Cover not available

In:Cross-theoretical Explorations of Interlocutors and their Individual Differences
Edited by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss
[Language Learning & Language Teaching 53] 2020
► pp. 247–266

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 10
Synthesizing cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences

 | Indiana University
Published online: 21 January 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.53.10gur
Abstract
The theoretical and empirical contributions of this current volume are united in their efforts to examine interlocutors and their individual differences. In this final chapter, I demonstrate how the four approaches – the cognitive-interactionist approach (Philp & Gurzynski-Weiss; Pawlak); sociocultural theory (Lantolf; Back); the variationist approach (Geeslin; Long & Geeslin); and complex dynamic systems theory (Larsen-Freeman; Serafini) – while, on the surface may appear to be markedly different, are all moving in harmony towards a more comprehensive understanding of the nature of interlocutors and their individual differences. I will also discuss how this shared advancement provides a more accurate picture of the complex influences that affect second language development. Finally, I will highlight the trends and areas for future research common across all approaches, providing concrete suggestions for those interested in conducting research on this topic.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Who are the interlocutors of relevance?
  • What are the interlocutors’ roles?
  • Which interlocutor IDs might influence SLA?
  • Looking back: What do we know so far about interlocutor IDs?
  • Looking forward: Where do we go from here?
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (46)
References
Atkinson, D., Churchill, E., Nishino, T., & Okada, H. (2007). Alignment and interaction in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 91(2), 169–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Back, M. (this volume). Interlocutor differences and the role of social others in a Spanish peer tutoring context. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 99–123). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Bongiovanni, S., Long, A. Y., Solon, M., & Willis, E. (2015). The effect of short-term study abroad on second language Spanish phonetic development. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 8, 243–283. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Boudreau, C., MacIntyre, P. D., & Dewaele, J.-M. (2018). Enjoyment and anxiety in second language communication: An idiodynamic approach. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 149–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cao, Y., & Philp, J. (2006). Interactional context and willingness to communicate: A comparison of behavior in whole class, group, and dyadic interaction. System, 34(4), 480–493. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dewaele, J. -M., & Alfawzan, M. (2018). Does the effect of enjoyment outweigh that of anxiety in foreign language performance? Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 8, 21–45. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dewaele, J. -M., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2014). The two faces of Janus? Anxiety and enjoyment in the foreign language classroom. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 4(2), 237–274. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Donovan, L. A., & MacIntyre, P. D. (2004). Age and sex differences in willingness to communicate, communication apprehension, and self-perceived competence. Communication Research Reports, 21(4), 420–427. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geeslin, K. (this volume). Variationist perspective(s) on interlocutor individual differences. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 127–157). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Geeslin, K. L., García-Amaya, L. J., Hasler-Barker, M., Henriksen, N. C., & Killam, J. (2010). The SLA of direct object pronouns in a study abroad immersion environment where use is variable. In C. Borgonovo, M. Español-Echevarría, & P. Prévost (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 12th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 246–259). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). The L2 acquisition of variable perfective past time reference in Spanish in an overseas immersion setting. In K. Geeslin & M. Díaz-Campos (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 14th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium (pp. 197–213). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gregersen, T., MacIntyre, P. D., & Meza, M. D. (2014). The motion of emotion: Idiodynamic case studies of learners’ foreign language anxiety. Modern Language Journal, 98(2), 574–588. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. T. (2005). Syntactic priming: A corpus-based approach. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 34(4), 365–399. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., & Plonsky, L. (2017). Look who’s interacting: A scoping review of research involving non-teacher/non-peer interlocutors. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 305–324). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., Geeslin, K., Daidone, D., Linford, B., Long, A., Michalski, I., & M. Solon. (2018). L2 classrooms as multi-faceted sources of input: The synergy of variationist and usage-based approaches. In A. Tyler & L. Ortega (eds.), Usage-based L2 instruction (pp. 293–313). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., Geeslin, K. L., Long, A. Y., & Daidone, D. (2017). Linguistic variation in instructor provision of oral input. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 225–254). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harvey, L. (2015). Beyond member-checking: A dialogic approach to the research interview. International Journal of Research and Method in Education, 38(1), 23–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henriksen, N. C., Geeslin, K. L., & Willis, E. W. (2010). The development of L2 Spanish intonation during a study abroad immersion program in León, Spain: Global contours and final boundary movements. Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 3, 113–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lantolf, J. P. (this volume). I ~ You > I ~ Me: The hidden other in L2 development. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 79–97). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (this volume). Complexity theory: Relational systems in interaction and in interlocutor differences in second language development. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 189–208). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Long, A. Y., & Geeslin, K. L. (this volume). Examining the role of instructor first language in classroom-based oral input. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 159–185). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
MacIntyre, P. D. (1994). Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A causal analysis. Communication Research Reports, 11(2), 135–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). An overview of language anxiety research and trends in its development. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney, & J.-M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 11–30). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1989). Anxiety and second-language learning: Toward a theoretical clarification. Language Learning, 39(2), 251–275. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1994). The subtle effects of language anxiety on cognitive processing in the second language. Language Learning, 44(2), 283–305. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacIntyre, P. D., Babin, P. A., & Clément, R. (1999). Willingness to communicate: Antecedents & consequences. Communication Quarterly, 47(2), 215–229. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mackey, A. J., Park, H. I., Akiyama, Y., & Pipes, A. (2014, March). The role of cognitive creativity in L2 learning processes. Paper presented at the Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages and Linguistics, Washington, DC.
Macqueen, S. (2012). The emergence of patterns in second language writing: A sociocognitive exploration of lexical trails. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McDonough, K., & Mackey, A. (2006). Responses to recasts: Repetitions, primed production, and linguistic development. Language Learning, 56(4), 693–720. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McNeill, D. (2016). Why we gesture. The surprising role of hand movements in communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mercer, S. (2016). The contexts within me: L2 self as a complex dynamic system. In J. King (Ed.), The dynamic interplay between context and the language learner (pp. 11–28). Houndmills, UK: Palgrave.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Naiman, N., Fröhlich, M., Stern, H. H., & Todesco, A. (1996). The good language learner. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Niedzielski, N. (1999). The effect of social information on the perception of sociolinguistic variables. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18, 62–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pawlak, M. (this volume). The effect of proficiency, gender, and learning styles on the occurrence of negotiated interaction in communicative task performance. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 51–75). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
(Ed.). (2012). New perspectives on individual differences in language learning and teaching. Heidelberg: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017). Overview of learner individual differences and their mediating effects on the process and outcome of interaction. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Expanding individual difference research in the interaction approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors (pp. 19–40). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pawlak, M., & Mystkowska-Wiertelak, A. (2015). Investigating the dynamic nature of L2 willingness to communicate. System, 50, 1–9. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Philp, J., & Gurzynski-Weiss, L. (this volume). On the role of the interlocutor in second language development: A cognitive-interactionist approach. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 19–50). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Preston, D. (2000). Three kinds of sociolinguistics and SLA: A psycholinguistic perspective. In B. Swierzbin, M. Anderson, C. Klee, & E. Tarone (Eds.), Social and cognitive factors in SLA (pp. 3–30). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rubin, J. (1975). What “the good language learner” can teach us. TESOL Quarterly, 9, 41–51. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J. (this volume). The impact of learner perceptions of interlocutor individual differences on learner possible selves during a short-term experience abroad. In L. Gurzynski-Weiss (Ed.), Cross-theoretical explorations of interlocutors and their individual differences (pp. 209–243). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Staum Casasanto, L. (2008). Does social information influence sentence processing? Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 30, 799–804.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teimouri, Y. (2017). L2 selves, emotions, and motivated behaviors. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39(4), 681–709. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teimouri, Y., Goetze, J., & Plonsky, L. (2019). Second language anxiety and achievement: A meta-analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Willis, E., Geeslin, K. & Henriksen, N. (2009, October). The acquisition of /θ/ by study abroad learners in León, Spain. Paper presented at the 13th Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Abdi Tabari, Mahmoud, Phil Hiver & Reza Norouzian
2024. Interactions between task complexity, task repetition, and task motivation in L2 writing. Language Teaching Research DOI logo
Gurzynski-Weiss, Laura & YouJin Kim
2022. Unique considerations for ISLA research across approaches. In Research methods in instructed second language acquisition [Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 3], ► pp. 125 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 26 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue