Interaction: Activity 1
Unfamiliar words in interaction
Please read the information about interaction before working through these activities.
Look at the following excerpts from the learners’ interviews. When learners do not know the meaning of a word used in an interaction, what do they do?
Think about these questions as you watch the videos below:
- Do you think the learner knew the word ‘arasuji [plot]’ before the interview?
- Did the learner negotiate for meaning? If so, how?
- Do you think the learner might have learned the word as a result of this interaction?
Transcript (PDF)
Maximus Interview
Transcript (PDF)
Please type your answers to the questions in the box below.
When you have finished typing your answer, click to compare your response with the Learner Language staff response.
Apparently, neither Sebastian nor Maximus knew the word ‘arasuji [plot].’ Both made a clarification request. Sebastian first asked the interviewer to repeat the question, “Ano mooichido itte kudasai [Please say (that) again].” Maximus simply asked “arasuji ha dooiu imi desuka [What does ‘plot’ mean?].” Both seem to have understood the meaning correctly since they went on to provide a plot of the movies they liked. Maximus is more likely to have learned the word because he used the word again while Sebastian did not.
