The effect of instruction on the development of L2 interactional competence: Listener responses in Chinese as a second language

Listener responses (LRs) are utterances produced by non-primary speakers (e.g. oh, okay). It is an important component of L2 learners’ interactional competence (IC). Previous studies have indicated that learners develop their capacity of deploying LRs naturally through study abroad programs. However, it remains unknown whether LRs can be effectively learned through classroom instruction, yet it is a critical issue facing language educators and learners because classroom is the primary locus for L2 learning for those without study abroad opportunities. Taking up this issue, this study compares two groups of beginning-level L2 Chinese learners, a control group with regular instruction and an experimental group with extra IC instruction, where authentic materials from L1 speakers' talk were employed to teach specific interactional practices such as LR and repair. Each learner was asked to record two spontaneous conversations with an L1 speaker, one at midterm and one at the end of the semester. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study first identifies specific types of LRs used by beginning-level learners. Statistical analyses then reveal that the two groups’ development from midterm to semester end differs significantly only in reactive expression and follow-up action. Complementing the quantitative analyses, the subsequent conversation analysis discovers qualitative developments of learners in the experimental group; their LRs show not only increased linguistic complexity and greater variety over time but also heightened sensitivity to context and capacity to advance the interaction. These findings suggest that systematic classroom instruction on IC can enhance L2 learners’ ability to engage in real-world interactions, thus supporting that IC is teachable and learnable in the classroom even for beginners with limited linguistic proficiency.