TITLE:
The Conversational Outcomes of Task Implementation
AUTHORS:
Jeanne Rolin-Ianziti
KEYWORDS:
Task-Based Interaction; Task-Based Language Teaching; Conversation Analysis; Classroom Research; Teacher Training
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.4 No.1,
February
14,
2014
ABSTRACT: Arguing that tasks are primarily a resource to deploy
interactions in the classroom, the present study uses a conversation analysis
framework to investigate forms of talk resulting from the implementation of the
task-based language teaching approach (TBLT) in the second language (L2)
classroom. On the basis of three extracts selected from naturally occurring
conversations between second semester beginners in French and their teacher as
they are completing a comprehension task and a production task in situ, the study uncovers five types
of interactions, respectively labeled the teaching interaction, the L1 to L2 how do you say exchange, the correctness
interaction, the correction interaction and the repair exchange. Variations
across types are apparent in the turn-taking system and in the sequential
organization of the interactions. The variations are explained by referring to
the characteristics of the two tasks as work plans, as well as to the contextual factors (i.e. the underlying
activity and the classroom organization) that are put into place during the
implementation of the tasks. Finally, the teaching implications of the study’s
findings are discussed, arguing that this
kind of research may be useful for teacher training purposes insofar as it provides classroom input to reflect upon the processes at play during
TBLT implementation.