Second-Language Acquisition, Social Interaction, and the Classroom

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Abstract
The following article1 attempts to account for empirical findings (Doughty and Pica 1986; Long and Sato 1983; Pica and Doughty 1985a, b, in press; Pica and Long, 1986) regarding the relative absence in classroom discourse of interactional moves through which learners and their teachers seek clarification or check comprehension of each other's message meaning. Data are presented to illustrate how these interactional features, i.e., confirmation and comprehension checks and clarification requests, assist language comprehension and production, and current theoretical claims are reviewed to emphasize their proposed importance to the second-language acquisition process. Absence of these interactional features in the classroom, it is argued, is a reflection of the unequal participant relationships which shape and are shaped by classroom activities. In support of this argument, examples of discourse from a variety of classroom activities are given. Finally, results are reported from research on two activities believed to promote more equalized relationships among classroom participants—a decision-making discussion, and an information-exchange task. Results on the latter are used as a basis for suggesting ways in which the classroom can serve as a social and linguistic environment more favourable to second-language acquisition.

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