"Information Gap" Tasks: Do They Facilitate Second Language Acquisition?

Abstract

This article reports the findings of the latest of a series of studies conducted to determine the effects of task type and participation pattern on language classroom interaction. The results of this study are compared to those of an earlier investigation (Pica & Doughty, 1985a) in regard to optional and required information exchange tasks across teacher‐directed, small‐group, and dyad interactional patterns. The evidence suggests that a task with a requirement for information exchange is crucial to the generation of conversational modification of classroom interaction. This finding is significant in light of current theory, which argues that conversational modification occurring during interaction is instrumental in second language acquisition. Furthermore, the finding that group and dyad interaction patterns produced more modification than did the teacher‐fronted situation suggests that participation pattern as well as task type have an effect on the conversational modification of interaction.

Negotiation for Meaning and Peer Assistance in Second Language Classrooms

“…These are similar to the T-units and c-units used in previous NfM research, Gass and Varonis 1985;Doughty and Pica 1986;Rulon and McCreary 1986;Pica et al 1989) but with a much more detailed definition that allows 'messy' spoken data to be coded in a principled way. They divide the spoken word into syntactically complete units and can be used to calculate how frequently certain features occur in numbers of speech samples.…”

“…Varonis and Gass 1985;Gass and Varonis 1985;Doughty and Pica 1986;Rulon and McCreary 1986;Pica et al 1989; see also Pica 1994 for an overview). Such studies suggested that information gap tasks transacted by dyads were likely to give most opportunities for NfM.…”

The success of task type in facilitating oral language production in online computer mediated collaborative projects

“…The criteria I estabhshed for both tasks used inthis t study was based in part on priorresearch in second language acquisition (Doughty & Pica, 1986;Pellettieri, 2000;Pica, Kanagy & Falodun, 1993;.Pica, Lincoln-Porter, Paninos & Linnell, 1996) which looked at characteristics oftasks that induced interaction or best facilitated the negotiation of meaning. Being unable to find such tasks that also required students to make full use ofthe resources available ina CALL classroom forced me to create original network-oriented tasks.…”

“…Whether face-to-face or CALL-based, prior studies which make use of communicative tasks (Doughty and Pica, 1986;Gass and Varonis, 1985;Long 1983;Pellietieri, 2000;Pica et al, 1989;Pica et al,1996;Plough and Gass, 1993) have not taken advantage of the resources provided by a networked classroom. Typical jigsaw or info-gap tasks often take the form ofdescribing pictures to determine differences or reorganizing objects on a pasteboard to resemble a picture.…”

Incidental and Intentional Instruction on Discussion Techniques: Assessing Complexity Issue

“…The way that learners manage their conversation to express their meaning at informational level has influential influence on their interlanguage as they use their language potential in turn, discussion, and discourse management [9]. Whether instruction in its incidental or intentional sense has any role in pushing learners to have extended and complex utterances is still open to research.…”