The background literature on the repeating of a conversation partner’s
words, here called conversational shadowing, shows it to be naturally
occurring in L1 acquisition and adult use. This study was motivated by the question
‘What happens when second language learners and native speakers actively
shadow each other in conversation?’ I look closely at conversational
shadowing through transcripts of recorded conversations between two Japanese
learners of English talking with two English native speakers in mixed dyads in which
they were instructed to shadow each other.
First, it was found that the different sets of data emerging from the two Japanese
students reveal that there may be a variety of effective types of shadowing, from
those which may lengthen auditory short-term memory to more interactive and
naturally selective shadowing that includes commenting and questioning. Secondly, it
was found that interactive conversational shadowing gives rise to the types of
conversational adjustments and negotiations that are thought to positively affect
language acquisition (Long, 1983) through their impact on negotiation, noticing,
intake, and uptake. Thirdly, the data highlights different learning advantages for
the non-native speakers (NNSs) when shadowing native speakers (NSs) and when being
shadowed by NSs. Finally, I attempt to place shadowing developmentally within
Vygotskian socio-cultural theory with reference to Bakhtin’s
ventriloquation and to outline a generative action research agenda.
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