Negotiation of Meaning in Digital L2 Learning Interaction: Task Design Versus Task Performance

In this microanalytical study, designed as part of an interdisciplinary and intercultural virtual exchange project for undergraduate students, the authors investigate the correlation between task design on the one hand and participant interaction during task performance on the other. The task created for this study consisted of 12 low-frequency vocabulary terms nonnative speakers (NNS) were expected to negotiate with their native speaker (NS) counterparts in order to reach mutual understanding and to complete the task successfully. Six NS-NNS dyads (N = 12) carried out the task, each using both videoconferencing (Skype) and text-based real-time chat during the same session in a counterbalanced design. It was found that (a) if a task consists of multiple items to be exchanged, with multiple triggers of potential nonunderstanding, the NNS response gradually moves from task-appropriate response to face-appropriate response during the course of an ongoing task session; (b) in order to ensure successful task completion, the NS tends to respond to NNS face-appropriate behaviour with responses that are both face- and task-appropriate; and (c) NNS nonunderstanding of a particular target item shapes the expectations of both NS and NNS concerning the next task item.