Units of Oral Expression and Language Learning in Small Group Interaction

Abstract

The subject of this article is a data-based discussion of some possible connections between the tactics of small group oral interaction and language learning. The aim is to map out some ways in which oral interaction in SGW (small group work) may characteristically contribute to language learning, rather than merely hastening the development of specifically oral skills. After surveying previous studies of Ll and L2 learning through oral interaction, an argument is outlined for viewing language knowledge as a largely fragmented, non-homogeneous store, growing partly out of the tactical manipulation of units for specific interactive purposes, rather than a unified and integrated body of knowledge. Units of particular relevance to the study of oral language production—‘satellite units’—are then defined, and their possible relationship to the learning of language is discussed. Data is then presented and analysed in order to demonstrate some of the uses of language forms in oral interaction. It is suggested that through these uses of the formal features of language, learners engage in an aspect of language learning which is peculiar to oral interaction, and which has been largely ignored by most language courses. It is suggested that for some learners at least these features of oral tasks can be a particularly fruitful way of approaching language learning.

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