Comprehensible Output as an Outcome of Linguistic Demands on the Learner

Abstract

In view of the theoretical claim that comprehensible input is not sufficient for successful second language acquisition, but that opportunities for nonnative speakers (NNSs) to produce comprehensible output are also necessary (Swain, 1985), the present study sought to describe how second language learners responded linguistically when native speakers signaled difficulty in understanding them and to compare types and frequencies of the learners' responses in relation to different native-speaker (NS) signal types and different communication tasks. The NS signals differed in the extent to which they offered nonnative speakers an open-ended request for clarification or a model to repeat or acknowledge. The tasks differed in the degree of control they gave to NSs and NNSs over the preciseness and relative quantity of information needed to carry them out, and were as follows: (a) an “information-gap” task, in which the NNSs drew their own original picture and then described it to the NSs, who had to reproduce the picture solely on the basis of the NNSs' description; (b) a “jigsaw” task, in which the NNSs and NSs were required to reproduce an unseen sequence of pictures by exchanging their own uniquely held portions of the sequence; and (c) a discussion, in which the NNSs and NSs were told to share their views on the language-learning contributions of the other two communication tasks. Each task was carried out by 10 NNS–NS dyads. Results of the study provided empirical validation for the theoretical construct of comprehensible output and revealed the extent to which its production by NNSs was influenced by the linguistic demands of NS signals of comprehension difficulty and communication tasks. Additional analyses of data indicated that the gender of participants in each dyad played an important role in these results.