ABSTRACT

The study reported in this article examined the impact of task type on the ways in which learners resolve grammatical language-related episodes (LREs) and whether the level of engagement affects subsequent language development. Data were collected over a six-week period. Thirty-two Iranian second language (L2) learners were paired up to complete a text editing task and a narrative writing task. In order to detect grammatical LREs, all collaborative dialogues were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The LREs were classified into cognitive conflict episodes (CCEs) and non-cognitive conflict episodes (non-CCEs) based on the extent to which pair members deliberated over the target forms and challenged one another’s contributions. The results indicated that the text editing task led to a larger number of CCEs than did the narrative writing task. Moreover, more grammatical CCEs were correctly resolved in the text editing task than in the narrative writing task. In addition, while learners resolved high percentages of the CCEs for both tasks, they could correctly resolve only half of the non-CCEs for these tasks. Finally, learners’ scores on the immediate and delayed posttests showed that the text editing task was more conducive to both short- and long-term learning of grammar.

摘要

本文报告的研究考察了任务类型对学习者解决语法语言相关事件 (LRE) 方式的影响，以及参与程度是否会影响随后的语言发展。在六周内收集数据。32 名伊朗第二语言 (L2) 学习者配对完成文本编辑任务和叙事写作任务。为了检测语法 LRE，所有协作对话都被录音和逐字转录。根据配对成员对目标形式进行审议和相互挑战的程度，将 LRE 分为认知冲突事件 (CCE) 和非认知冲突事件 (non-CCE)。结果表明，文本编辑任务比叙事写作任务导致更多的 CCE。此外，与叙事写作任务相比，在文本编辑任务中正确解决了更多的语法 CCE。此外，虽然学习者为这两项任务解决了高比例的 CCE，但他们只能正确解决这些任务的一半非 CCE。最后，学习者在即时和延迟后测中的得分表明，文本编辑任务更有利于短期和长期的语法学习。