Negotiation of meaning in child interactions

This research examines conversational interactions between children, a group generally overlooked in second language acquisition (SLA) research. Specifically, the research focuses on (a) whether children can negotiate for meaning, (b) what strategies they use, and (c) whether there are differences between the ways adults and primary school children negotiate for meaning. Some possible effects of negotiation for meaning on child SLA are also explored. Students (n = 192) from age 8 to 13, were paired to form 96 age- and gender-matched dyads. The pairs worked together on 2 communication tasks: a one-way and a two-way task. From the transcriptions made of their conversations it was apparent that, like adults, children also negotiate for meaning and use a variety of strategies to do so. Although the pattern of use by children seems to differ from that of adults, the differences are not categorical but, rather, are manifest in the proportional use of particular strategies. Further, the evidence indicates that, like adults, primary school learners also benefit from the process of negotiation for meaning. It appears to provide them with the opportunity to receive comprehensible input, to produce comprehensible output, and to obtain feedback on their attempts. The results show that tasks that promote negotiation for meaning can be undertaken successfully by primary school second language (L2) learners, and provide evidence that there is a valid argument for making use of such pedagogical practice in L2 teaching for this age group of learners. The differences between the child and adult findings (see Oliver, 1995) highlight the fact that findings from adult studies cannot be generalized to child studies without adequate and appropriate research involving child learners.