"In mine or in yours?" Task-based information distribution and it's effect on oral interaction: An EFL classroom study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effect of information distribution on interaction in an EFL classroom. The study first discusses the interaction hypothesis and theories of comprehensible input and output, then moves on to a discussion of task and presents an overview of studies that have examined one-way and two-way tasks. In this experiment, the dialogues of eleven dyads of adolescent learners of an intermediate level were recorded completing two tasks, in which they had to narrate cartoon stories. In a counter-balanced design, two stories were manipulated to create one and two-way versions of the task. Audio recordings were transcribed and coded for measures of negotiation of meaning (confirmation checks, comprehension checks, clarification requests), LREs, recasts, repairs and other repetitions. The categories were taken from the literature and are seen as being beneficial for language acquisition. Non-parametric Wilcoxon tests were used to compare performance in the two tasks, for both pairs and individuals. Data revealed significant differences between the two tasks in terms of length of production, which was also affected by the participant's role and proficiency. Individual measures are examined in light of results from previous studies; the two-way task is seen to encourage collaboration between participants, whereas the one-way task encourages participants to accurately convey the message, as shown by results for recasts, morphosyntactical, appropriacy and different repairs.