24/10/13

Interactional modifications in
helping learn a foreign language

“even though it does not show up in lesson plans or

syllabuses, …local or interactional scaffolding may
well be the driving force behind good pedagogy, the
hallmark of a good teacher.” (van Lier 1996, p.199).

Interactional modifications

—  IMs are the modifications that take place in communicative

interactions during the negotiation on meaning (i.e.
The conversational structures that arise when
interlocutors seek to prevent a potential problem in
communication or to remedy a problem in
communication):

¡  Comprehension checks

÷  Do you know what a lion is?

÷  Does a bear live in the sea?
÷  (in a story) Was Little Red on her way to see her sister? Her mum?...

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Interactional modifications

¡  Confirmation checks

÷  You were in Madrid last weekend, right?
÷  (s S to a T, during a picture dictation activity)
¢  T: On the top right hand corner you can see the bright, shining sun.
¢  S: Right or left?
¢  On the top right (stress) hand corner, on the right.
÷  (a conversation between T & S)
¢  S: I have two..three brothers
¢  T: So you have three brothers.
¢  S: Yes.

¡  Recasts /Reformulations:

÷  S: Not understand.
÷  T: Oh, you don't understand, Pedro. What is it that you don't understand?
…
÷  S: I goed to the cinema.
÷  T: You went to the cinema, that’s great.

Interactional modifications

¡  Requests for clarification

÷  You said you were playing football yesterday. Did I get it right?
÷  (a conversation between T & S)
¢  S: I have two brothers and a girl.
¢  T: So you have two brothers and a sister?
¢  S: Yes.

¡  Self repetitions, use of questions, a –here-and-now orientation of the

topic, contextualization, gestures, extra- and paralinguistic
strategies…

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—  Interactional modifications have been proved to help

learners understand and learn aspects of the FL/L2.

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