Research has shown that tasks provide second language (L2) learners with many opportunities to learn the L2. Task repetition has been claimed to benefit L2 learning since familiarity with procedure and/or content gives learners the chance to focus on more specific aspects of language. Most research on task repetition has focused on adult populations, but child learners are an under-researched group. The same goes for first language (L1) use during L2 interaction, which has been mainly studied among adult L2 learners whereas little is known about L1 use among child L2 learners interacting while they complete communicative tasks. This study explores to what extent and for which purposes children in an English as a foreign language (EFL) setting use their shared L1 (Spanish). Furthermore it also considers how task repetition (exact vs. procedural task repetition) influences their L1 use. Forty-two EFL learners worked in pairs while they completed a spot-the-difference task twice. Our findings showed a significant decrease in L1 use when learners repeated the task in the two conditions but a minor effect of task repetition on the functions the L1 served.
AhmadianM.J.TavakoliM. (2011). The effects of simultaneous use of careful online planning and task repetition on accuracy, complexity, and fluency in EFL learners’ oral production. Language Teaching Research, 15, 35–59.
2.
Alegría de la ColinaA.García MayoM.P. (2009). Oral interaction in task-based EFL learning: The use of the L1 as a cognitive tool. IRAL: International Review of Applied Linguistics, 47, 325–345.
3.
AlleyD.C. (2005). A study of Spanish II high school students’ discourse during group work. Foreign Language Annals, 38, 250–257.
4.
AntónM.DiCamillaF.J. (1998). Socio-cognitive functions of L1 collaborative interaction in the L2 classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 54, 314–342.
5.
AzkaraiA.García MayoM.P. (2015). Task-modality and L1 use in EFL oral interaction. Language Teaching Research, 19, 550–571.
6.
Bret BlascoA. (2014). L2 English young learners’ oral production skills in CLIL and EFL settings: A longitudinal study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain.
7.
BrooksF.B.DonatoR. (1994). Vygotskyan approaches to understanding foreign language learner discourse during communicative tasks. Hispania, 77, 262–274.
8.
ButlerY.G. (2015). English language education among young learners in East Asia: A review of current research (2004–2014). Language Teaching, 48, 303–342.
9.
BygateM. (2001). Effects of task repetition on the structure and control of language. In: BygateM.SkehanP.SwainM. (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 23–48). Harlow: Longman.
10.
BygateM. (2006). Areas of research that influence L2 speaking instruction. In: Uso-JuanE.Martinez-FlorA. (Eds.), Current trends in the development and teaching of the four language skills (pp. 159–186). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
11.
CohenJ. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. 2nd edition. New York: Academic Press.
12.
DiCamillaF.J.AntónM. (2012). Functions of L1 in the collaborative interaction of beginning and advanced second language learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 22, 160–188.
13.
EneverJ. (Ed.). (2011). Early language learning in Europe. London: British Council.
14.
FosterP.TonkynA.WigglesworthG. (2000). Measuring spoken language: A unit for all reasons. Applied Linguistics, 21, 354–375.
15.
García MayoM.P. (Ed.) (2007). Investigating tasks in formal language learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
16.
García MayoM.P. (Ed.) (forthcoming) Learning foreign languages in primary school: Research insights. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
17.
García MayoM.P.Alcón SolerE. (2013). Input, output. The interactionist framework. In: HerschensohnJ.Young-ScholtenM. (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 209–229). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
García MayoM.P.García LecumberriM.L. (Eds.) (2003). Age and the acquisition of English as a foreign language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
19.
García MayoM.P.Imaz AgirreA. (forthcoming) Task repetition and its impact on EFL children’s negotiation of meaning strategies and pair dynamics: An exploratory study. The Language Learning Journal.
20.
García MayoM.P.Imaz AgirreA.AzkaraiA. (forthcoming). Task repetition in EFL child oral interaction. In: AhmadianM.García MayoM. P. (Eds.), Recent perspectives on task-based language learning and teaching. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
21.
GassS.MackeyA.Álvarez-TorresM.J.Fernández-GarcíaM. (1999). The effects of task repetition on linguistic output. Language Learning, 49, 549–581.
22.
HawkesM. (2012). Using task repetition to direct learner attention and focus on form. ELT Journal, 66, 327–336.
23.
KimY. (2013). Promoting attention to form through task repetition in a Korean EFL context. In: McDonoughK.MackeyA. (Eds.), Second language interaction in diverse educational contexts (pp. 3–24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
24.
KimY.Tracy-VenturaN. (2013). The role of task repetition in L2 performance development: what needs to be repeated during task-based interaction?System, 41, 829–840.
25.
LobanW. (1966). The language of elementary school children. Research Report no. 1. Champaign, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
26.
LongM.H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In: RitchieW.C.BhatiaT.K. (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413–468). New York: Academic Press.
27.
MackeyA.KanganasA.P.OliverR. (2007). Task-familiarity and interactional feedback in child ESL classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 41, 285–312.
28.
McWhinneyB. (2000). The CHILDES project: tools for analyzing talk. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
29.
MooreP.J. (2013). An emergent perspective on the use of the first language in the English-as-a-foreign-language classroom. Modern Language Journal, 97, 239–253.
30.
MuñozC. (Ed.). (2006). Age and the rate of foreign language learning. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
31.
MuñozC. (2007). Cross-linguistic influence and language switches in L4 oral production. Vigo International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4, 73–94.
32.
NikolovM.Mihaljević DjigunovićJ. (2011). All shades of every color: An overview of early teaching and learning of foreign languages. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 31, 95–119.
33.
OliverR. (1995). Negative feedback in child NS–NNS conversation. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 17, 459–81.
34.
OliverR. (1998). Negotiation of meaning in child interactions. The relationship between conversational interaction and second language acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 82, 372–386.
35.
OliverR. (2002). The patterns of negotiation for meaning in child interactions. Modern Language Journal, 86, 97–111.
36.
PatanasornC. (2010). Effect of procedural content and task repetition on accuracy and fluency in an EFL context. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northern Arizona University, AZ, USA.
37.
PhilpJ.OliverR.MackeyA. (2008). Child’s play? Second language acquisition and the younger learner in context. In: PhilpJ.OliverR.MackeyA. (Eds.), Second language acquisition and the younger learner: Child’s play? (pp. 3–23). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
38.
PicaT.KangH-S.SauroS. (2006). Information gap tasks: their multiple roles and contributions to interaction research methodology. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 28, 301–338.
39.
PinterA. (2007). Some benefits of peer–peer interaction: 10-year-old children practicing with a communication task. Language Teaching Research, 11, 189–207.
40.
PloughI.GassS.M. (1993). Interlocutor and task-familiarity: effects on interactional structure. In: CrookesG.GassS.M. (Eds.), Tasks and language learning: integrating theory and practice (pp. 35–56). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
41.
SampleE.MichelM. (2014). An exploratory study into trade-off effects of complexity, accuracy and fluency in young learners’ oral task repetition. TESL Canada Journal, 31, 23–46.
42.
SamudaV.BygateM. (2008). Tasks in second language learning. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
43.
ScottV.M.de la FuenteM.J. (2008). What’s the problem? L2 learners’ use of the L1 during consciousness-raising, form-focused tasks. Modern Language Journal, 92, 100–113.
44.
ShehadehA.CoombeC.A. (Eds.). (2012). Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts: Research and implementation. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
45.
ShintaniN. (2012). Repeating input-based tasks with young beginner learners. RELC Journal, 43, 39–51.
46.
ShintaniN. (2014). Using tasks with young beginner learners: The role of the teacher. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 279–294.
47.
StorchN. (2009). The nature of pair interaction: Learners’ interaction in an ESL class: Its nature and impact on grammatical development. Berlin: VDM Verlag.
48.
StorchN.AldosariA. (2010). Learners’ use of first language (Arabic) in pair work in an EFL class. Language Teaching Research, 14, 355–375.
49.
SwainM.LapkinS. (1998). Interaction and second language learning: two adolescent French immersion students working together. Modern Language Journal, 82, 320–337.
50.
SwainM.LapkinS. (2000). Task-based second language learning: the uses of the first language. Language Teaching Research, 4, 251–274.
51.
SwainM.LapkinS. (2001). Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects. In: BygateM.SkehanP.SwainM. (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching and assessment (pp. 99–118). London: Pearson Education.
52.
TogniniR.OliverR. (2012). L1 use in primary and secondary foreign language classrooms and its contribution to learning. In: Alcón SolerE.Safont JordáM.P. (Eds.), Discourse and learning across L2 instructional contexts (pp. 53–78). Amsterdam: Rodopi.
53.
VillamilO.S.de GuerreroM.C.M. (1996). Peer revision in the L2 classroom: Social-cognitive activities, mediating strategies, and aspects of social behavior. Journal of Second Language Writing, 5, 51–75.
