The role of proficiency and pair formation method in language-related episodes: A study of young CLIL learners’ interaction

Abstract

Little is known about young CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) learners’ attention to formal aspects of the target language when engaged in collaborative task-based interaction. Previous research on language-related episodes (LREs) with other populations indicates that certain variables (e.g. target language proficiency or pair formation method) may play a role in the production of LREs. This study investigates the amount, types and resolution of LREs produced by primary education CLIL learners in a collaborative picture-ordering + story-telling task depending on two variables – L2 English proficiency (grade 5 dyads vs. grade 6 dyads) and pairing method (proficiency-matched dyads vs. student self-selected dyads). Findings indicate that young CLIL learners’ interactive behaviour in L2 English, at least in terms of LRE production, does not differ as a consequence of target language proficiency, whereas pair formation method exerts some influence, self-selected pairs producing and resolving more meaning-based LREs. No differences were found for form-focused LREs.

Collaborative writing and patterns of interaction in young learners: The interplay between pair dynamics and pairing method in LRE production

“…As attested in previous studies with EFL schoolchildren, learners were mainly collaborative, at the two testing times. As per type of LREs, the majority had a lexical focus, which also corroborates findings in prior young learner literature (Basterrechea & Gallardo-del-Puerto, 2020;Gallardo-del-Puerto & Basterrechea, 2021;García Mayo & Imaz Aguirre, 2019); similar results were obtained in studies that compared high and low proficiency adult learners in ESL (e.g., Leeser, 2004) and EFL (Basterrechea & Leeser, 2019;Kim & McDonough, 2008;Malmqvist, 2005;Storch & Aldosari, 2013) contexts, with low proficient learners producing mainly meaning-focused LREs. As for resolution, it was the expert-novice dyads who produced the largest amount of resolved LREs in Pladevall-Ballester's (2021), findings that corroborate the benefits of this type of pattern attested in earlier studies (e.g., Oliver & Azkarai, 2019;Storch, 2002).…”

“…However, there is a dearth of studies exploring the extent to which patterns of interaction are influenced by how pairs are established, and if having learners choose their partners or matched proficiency would have a different impact on learners' ability to attend to language. Basterrechea and Gallardo-del-Puerto (2020) found a wider range of patterns of interaction in a study that examined the interplay between pair dynamics and pair formation method in young learners' LRE production, a variable that had previously been investigated in adult EFL contexts (e.g., Mozaffari, 2017) resulting in proficiency-matched pairs producing more LREs, whereas studentselected pairs talked about matters unrelated to the task more frequently, although Gallardo-del-Puerto and Basterrechea (2021) found that it was also the self-selected interactancts who produced more target-like meaning-focused LREs. In the study by Basterrechea and Gallardo-del-Puerto (2020), patterns of interaction of proficiencymatched versus self-selected pairs showed that the latter exhibited not only a wider range of patterns of interaction, but also the types of dynamics which are believed to have a detrimental effect on language development (i.e., dominant/dominant and dominant/passive).…”

Student Negotiation of Collaborative Dialogues: The Roles and Resources Used in Unsupervised Conversations

“…The students were not grouped based on proficiency levels nor by any method other than convenience, as the research on grouping varies quite a bit. It has been shown that pairs with different proficiency levels may promote language learning through beneficial interaction (Ohta, 2001), though varying proficiency levels are not the only factors affecting learning that takes place in partnerships (Gallardo del Puerto & Basterrechea, 2021;Sato & Viveros, 2016;Storch & Aldosari, 2013).…”