in prompting MO and that learners need both time and opportunity to initiate and complete repair of their own messages.