An Interactionist Approach to Learner–learner Interaction in Second and Foreign Language Classrooms

The interactionist approach to second language acquisition (SLA) is premised on the notion that conversational modifications that take place during interaction promote second language development. Specifically, interaction allows for comprehensible input, interactional feedback, and opportunities for negotiation for meaning (Gass Mackey 2007; Long 1996). Solid empirical support for these claims comes from a large base of both primary studies and meta-analyses (Keck, Iberri-Shea, Tracy-Ventura, Wa-Mbaleka 2006; Mackey Goo 2007; Plonsky Gass 2011), most of which have focused on interactions between native speaker (NS) interlocutors and language learners. However, language learners in communicatively-oriented language classrooms, especially those in a foreign language setting, engage in conversational interaction in the classroom with other learners far more frequently than they do with native speakers (Adams 2007; Adams, Nuevo, Egi 2011). Therefore, research on learner-learner interaction may in fact be more germane to classroom language learning contexts than research on NS-learner interaction. This chapter begins by describing the basic underpinnings of the interactionist approach and then moves on to present an overview of the research to date on learner-learner interaction, discussing factors that affect the interaction and subsequent learning outcomes, and presenting directions for future research in the field.