Modified output and learner uptake in casual online learner-learner conversation

Abstract

This study aims to close a knowledge gap in online education, specifically how learners modify their output in communication with their peers. The conversations are from an online German language course at a Swedish university, in which learners at the CEFR A1 level participated. The learners’ oral task was to speak German for around 30 min. The recordings were made using Adobe Connect at a time when defective internet connections did not permit the use of a web camera. Thus, this study relies solely on verbal language.The concept of modified output, i.e. the rephrasing or the reformulating of an utterance as a response to feedback, is key to the study, since it is a sign of learner uptake, thereby implicating learning. Prior research shows that modified output has an effect on language development. The present study shows that learners do modify their output, particularly as a result of a self-initiated self-repair. At least 50% of these sequences related to syntax or morphology, while the rest related to lexis. In other-initiated self-repairs, learners rarely modified their output, and self-initiated other-repairs never led to modified output. The data contain no evidence of other-initiated other-performed repairs.