Task-based interaction with low-proficiency EFL learners. The importance of the L1

Task-based interaction with low-proficiency EFL learners.The importance of the L1

Ana Alegría de la Colina (Universidad de Cantabria)[email protected]

María del Pilar García Mayo (Universidad del País Vasco)[email protected]

Lancaster - 13-16 September 2009 2

1. Introduction

The role of the L1 in the learning of an L2: widely studied as a source of cross-linguistic influence (Gass & Selinker, 1992).

This view provides no room for an understanding of language as a cognitive tool (Vygostksy, 1978): language as a mediating tool in all forms of higher-order mental processing.


Sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978) Speaking is a cognitive tool that can be

used by learners to regulate themselves, others and objects.

By speaking about a problem or the procedures for completing a task,

individuals can gain control of the

situation, plan, organize and

coordinate their actions and the

actions of others.

By speaking about a problem or the procedures for completing a task,

individuals can gain control of the

situation, plan, organize and

coordinate their actions and the

actions of others.

The internalization of the socially acquired knowledge has a

regulatory function. Once knowledge

has been internalized, the activity learnt in social interaction can be performed independently.

The internalization of the socially acquired knowledge has a

regulatory function. Once knowledge

has been internalized, the activity learnt in social interaction can be performed independently.

In cognitively

demanding activities,

individuals resort to externalizing their reasoning processes in the form of

private speech (PS) to regain self-regulation

In cognitively

demanding activities,

individuals resort to externalizing their reasoning processes in the form of

private speech (PS) to regain self-regulation


1. Introduction

In collaborative problem-solving activities, PS becomes:

► an essential instrument that allows the speaker and hearer to solve difficulties and build new knowledge

► a mediating strategy to guide behavior and release affectivity


1. Introduction

PS appears spontaneously and mostly in the L1, especially if the speaker does

not have a higher level of proficiency in the L2.

The study of PS and the use of the L1 are, therefore, closely interconnected.


1. Introduction

Recent findings in both foreign language classrooms (Alley, 2005; Antón & DiCamilla, 1999; Brooks & Donato, 1994; Centeno Cortés & Jiménez, 2004) and immersion classrooms (Muñoz, 2005; Swain & Lapkin, 2000):

the L1 may be a useful tool for the learning of the L2.


1. Introduction

o Why a useful tool? The L1 provides: cognitive support to analyze language

(Storch & Wigglesworth, 2003), mutual scaffolding (Antón & DiCamilla,

1999), possibilities of externalizing inner

speech


1. Introduction

In sum, within the sociocultural framework the L1 is viewed as an important tool that provides a cognitive and social space in which learners can help one another during task performance.

It is within this backdrop that the present study was set.


2. The study

Aim: to explore the functions of the L1 in the oral interaction of adult

low-proficiency Spanish EFL learners in three collaborative tasks:

JigsawDictogloss Text reconstruction


2. The study

Research questions:

1. Is there any difference in the amount of L1 use across the three task types?

2. Does each of the tasks trigger different uses of the L1?


Students listen to a text and jot down words to aid recall

Pair members pool their resources to reconstruct text

Text deprived of function words which must be inserted

Each student has part of the information (pictures) which must be exchanged tocomplete the task

Students collaboratively produce a text based on a given stimulus attempt to create a text as accurate as possible are encouraged to make as many revisions as they want

TasksDictogloss(Aural stimulus)

Text reconstruction(written stimulus)

Jigsaw(visual stimulus)


2. The study: Participants 12 pairs of undergraduate (1st year)

students (12M/12F; mean age: 22). Elementary proficiency level (level 1 Waystage).

Degree program in Maritime Studies at the University of Cantabria (Spain).

Content-based ESP course with a reactive and incidental FonF component.


2. The study: Procedure

3 groups of 4 pairs each

Each group performed a different task (all tasks designed with a common content: containerization)

Dialogues were recorded. The talk was transcribed, codified and the quantity of the L1 was calculated as a % of the total use.

Lancaster - 13-16 September 2009 14Lancaster - 13-16 September 2009 14

2. The study: Analysis

The talk was segmented into episodes according to their function

Episode: a segment of conversation in which learners discussed about a particular aspect.

The data revealed that learners used their L1 for two main purposes: metacognition & metatalk



Metacognition (talk about task)

Metatalk (talk about talk)

Clarifying or setting task procedures Clarifying and discussing content Task management (i) Guiding, planning and monitorizing work (ii) Developing strategies (iii) Managing affectivity and releasing anxiety

Lexical episodes Grammatical episodes



Metacognition (talk about task) Clarifying or setting task

procedures

(1) ¿Sólo hay que añadir uno o hay que corregir?

Do we only have to add one or do we have to make corrections?



Clarifying and discussing content:

(2) ¿Y no será que el mejor tiempo significa fácil estiba?

And could it be that the least time means easy stowage?



Task management(i) Guiding, planning and monitorizing work

(3)¿Lo escribes tú o lo escribo yo? Do I write it or do you write it?(ii) Developing strategies (4)Luego lo leemos y lo pasamos a limpio

Later we’ll read it and write it on a clean sheet

(iii) Managing affectivity and releasing anxiety (5)Me cohíbe que me estén grabando I feel uneasy when they are recording me



Metatalk (talk about talk)

Lexical episodes: ¿Cómo se dice ‘ahorro’?

(How do you say ‘ahorro’?)

Grammatical episodes: ‘Mean’ ¿llevará –s o no?

(Will ‘mean’ carry –s or not?)


2. The study: Results

RQ1: Amount of L1 use across tasksDifference closely related to task requirements

Task Jigsaw Dictogloss Text Rec.

Time spent on task (minutes)

46.32 31.55 45.26

% words in L1 55.2% 75% 78%


2. The study: Results Participants performing the jigsaw were

required to report the content of their respective pictures to each other in the L2.

Occassionally they used the L1 for self-correction, expressing helplessness, marking an aside and ending a sentence they were not able to utter in the L2.

A great number of interjections in the L1 as cognitive support of their reasoning in form of PS.

Difference between the % of discourse these episodes amounted to and the distribution of those episodes across tasks (*sig dif)

RQ2: Uses of the L1 (%)

Jigsawepis words

Dictogloss epis words

Text Rec. epis words

METACOGNITIONClarifying instructionsUnderst. meaning Sequencing informat Making meaning PS

Task management Releasing anxiety Others

62.6 52.5 426.4 1.2 3 22

32.7 9*

72.1 51.6 3.332*

8.5* 9.3 13.7

36.8* 17

56.0 43.0 3.8

25.6*

8.5 17

27.1* 12

METATALK Vocabulary Form

37.1 47.412.2*24.8

27.1 48.2 720

44 56.88.235.7

OFF-TASK 0.30 0.7

More form episodes *(J/TR) Vocab Focus on diff aspects

More form episodes *(J/TR) Vocab Focus on diff aspects

* (D/TR) Meaning

* (J/D)Seq inform

* (TR/D)Task management * (J) Releas anx

* (D/TR) Meaning

* (J/D)Seq inform

* (TR/D)Task management * (J) Releas anx

The use of the L1 does not involve off-task behaviorThe use of the L1 does not involve off-task behavior

METACOGNITION (nº episod): Task manag and clarif meaning METATALK (episodes with greatest nº of words )

L1 mostly used for:


Each task type draws the learners’ attention to different language features derived from different task demands

Metatalk

Jigsaw: (Absence of ling input)

Spelling: search for vocabularyConnectors: to organize content

Wide variety of language features: process morphosynctatically to encode meaning

Jigsaw: (Absence of ling input)

Spelling: search for vocabularyConnectors: to organize content

Wide variety of language features: process morphosynctatically to encode meaning

Dictogloss: (Aural input)

Connectors: crucial to organize discourseConcern for spelling

Dictogloss: (Aural input)

Connectors: crucial to organize discourseConcern for spelling

Text reconstruction: (Written input) Determiners Passive voice

Students forced to complete all missing features

Focus directly influenced by the text

Text reconstruction: (Written input) Determiners Passive voice

Students forced to complete all missing features

Focus directly influenced by the text


RQ2: Uses of the L1 across tasks

Metacognition: The category with the greatest number of episodes (fruitful collaboration)

Importance of the PS: very few words, such as interjections, sighs, etc. with a significant semantic load lacking the same cognitive and affective value in the L2

Metatalk: Episodes with a greatest number of words Students devoted a great part of their interaction to

discussing form

The distribution of episodes across tasks shows differences closely connected with tasks demands derived from the type of stimulus provided, thus supporting the claim that task type determines differentiated attention


Strategies

The different use and frequency of the strategies developed by students across tasks further sugggests that the different uses of the L1 were driven by task demands and confirms the importance of the L1 as a cognitive tool.


StrategiesThey used the L1 as a strategy to understand the story and focus attention while they

were externalizing PS to capture meaning, focus attention and generate ideas

J (39%) D (20.7%) TR (57.4%)

to search for synonyms in the L1 and find a key word linked to the appropriate L2 word

J (21.4%) D (20.7%) TR (12.7%)

They used intermittent codeswitching as they were producing in L2 to check whether the L2 produced communicated the idea they intended to convey and was grammatically accurate

J (19%) D (27.6%) TR (27.6%)

Regulation through L1Regulation through L1

Retrieval of L2 terms from memoryRetrieval of L2 terms from memory

Production checkProduction check


3. Conclusion

(A) The L1 is an important tool for low proficiency EFL learners. They make

use of it for:

(i) Task management (clarifying task procedures, organizing and planning work, understanding the content of the prompt) Cognitive support to focus attention and understand meaning

(ii) Discuss grammar and vocabulary: the L1 allows learners to reflect on the L2 and link form and meaning


3. Conclusion

Through the L1 learners can think and self-regulate more quickly and then transfer their cognitive, metacognitive and social skills to the L2.

With the help of the L1 they can perform higher level activities, hence enhancing motivation (crucial for adult learners)


3. Conclusion

These activities allow participants to

- notice their interlanguage gaps - benefit from feedback and further noticing

so turning their attention to form in a natural and more effective way

allow teachers to - discover students’ needs and potential

misconceptions - adjust their feedback in a contingent way - plan subsequent activities


3. Conclusion

(B) There is task-related variation in L1-use.

Teachers should be aware of this fact and act accordingly when planning task-based material.


3. Conclusion

L1 use has potentially positive consequences: it serves social

and cognitive functions, including scaffolded assistance and the creation of opportunities for language acquisition through collaborative dialogue (cf. Swain & Lapkin, 2000)

BUT


3. Conclusions

Potential negative consequences if too much reliance on the L1, the

psycholinguistic rationale for task-based interaction (i.e., stretching learner interlanguage through engaging in communicative tasks) may be undermined (Skehan, 1998).


3. Conclusion

Functional use of the L1 (Macaro, 2005): teachers and learners should use the L2 but switch to the L1 to ensure not only communication but also that more learning has taken place than if the L1 had not been used.


3. Conclusion

It would be desirable for students to be exposed to the L2 when it is used as a cognitive tool so that they could assign sufficient semantic meaning to the expressions used for thinking and self-regulation in the L2, which in turn could facilitate their interaction with native speakers (Muñoz 2005).


References Alley, D C. (2005) A study of Spanish II high school students’ discourse during group work.

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the L2 classroom. The Modern Language Journal 83 (2):233-247. Brooks, F. B., and R. Donato (1994) Vygotskyan approaches to understanding foreign

language learner discourse during communicative tasks. Hispania 77: 262-274. Centeno-Cortés, B, and A. F. Jiménez Jiménez (2004) Problem-solving tasks in a foreign

language: the importance of the L1 in private verbal thinking. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 14 (1): 7-35.

Gass, S, and L. Selinker (eds.), (1992) Language Transfer in Language Learning. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Macaro, E. (2005) Codeswitching in the L2 classroom: A communication and learning strategy. In Non-native Language Teachers. Perceptions, Challenges and Contributions to the Profession, Enric Llurda (ed.) 63-84. New York: Springer.

Muñoz, C. A. (2005) Usos de lengua materna (L1) y lengua meta (L2) en un contexto de inmersión real. Unpublished Master´s thesis. Indiana University.

Skehan, P. (1998) Task-based instruction. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 18, 268-286. Storch, N., and G. Wigglesworth (2003) Is there a role for the use of the L1 in an L2 setting?

TESOL Quarterly 37 (4): 760-770. Swain, M, and S. Lapkin (2000) Task-based second language learning: the uses of the first

language. Language Teaching Research, 4(3): 251-274. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.


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Task-based interaction with low-proficiency EFL learners. The importance of the L1