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Article published In: TASK
Vol. 1:1 (2021) ► pp.71–99

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Unlocking the power of productive classroom talk for early second language acquisition

A study into the effects of a task-based intervention

ORCiD logo with link | KU Leuven, Belgium | Ghent University, Belgium
ORCiD logo with link | KU Leuven, Belgium
Published online: 27 May 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/task.00004.fri
Abstract
This study investigates whether participation in classroom interaction and a specific type of affective priming using parents’ pictures had positive effects on ethnic minority children’s L2 vocabulary acquisition. A quasi-experimental study was set up in which preschoolers-at-risk were engaged in a task-based intervention with different types of affective priming while they were participating in, or overhearing, classroom interaction in the L2. The results of the study indicated significant main effects of (1) the children’s prior proficiency in the second language and (2) their participation in productive classroom interaction on their vocabulary acquisition. A significant interaction effect was found for overhearing and school disliking. For affective priming, no significant effects were found. This present study provides evidence that both participating in, and overhearing, productive classroom talk are powerful ways to boost young children’s L2 vocabulary acquisition.
Article outline
  • Introduction: Equal education opportunities
  • Theoretical framework: Social foundations of language acquisition
    • Social foundations of implicit language learning processes
    • Affective priming and linguistic behaviour
    • Unanswered questions of affective priming
    • Research question
  • Method: Intervention study
    • Design
    • Context
    • Participants
    • Materials
    • Control measures
    • Affective primes
    • Task-based neologism story and test set
    • Procedure
    • Analyses
  • Results
    • Descriptive statistics
    • ANCOVA
  • Discussion
    • The effect of prior L2 knowledge
    • The non-significant effects of affective priming
    • The potential of productive classroom talk
  • Conclusion: Towards more equal education opportunities
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (76)
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