INFORMATION GAP TASKS: Their Multiple Roles and Contributions to Interaction Research Methodology

Abstract

This article describes how information gap tasks can be designed as instruments for data collection and analysis and as treatments in interaction research. The development of such tasks is illustrated and data are presented on their role in drawing learners' attention to second language (L2) forms that are difficult to notice through classroom discussion alone. Because the tasks presented here are closed-ended and precision oriented and require the exchange of uniquely held information, they promote modified interaction among participants and orient their attention to form, function, and meaning. These processes can be observed by the researcher during task implementation. Thus, the tasks reduce researcher dependence on externally applied treatments and analytical instruments not integral to the interaction itself. To illustrate this methodology in use, we report on a study in which six pairs of intermediate-level English L2 learners carried out three types of information gap tasks in their classrooms. They first read passages on familiar topics, whose sentences contained L2 forms that were low in salience and difficult to master but developmentally appropriate. To complete the tasks, the learners were required to identify, recall, and compare the forms, their functions, and their meanings. Data revealed close relationships among learners' attentional processes, their recall of form, function, and meaning, and the interactional processes that supported their efforts.In carrying out the design and implementation of the tasks in this article, we have worked most closely with Kristine Billmyer and MaryAnn Julian, and also Jin Ahn, Marni Baker-Stein, Mara Blake-Ward, Lyn Buchheit, Junko Hondo, Sharon Nicolary, and Jack Sullivan. Among the many graduate students who have provided assistance are Vivian Chen, Yao Chen, Yi-Chen Chen, Cathy Fillman, Leslie Harsch, Hanae Katayana, Ji Hwan Kim, Atsuko Matsui, Lisa Mullen, Amy Nichols, Matthew Salvatore, Margaret Skaarup, Lauren Smith, Cheng-Chen Tseng, Debbie Tsui, Melissa Yi, Wei-Chieh Yu, and Mira Yun.

Awareness of second language inflectional morphology: A case study on Finnish as a second language

“…Morphological modifications have rarely been treated in previous studies (see Pica 1994;Pica et al 2006;Deen 1997) and, as the results of the present study suggest, this is a consequence of the typological particularities of the languages that have been studied. In languages such as Finnish the inflective elements play such a crucial role that the comprehensibility of utterances often depends on them.…”

“…In empirical studies dealing with modified interaction the focus has gradually shifted from the structure and frequency of negotiations of meaning in different tasks or classroom activities (e.g., Doughty-Pica 1986;Cameron-Epling 1989;Pica et al 1993;Rulon-McCreary 1986;Yule-Macdonald 1990) to the type, number and results of linguistic modifications occurring in them (Pica et al 2006). By promoting the noticing and awareness of new linguistic features, the recasts proposed by native speakers have also become of special concern in this field (e.g., Leeman 2003;Philip 2003;Carpenter et al 2006).…”

“…In her comprehensive review article on negotiations of meaning, Pica (1994, 518) has noted that lexical items and larger syntactic units are the most obvious objects of negotiation, and that the modification of morphology is rare (see also Deen 1997;Pica et al 2006). However, this may be a simplified view, because the target languages involved have almost exclusively been languages such as English, in which inflectional morphology plays a rather marginal role.…”

The Quantity and Quality of Language Practice in Typical Interactive Pair/Group Tasks

“…The tasks consisted of interviews, games, descriptions, comparisons, giving and following directions, discussions, consensus, predictions, and writing tongue twisters. Note that none resemble the picture differences, dictogloss, or jigsaw tasks that have figured in previous research on tasks and interaction (Keck et al, 2006; see also Mackey, 1999;Pica, 1987;Pica, Kang, & Sauro, 2006;Swain & Lapkin, 2000.…”

La production écrite vue comme un processus bilingue : dans quelle mesure les TIC peuvent-elles aider ?

“…Chacun apprend en commentant le travail des autres, le feedback des pairs est disponible immédiatement et correspond plus aux aptitudes des apprenants que la rétroaction de l'enseignant (Storch, 2013). Les situations de résolution de problème, de négociation de sens et de forme assurent mieux le repérage que les interactions traditionnelles en classe de langue (Pica, Kang & Sauro, 2006). Dans l'interaction en ligne avec d'autres apprenants ou des locuteurs natifs, l'intervention de l'enseignant peut avoir un effet négatif sur les échanges (Loisy, Charnet & Rivens Mompean, 2011).…”