Peer Repair in a Second Language Class: A Conversation Analytic Study

Abstract

Conversation analysis is a significant approach on research of the second language teaching and learning, among which repair has attracted more and more attention from scholars. This study investigates peer repair sequences between three nonnative speakers of English while they engaged in free talk in the second language classroom. 40 minutes of naturally occurring talk between nonnative speakers were collected and analyzed. The present study reports on the data shows two types of peer repair: first, self-initiated and other-corrected; second, other-initiated and other-corrected. The analysis of the peer repair sequences shows that the self-initiated and other-corrected repair sequences follow a pattern of asking for confirmation on the production of a language item and receiving a correction, while the other-initiated repair do not follow the rules of preference for self-correction described in conversation analysis.