Looking for Evidence of Language Learning in Practices for Repair: A Case Study of Self‐Initiated Self‐Repair by an Adult Learner of English

Abstract

This paper uses methods from conversation analysis to investigate a well‐documented practice from mundane conversation (self‐initiated self‐repair) as it is accomplished during the interactions of one adult learner of English. The interactions took place during her classroom talk‐in‐interaction over the course of 18 months. The research describes the placement of repair initiations, the production practices used for initiation and repair, the activity contexts within which the repairs took place, and how the production of repair might give us a clue to emerging syntactic organization of language learners. By focusing on participant‐relevant language practices like self‐initiated self‐repair this research will add to socio‐cultural understandings of language learning and addresses the call for more longitudinal research in the area.

Keywords:

• repair
• language learning
• longitudinal
• conversation analysis
• classroom interaction

Notes

1. While the original research on repair was done on first language speakers interacting with one another, and in English, more recently, research on repair practices in other languages and cross linguistic studies have come out showing how some repair practices are shared by some languages (German and English—Egbert, 1998; Uhmann, 2001, and others) and quite different in others (Japanese and English—Fox, Hayashi, & Jasperson, 1996; Hayashi, 2004) due, in part, to the typology of the languages.

2. The descriptors of student performance levels (SPL) were taken from the website of the Center for Adult English Language Acquisition (CAELA) http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/slspls.html. V =  “Individual can read text on familiar subjects that have a simple and clear underlying structure (e.g., clear main idea, logical order). Can use word analysis skills and context clues to determine meaning with texts on familiar subjects. Individual can write simple paragraphs with main idea and supporting details on familiar topics (e.g., daily activities, personal issues) by recombining learned vocabulary and structures. Can self‐ and peer‐edit for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.” VII =  “Individual can read moderately complex text related to life roles and descriptions and narratives form authentic materials on familiar subjects. Uses context and word analysis skills to understand vocabulary, and uses multiple strategies to understand unfamiliar texts. Can make inferences, predictions, and compare and contrast information in familiar texts. Individual can write multi‐paragraph text (e.g., organizes and develops ideas with clear introduction, body, and conclusion), using some complex grammar and a variety of sentence structures. Makes some grammar and spelling errors. Uses a range of vocabulary.”