Promote task-based peer interaction in primary EFL classes and scaffold L2 meaning negotiation through formulaic language and explicit training in negotiation strategies¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The authors close by recommending that primary EFL instructors promote task-based peer interaction and provide learners with more scaffolding for meaning negotiation in the L2. They specify two concrete supports: "formulaic language and explicit training in meaning negotiation strategies". The recommendation rests on their finding that children can negotiate meaning in the L2 and that such negotiation constitutes opportunities for L2 learning.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Task-based peer interaction opportunities in class, with tasks such as spot-the-differences information-gap activities

Constraints¶

• Evidence comes from laboratory conditions with the researcher monitoring the task; commitment to using the target language may differ in the classroom context

Target Learners¶

• primary school EFL learners (aged 9-12) in limited-exposure contexts

Target Learning Goals¶

• L2 meaning negotiation and communicative breakdown repair in English

Claims¶

• Mixed proficiency dyads negotiate for meaning more than matched proficiency dyads, irrespective of time and language [+W]
• All meaning negotiation strategies appear in child EFL peer interaction except comprehension checks, which are absent [+W]
• Mixed dyads outperform matched dyads in meaning negotiation only in the L2 (proficiency pairing × language interaction) [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Elisabet Pladevall-Ballester, Alexandra Vraciu. (2020). EFL child peer interaction: Measuring the effect of time, proficiency pairing and language of interaction. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 10(3), 449-472. http://dx.doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2020.10.3.3