The Effects of English Proficiency and Text Difficulty on Collaborative Dialogue During Dictogloss

Abstract

It is well known that L2 learners’ interaction during focus-on-form tasks is influenced by many factors such as proficiency, familiarity, gender, task type and so on. Of these potential factors, this study investigated how learners’ English proficiency and text difficulty affect collaborative dialogue during a dictogloss task. Twenty-four first grade middle school students were divided into six groups of four members in terms of their English proficiency: two high homogeneous groups, two intermediate homogeneous groups, and two high-intermediate mixed groups. The groups were engaged in two dictogloss tasks targeting present and past tense, once with a relatively easy text and once with a more difficult text. Their performances were recorded and analyzed in terms of the amount, type (word, sentence, or discourse level), and outcome (correct, incorrect, or unresolved) of focus-on-form episodes (FFEs). The results revealed that all groups tended to focus on forms including target forms. The mixed and intermediate groups showed the most frequent FFEs and the better resolution of them in dictogloss with an easy text. When the text became difficult, however, the number of FFEs sharply decreased for these groups, indicating that the lower level learners were more sensitive to text difficulty in dictogloss. Also collaborative orientation seemed to be more important than proficiency difference in interaction. These findings suggest that if the teacher selects a proper level of text and promotes a collaborative orientation among learners, middle school students can contribute to and benefit from a dictogloss task regardless of their English proficiency.