Can language learners hear their own errors? The identification of grammaticality in one’s own production

Abstract

This exploratory study investigated whether learners can correctly identify the grammaticality of items drawn from corrective feedback (CF) on their own oral production or on that of their peers. It was hypothesized that participants would judge less well-established items more slowly, and conversely that entrenched items, whether target-like or not, would be judged more quickly. 20 learners at two proficiency levels judged audio recordings of themselves reformulating errors they had made in small-group conversations. Items had been categorized according to reformulation accuracy and fluency, and the analysis investigated whether judgment accuracy and speed mirrored these categories. Results indicate clear parallels in reformulation and judgment accuracy, but a weak relationship between fluency of production and recognition. The categorization of errors occurring in both production and recognition, perhaps representing “attempts” at meaning-making (Edge, 1989; Willis, 2003), is proposed as the focus of future pedagogical research investigation. To this end, a pedagogical application of the self-judgment methodology is described.