Alison Mackey

Stimulated Recall Methodology in Second Language Research

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction to Introspective Methods. Introspection and Second Language Research. Characterization of Stimulated Recall. Using Stimulated Recall Methodology. Limitations and Additional Uses. Appendices.

Input, Interaction, and Second Language Development: An Empirical Study of Question Formation in ESL.

This study examines the relationship between different types of conversational interaction and SLA. Long’s (1996) updated version of the interactionist hypothesis claims that implicit negative feedback, which can be obtained through negotiated interaction, facilitates SLA. Similar claims for the benefits of negotiation have been made by Pica (1994) and Gass (1997). Some support for the interaction hypothesis has been provided by studies that have explored the effects of interaction on production (Gass & Varonis, 1994), on lexical acquisition (Ellis, Tanaka, & Yamazaki, 1994), on the short-term outcomes of pushed output (see Swain, 1995), and for specific interactional features such as recasts (Long, Inagaki, & Ortega, 1998; Mackey & Philp, 1998). However, other studies have not found effects for interaction on grammatical development (Loschky, 1994). The central question addressed by the current study was: Can conversational interaction facilitate second language development? The study employed a pretest-posttest design. Adult ESL learners (N = 34) of varying L1 backgrounds were divided into four experimental groups and one control

HOW DO LEARNERS PERCEIVE INTERACTIONAL FEEDBACK

This study was designed to test the Fundamental Difference Hypothesis (Bley-Vroman, 1988), which states that, whereas children are known to learn language almost completely through (implicit) domain-specific mechanisms, adults have largely lost the ability to learn a language without reflecting on its structure and have to use alternative mechanisms, drawing especially on their problem-solving capacities, to learn a second language. The hypothesis implies that only adults with a high level of verbal analytical ability will reach near-native competence in their second language, but that this ability will not be a significant predictor of success for childhood second language acquisition. A study with 57 adult Hungarian-speaking immigrants confirmed the hypothesis in the sense that very few adult immigrants scored within the range of child arrivals on a grammaticality judgment test, and that the few who did had high levels of verbal analytical ability; this ability was not a significant predictor for childhood arrivals. This study replicates the findings of Johnson and Newport (1989) and provides an explanation for the apparent exceptions in their study. These findings lead to a reconceptualization of the Critical Period Hypothesis: If the scope of this hypothesis is limited to implicit learning mechanisms, then it appears that there may be no exceptions to the age effects that the hypothesis seeks to explain.

The Effects of Task Repetition on Linguistic Output.

This article explores form/meaning relationships, focussing on the use learners make of their internal L2 linguistic resources as a function of focus on meaning. Native speakers ofEnglish watched video segments 4 times while recording their own on-line rendition in Spanish. One group watched the same video 3 times and the other group watched different videos each time. At Time 4 both experimental groups saw a new video. A control group saw videos only at Time 1 and Time 4. Analyses were conducted on the basis of overall proficiency, morphosyntax, and lexical sophistication. The results provide limited support for the prediction of improvement over time for the group that saw the same video, but no support for a “carryover” effect when the content changed.

Interactional feedback and children’s L2 development

The relationship between interactional feedback and second language learning has been the focus of much recent research. Studies have examined the type and effectiveness of interactional feedback in a range of different settings and contexts. However, most of the existing research has focused on adults, despite the fact that there is general agreement that age plays an important role in second language learning outcomes. In the current study, we explored the effects of interactional feedback on children’s L2 development in a pretest/posttest design. Twenty-two child ESL learners carried out communicative tasks that provided contexts for targeted forms and interactional feedback to occur. The children interacted in dyads with adult native speakers. During a 3-day treatment period, the experimental group (n=11) received interactional feedback in response to their non-targetlike production of question forms, while the control group (n=11) interacted, but did not receive feedback. Results showed that the experimental group improved more than the control group in terms of question formation. This study that children developed following interactional feedback just as adults have been shown to. Interestingly, the children’s interlanguage seemed to be impacted by feedback relatively quickly, while similar studies with adults have demonstrated more delayed effects.

Data elicitation for second and foreign language research

Contents: Preface. Introduction. Psycholinguistic Approaches. Cognitive Processes, Capacities, and Strategies. Language-Focused Research. Interaction-Based Research. Context-Based Research. Survey-Based Research. Classroom Research.

Frequency Effects and Second Language Acquisition: A Complex Picture?

In this response to Elliss target article on frequency in language processing, language use, and language acquisition, we argue in favor of a role for frequency in several areas of second language acquisition, including interactional input and output and speech processing. We also discuss areas where second language acquisition appears to proceed along its own route and at its own pace regardless of the frequency of the input, as well as areas where input is infrequent but acquisition appears to be unimpeded. Our response is intended to highlight the complexity of the task of deciphering the role and importance of frequency.

Research methods in second language acquisition : a practical guide

List of Contributors vii 1 Introduction 1 Alison Mackey and Susan M. Gass Part I Data Types 5 2 How to Use Foreign and Second Language Learner Corpora 7 Sylviane Granger 3 Formal Theory-Based Methodologies 30 Tania Ionin 4 Instructed Second Language Acquisition 53 Shawn Loewen and Jenefer Philp 5 How to Design and Analyze Surveys in Second Language Acquisition Research 74 Zoltan Dornyei and Kata Csizer 6 How to Carry Out Case Study Research 95 Patricia A. Duff 7 How to Use Psycholinguistic Methodologies for Comprehension and Production 117 Kim McDonough and Pavel Trofimovich 8 How to Research Second Language Writing 139 Charlene Polio 9 How to Do Research on Second Language Reading 158 Keiko Koda 10 How to Collect and Analyze Qualitative Data 180 Debra A. Friedman Part II Data Coding, Analysis, and Replication 201 11 Coding Second Language Data Validly and Reliably 203 Andrea Revesz 12 Coding Qualitative Data 222 Melissa Baralt 13 How to Run Statistical Analyses 245 Jenifer Larson-Hall 14 How to Do a Meta-Analysis 275 Luke Plonsky and Frederick L. Oswald 15 Why, When, and How to Replicate Research 296 Rebekha Abbuhl Index 313

THE CASE AGAINST THE CASE AGAINST RECASTS

In the previous 20 years, more than 60 studies have been carried out within the input and interaction approach to SLA (Long, 2007; Mackey 2012), many of which have found positive associations between different types of recasts and the learning of a range of linguistic forms for a number of different second languages (L2s), in different learning contexts, with adults and with children. However, the following claims also appear: (a) recasts are not effective, (b) recasts are effective only in laboratories and not in classrooms, and (c) other types of feedback are more effective when compared with recasts. We demonstrate important methodological and interpretative problems in the small number of studies on which these negative claims are based, including issues with (a) modified output opportunities, (b) single-versus-multiple comparisons, (c) form-focused instruction, (d) prior knowledge, and (e) out-of-experiment exposure. We conclude by suggesting that making a case against recasts is neither convincing nor useful for advancing the field and that more triangulated approaches to research on all types of corrective feedback, employing varied and rigorous methodological designs, are necessary to further our understanding of the role of corrective feedback in L2 learning.

Beyond Production: Learners' Perceptions about Interactional Processes.

The interaction hypothesis of second language acquisition and associated work by Gass (Input, Interaction, and the Second Language Learner, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, NJ, 1997), Long (The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition, in: W.C. Ritchie, T.K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of Language Acquisition, Volume 2: Second Language Acquisition, Academic Press, New York, 1996, pp. 413–468), Pica (Language Learning 44 (1994) 493) and Swain (Three functions of output in second language learning, in: G. Cook, B. Seidlhofer (Eds.), Principle and Practice in Applied Linguistics: Studies in Honour of H.G. Widdowson, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1995, pp. 125–144) suggest that negotiated interaction facilitates SLA. Researchers have claimed that developmentally beneficial interactional opportunities for learners include obtaining comprehensible input, receiving feedback, being pushed to make targetlike modifications in output, and having opportunities to test linguistic hypotheses. The current study focuses on learners’ roles in relation to these interactional processes, and examines learners’ perspectives in relation to researchers’ claims about interactional benefits. Forty-six learners of ESL from different L1 backgrounds were videotaped while interacting with peers, a teacher, and native speakers in intact classrooms and dyadic settings. The learners later viewed the tapes and introspected about their thoughts at the time of the original interactions. Results suggest that there was substantial overlap between the researchers’ claims and learners’ comments in relation to many of the interactional opportunities. A qualitative exploration of the learners’ perspectives revealed interesting insights into their perceptions about interactional processes. Overall, this study indicates that interaction research could profit from utilizing learners’ perspectives to supplement production data in the ongoing debate about the potentially beneficial processes of interaction.