Why some things are better done in tandem?

Céline Horgues (1) , Sylwia Scheuer (1)

1 PRISMES - PRISMES - Langues, Textes, Arts et Cultures du Monde Anglophone - EA 4398

This paper reports on the findings from the initial stages of the SITAF research project, launched at the University of Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 in October 2012. The project, entitled Spécificités des Interactions verbales dans le cadre de Tandems linguistiques Anglais-Français, aims to gather linguistic data, both verbal and non-verbal, from conversational exchanges held by 21 pairs of undergraduate students at the Department of English. The dialogues are both in English and in French, with each “tandem” consisting of a native speaker of English and a native speaker of French, roughly matched for age, interests and communicative needs. The subjects’ interactions were recorded on two occasions separated by a 3-month interval, which provided around 30 hours of data. There are a few aspects to our project that make it a valuable, and fairly unique, contribution to second language acquisition (SLA) research. First of all, we are sampling face-to-face conversations, whereas most studies on tandem learning conducted so far seem to revolve around on-line interactions. Secondly, the dialogues were both audio and video recorded, which allows for multimodal data analysis. Thirdly, the fact that conversational exchanges occur in tandem creates a special communicative and learning environment promoting solidarity and collaboration. The tandem data allows for the analysis of original learning strategies like self-correction, negotiation, requesting and providing assistance, adapting one’s L1. In contrast to the typical L2 learning setting –where certain participants are permanently relegated to the position of novice learners– the hierarchical structure of the tandem is fluid since the expert-learner power relationship evolves as the meeting progresses. The Tandem Corpus offers ample opportunities for various types of analyses and contrastive studies. For instance, the data can be compared with previous research findings about the type of L2 pronunciation errors often leading to communication breakdowns and which native speakers are therefore most likely to correct. Because the study is semi-longitudinal, we will seek to establish which –if any– phonetic problems are amongst the first to disappear and which tend to persist.

Mots clés: Tandem learning; L2 phonology; learner corpus; L2 French/English

Domaines: Linguistique

Céline Horgues, Sylwia Scheuer. Why some things are better done in tandem?. Jose A. Mompeán & Jonás Fouz-González. Investigating English Pronunciation: Current Trends and Directions, Palgrave Macmillan, pp.47-82, 2015. ⟨halshs-01354000⟩