Specialist Knowledge and Interlanguage Development

Abstract

This study investigates learner's construction of oral texts on topics of specialization. Using the framework of the discourse domain hypothesis, which holds that second language proficiency is acquired with reference to individual, specialized contexts of production, termed discourse domains, the study tests the prediction that learners will construct more independent and coherent texts on such topics. Data were elicited from advanced ESL learners at a U.S. university: Discourse domain talk on academic major topics by five invested subjects is compared with the performance of the same subjects on a general topic and with a control group who talked on two comparable general topics. Analysis focuses on discourse organization, including turntaking patterns and episode structure. Results suggest that text construction is facilitated by learners' expertise and investment in the topic of conversation. Invested subjects constructed more coherent episodes and, in some cases, more independent turns on their topics of specialization. In the absence of such expertise, however, recent rehearsal of topics by some control subjects appeared to permit similarly enhanced discourse organization. Thus, the study reveals a complex relationship between specialized knowledge and text construction that suggests new avenues for future research into topic-related interlanguage variation.