The Incidental Development of L2 Proficiency in NS-NNS Email Interactions

Authors

  • Glenn Stockwell Kumamoto Gakuen University
  • Michael Harrington The University of Queensland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v20i2.337-359

Keywords:

Incidental Syntactic Development, Computer-mediated Communication, Authentic Interaction

Abstract

Recent research suggests that email can be a powerful motivator for authentic L2 interaction, but little is known about the efficacy of this medium in the development of target language proficiency. The present study addresses this issue by examining email exchanges between university learners of Japanese as a foreign language and native Japanese university students. Of interest is the effect of email interactions on the incidental development L2 syntax and vocabulary as reflected in both quantitative and qualitative measures. Messages sampled at regular intervals over a 5-week collection period indicated a reliable increase in syntactic development as reflected in several measures of structural mastery as well as in qualitative ratings supplied by native speaking raters. There was no evidence of quantitative development for vocabulary, but qualitative ratings did show a small improvement over the collection period. A sharp drop-off was noted between the first and the second samples across all measures, with learner performance then improving steadily till the end of the study. The findings are related to an interactionist account of L2 development that is embedded in the framework of computer-mediated communication (CMC). Issues in research methodology are also discussed.

Author Biographies

  • Glenn Stockwell, Kumamoto Gakuen University

    Glenn Stockwell is Associate Professor in the School of International Economics at Kumamoto Gakuen University, Japan. He has published in the areas of CALL, CMC, and second language education.

  • Michael Harrington, The University of Queensland

    Michael Harrington is Senior Lecturer in Second Language Acquisition and Linguistics at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He has published in the areas of second language processing, CALL, and applied psycholinguistics.

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2013-01-14

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How to Cite

Stockwell, G., & Harrington, M. (2013). The Incidental Development of L2 Proficiency in NS-NNS Email Interactions. CALICO Journal, 20(2), 337-359. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v20i2.337-359