Negotiated interactions in cross-cultural video-mediated virtual exchanges

Abstract

Motivated by the increasing popularity of service-provider virtual exchanges (SPVEs), in which native speakers (NS) are trained, supervised, and paid by a third-party company to converse about cultural topics with second language (L2) learners, this study examines the potential of L2-NS videoconferencing conversations to foster negotiation of meaning and form-focused interactions. Students enrolled in fourth-semester Spanish classes (n = 20) were tasked with completing four SPVEs using TalkAbroad. Videoconferencing recordings from 40 thirty-minute conversations were transcribed and turns involving negotiated interaction were identified and coded according to who initiated the negotiation (L2 or NS), the negotiation type (i.e. general, cultural, lexical, or grammatical) its success (i.e., successfully or unsuccessfully resolved), and whether there was uptake or not. A Logistic regression was used to identify the factors that predict each type of negotiation and mixed effects model analysis was carried out to determine differences over time. Results indicate that the main factors predicting negotiation in SPVEs are length of negotiation and conversation recurrence. Length of negotiation was found to have a negative impact on the amount of negotiation, negotiation of form, success, and uptake. Conversation recurrence has a detrimental effect on the amount of negotiation and uptake. Familiarity with the interlocutor has a positive impact on grammatical negotiations. These results offer insights into the nature of L2-NS videoconferencing exchanges and provide leads on how to implement this type of virtual exchanges to maximize their effectiveness.

Keywords:

• Computer-mediated communication
• videoconferencing
• negotiated interactions
• SPVE

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The label NS has been problematized as a construct in language research for perpetuating false assumptions about behavior, experience, and identity. To remain in conversation with the previous literature in this area, the label is used here to represent “expert” language users.

2 While other third party products (e.g., Livemocha, Lang 8, Ning) allow learners to interact with individuals within online language learning communities as part of a larger service that often includes grammar lessons and practice activities, a crucial difference of SPVEs is that they focus on providing video-based conversational exchanges with native speakers who are paid for their services.

3 A section is an instance of a course offering. In lower-level Spanish courses at the institution where data was collected, sections met three times a week, had a maximum of 20 students, and were taught by graduate students who could implement slightly different instructional activities but had to follow a single curriculum.