ERIC Number: EJ1167245
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1307-4733
EISSN: N/A
Grammar as a Joint Achievement: Co-Constructions in L2 Interactions
Family, Neiloufar; Durus, Natalia; Ziegler, Gudrun
Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), v9 n1 p30-45 2015
In this study, we present and analyze co-constructions from L2 English data collected at the European School in Luxembourg. Co-constructions are morpho-syntactic structures split across two speakers, in which a second speaker completes a grammatical structure initiated by the first speaker in conversation. The corpus features multilingual 13-14 year old language learners interacting in an English classroom as they work on a collaborative group-writing task. Five types of co-constructions emerge in our data: "locative phrases," "want/let," "copulas," "transitives," and "nominal compounds." The analysis centers on the morpho-syntactic structures involved, with consideration of the sequential environment where co-constructions occur. The featured examples complement and expand what we know about co-constructions in two ways. First, the data suggest that L2 language learners engage in co-constructions just as native speakers (NS) do, irrespective of their L2 learner status. Second, L2 co-constructions, similar to previously reported NS examples, appear to orient to both a) the morpho-syntactic constraints of the language used, as well as to b) the social-interactional context surrounding and structuring the task-in-progress such as the back and forth of talk during a collaborative writing task.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Second Language Learning, English (Second Language), Grammar, Morphology (Languages), Syntax, Intercultural Communication, Secondary School Students, Early Adolescents, Form Classes (Languages), Learning Processes, Oral Language, Language Processing, Sentences, Imitation, Multilingualism, Phrase Structure, Language Patterns
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Luxembourg
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A