Interaction and Second Language Learning: Two Adolescent French Immersion Students Working Together

TLDR

The study argues that dialogue functions simultaneously as a communicative medium and a cognitive tool for learning. The authors analyze language‑related episodes from two grade‑8 French immersion students collaborating on a jigsaw task, noting how they use both L1 and L2 to resolve linguistic challenges while constructing a story. The episodes show that dialogue enacts mental processes and facilitates L2 learning, but the effectiveness varies across student pairs, indicating the task does not uniformly support all learners.

Abstract

This article provides support for a theoretical orientation toward viewing dialogue as both a means of communication and a cognitive tool. Data to support this position come from an analysis of the language‐related episodes isolated in the dialogue of two grade 8 French immersion students as they carry out a jigsaw task. During the task, the students work out a story line and write it out. As they do so, they encounter linguistic problems. To solve them, the students use their first language (L1) and second language (L2) in order to communicate to each other and as tools to aid their L2 learning. The language‐related episodes discussed provide evidence of language use as both an enactment of mental processes and as an occasion for L2 learning. Variation in how other pairs of students in the class perform the task supports existing evidence that the same task does not provide similar occasions for L2 learning to all student dyads.