Cited by 377EFL/ESL Teaching and LearningSecond Language Acquisition and LearningLinguistics and Language Analysis

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 323 of the 325 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 9 of the 247 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

Interaction and instructed second language acquisition

Open access
Loewen, Shawn, Sato, Masatoshi·2018·Language Teaching

Abstract

Interaction is an indispensable component in second language acquisition (SLA). This review surveys the instructed SLA research, both classroom and laboratory-based, that has been conducted primarily within the interactionist approach, beginning with the core constructs of interaction, namely input, negotiation for meaning, and output. The review continues with an overview of specific areas of interaction research. The first investigates interlocutor characteristics, including (a) first language (L1) status, (b) peer interaction, (c) participation structure, (d) second language (L2) proficiency, and (e) individual differences. The second topic is task characteristics, such as task conditions (e.g. information distribution, task goals), task complexity (i.e. simple or complex), and task participation structure (i.e. whole class, small groups or dyads). Next, the review considers various linguistic features that have been researched in relation to interaction and L2 learning. The review then continues with interactional contexts, focusing especially on research into computer-mediated interaction. The review ends with a consideration of methodological issues in interaction research, such as the merits of classroom and lab-based studies, and the various methods for measuring the noticing of linguistic forms during interaction. In sum, research has found interaction to be effective in promoting L2 development; however, there are numerous factors that impact its efficacy.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This review synthesizes instructed SLA research within the interactionist approach, covering input, negotiation, output, noticing, interlocutor and task variables, linguistic targets, contexts, and methods. It concludes that interaction generally supports L2 development, but its effectiveness depends on many learner, task, linguistic, and contextual factors.

Key findings

  • Meta-analytic evidence cited in the review indicates interaction benefits L2 learning: Keck et al.’s synthesis of 14 quasi-experimental studies found a large immediate-posttest effect, and Mackey & Goo’s synthesis of 28 studies found large effects that were clearer on delayed posttests; 64% of those 28 studies were laboratory-based and 36% classroom-based.
  • Interlocutor effects are mixed: L1 speakers often provide richer input, but L2 peers can provide useful feedback and modified output. For example, Sato & Lyster found learners modified errors more after peer feedback than after native-speaker feedback; Shehadeh reported that 93% of self-initiated moves led to modified output in L2–L2 interaction; Adams found 59% of peer feedback episodes led to learning, while Adams et al. found explicit corrections negatively correlated with past-tense gains.
  • Task and participation structure matter: Nassaji reported 58% correct responses after focus-on-form episodes overall, with higher accuracy in dyads (69%) and small groups (66%) than whole-class interaction (48%), and student-initiated episodes (72%) outperforming teacher-initiated ones (46%). Loewen observed that about 13% of students were not involved in direct exchanges, and Newton found roughly 4 vocabulary words gained per 30 minutes of task.
  • Linguistic targets and modality show uneven effects: learners tend to attend more to lexis than morphosyntax; Williams found over 80% of LREs were lexical; Brown’s meta-analysis found 43% of corrective feedback targeted morphosyntax, 28% lexis, and 22% phonology; pronunciation-focused LREs were only 14%, with 90% of those targeting segmental features. Ziegler’s meta-analysis of 14 studies found no statistically significant modality difference between SCMC and face-to-face interaction.

Methods

  • Design: a narrative review of instructed SLA research conducted within the interactionist approach, including classroom and laboratory studies.
  • Data: empirical studies, prior reviews, and meta-analyses on interaction, corrective feedback, negotiation, tasks, individual differences, and computer-mediated communication.
  • Analysis: thematic synthesis organized around core constructs (input, negotiation for meaning/form, output, attention), interlocutor characteristics, task characteristics, linguistic targets, interactional contexts, and methodological issues; no new empirical data or formal meta-analysis are reported.

Limitations

  • The paper states that replication studies are needed, that many previous studies have methodological shortcomings, and that several areas remain under-researched, including individual differences, pragmatics, pronunciation, longitudinal/delayed testing, social and sociocognitive factors, and newer communication modalities.
  • The review also notes mixed or inconsistent findings across studies, for example for task complexity, proficiency pairing, anxiety, and peer feedback effectiveness.
  • Evident from the text: as a narrative review, it does not describe a systematic search protocol or explicit inclusion/exclusion criteria, so coverage may be selective rather than exhaustive.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1017/s0261444818000125

Cites

323 of 323 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

106 No full text of the sources · 47 Sources not found · 44 Own interpretation · 25 No basis given · 22 Not checked yet · 3 Supported so far · 3 Partly supported · 2 Supported · accuracy not yet measured

Show all 110 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 93
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 82
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
142 of 142
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Peer interaction is probably the most common type of interaction in many communicatively oriented classrooms.

    “more research has recently investigated the effects of peer interaction in large part because it is probably the most common type of interaction in many communicatively oriented classrooms.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Learners tend to process language semantically, and if they can grasp the meaning of an utterance without needing to process all of the linguistic features, they will do so.

    “Learners tend to process language semantically, and if they can grasp the meaning of an utterance without needing to process all of the linguistic features, they will do so.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Personality and learning styles influence interaction.

    “Furthermore, individual differences such as personality and learning styles can reasonably be assumed to influence interaction (Dewaele 2017).”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Learners will report, at minimum, something that they are aware of noticing when asked to report what they were thinking at a stimulus.

    “with the assumption that learners will report, at minimum, something that they are aware of noticing.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Eye gaze focus and duration correspond with cognitive attention (an eye-mind link).

    “under the assumption of an eye-mind link in which the focus and duration of eye gaze is said to correspond with cognitive attention”
5 of 5

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

Cites

Show all 325 references

Research works printed but not linked: 13

  1. Trofimovich P. , A. Ammar & E. Gatbonton (2007). How effective are recasts: The role of attention, memory, and analytical ability. In A. Mackey (ed.), 171–195.
  2. Sagarra N. (2007). From CALL to face-to-face interaction: The effect of computer-delivered recasts and working memory on L2 development. In A. Mackey (ed.), 229–248.
  3. Long, 1996, Handbook of research on language acquisition, 413
  4. Krashen, 2003, Explorations in language acquisition and use
  5. Carroll, 1981, Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude, 83
  6. Jeon K. S. (2007). Interaction-driven L2 learning: Characterizing linguistic development. In A. Mackey (ed.), 379–403.
  7. Long, 2007, Problems in SLA
  8. Gass, 1986, Talking to learn: Conversation in second language interaction, 327
  9. Carroll, 2002, Modern language aptitude test (MLAT). Manual 2002 edition
  10. 10.1177/1362168814563200 · DOI
  11. Loewen S. & T. Nabei (2007). Measuring the effects of oral corrective feedback on L2 knowledge. In A. Mackey (ed.), 361–377.
  12. Dewaele J.-M. (2017). Personality and anxiety. In S. Loewen & M. Sato (eds.), 433–450.
  13. Ferguson, 1975, Toward a characterization of English foreigner talk, Anthropological Linguistics, 17, 1

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 101–200 of 373

Metadata

Authors
Loewen, S., & Sato, M.
Affiliations
  • Michigan State University (US)
  • Universidad Andrés Bello (CL)
Venue
Language Teaching
Published
2018-06-07
Volume
51
Issue
3
Pages
285-329
ISSN
  • 0261-4448 (ISSN-L)
  • 1475-3049
OpenAlex
W2804104977
Cited by
377
References
325
Citations by year
2026: 49 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 50 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 77 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 5
FWCI
198.26
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Language Teaching (publishedVersion)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Repositorio Institucional Académico , Sistema de Bibliotecas Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB) (Universidad Andrés Bello (UNAB)) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Second Language Acquisition and Learning
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Linguistics and Language Analysis
Keywords
interactionism, instructed second language acquisition, classroom interaction, negotiation of meaning, input, output, peer interaction, task complexity, individual differences, computer-mediated interaction, noticing, second language proficiency

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-11, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-11 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Cited sources are checked with a language model’s help (gpt-6-sol).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review