A contrastive analysis of native and non-native speaker interviews

1. The structure of spoken English: A contrastive analysis of native and non-native speaker interviews. Pascual Pérez-Paredes D. Filología Inglesa, U. Murcia www.perezparedes.es

2. There has been a distinct shortage of information and evidence available to linguists, and this gives rise to a particular balance between speculation and fact in the way in which we talk about our subject. In linguistics up till now we have been relying very heavily on speculation. This is not a criticism; it is a fact of life. John Sinclair (2004:9)

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4. The structure of spoken English: A contrastive analysis of native and non-native speaker interviews. Discuss: pair/group work

5. 1. The Oral Proficiency Interview 2. Research methodology 3. Learner language 4. Native language 5. Moving from here The structure of spoken English: A contrastive analysis of native and non-native speaker interviews.

6. How to tell the difference between two different registers? Preliminary question

7. Fiction and conversation?

8. Academic language and conversation?

9. What do you expect from these different registers in terms of language characteristics?

10. Why is that?

11. Language is conventional

12. What do we know about spoken interaction/conversation?

13. What do we know about conversation? • Shared context: ellipsis, pro-forms,deictics, • High frequency of pronouns • High frequency of “inserts” • Avoidance of elaboration: low density of lexical words • Shorter phrases • Higher frequency of verbs and adverbs • Avoidance of specification of meaning • Interactivennes: co-constructed text (negation, q. Tags, vocatives, attention signalling) • Expression of stance • Real time production¡: add-on strategy

14. Pictures used as cues and prompters 1. The OPI

15. Why is it interesting to find out about registers from a linguistic perspective? 1. The OPI

16. Why is it intresting to find out about registers from a linguistic perspective? A university education requires the ability to read and understand academic prose, a variety that is extremely different from face-to-face conversation. Further, students must learn how to produce written texts from many […] One of the main goals of a university education is to learn the specialized register of a particular profession, whether electrical engineering, chemistry, sociology, finance, or English education. Success requires learning the particular language patterns that are expected for particular situations and communicative purposes. Biber & Conrad (2009:3)

17. What kind of language do you expect to find after this prompt? 1. The OPI

18. Can we expect differences in the NS & learner, NNS groups? 1. The OPI

19. Can we expect differences in the NS & learner, NNS groups? 1. The OPI Pérez-Paredes, P., & Sánchez Tornel, M. (2015). A multidimensional analysis of learner language during story reconstruction in interviews. In M. Callies & S. Götz (Eds.), Learner Corpora in Language Testing and Assessment. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

20. Based on evidence, not on opinion or speculation Evidence=data Data=language corpora Corpus linguistics 2. Research methodology

21. 2. Research methodology: subjects • LOCNEC • British component of CAOS-E • 78 INTERVIEWS Native speaker language • Spanish learners • LINDSEI-ES • 50 INTERVIEWS Learner language

22. 2. Research methodology: OPI • Set topic1 • Free discussion2 • Picture description3

23. 2. Research methodology: data • Transcription1 • Mark-up2 • POS tagged3 • Multidimensional analysis4

24. 2. Research methodology: data Distribution of co-ocurring features Word categories Syntactic constructions Vocabulary

25. 2. Research methodology: data • How interactive?D1 • How narrative?D2 • How explicit?D3 • How persuasive?D4 • How abstract?D5

26. • How interactive? • Private verbs • That-deletion • Contractions • Present tense verbs • 2nd person pronouns • Do as pro-werb • Deictics

27. 3. Learner language

28. 43.4 • How “interactive” are LINDSEI ES speakers?

29. 3. Learner language • Verbs • Non-past tense verbs • Pronouns • Nouns • 3rd person pronouns • Clausal coordination • Concrete nouns • 2nd person pronouns • Animate nouns

32. 4. NS language

33. 24.6 • How “interactive” are NS speakers?

34. 4. NS language • Verbs • Pronouns • Nouns • Non-past tenses • 3rd person pronouns • Prepositions • Adverbs • Mental verbs • Adjectives • It pronouns • 1st person pronouns • Existential verbs • Activity verbs • 2nd person pronouns • Concrete nouns • Inifinitives

35. 3. Learner language • Verbs • Non-past tense verbs • Pronouns • Nouns • 3rd person pronouns • Clausal coordination • Concrete nouns • 2nd person pronouns • Animate nouns

36. 5. Discussion • LINDSEI ES & NS approach the OPI register in different ways • NNS need more words • When NNS fewer words (Polish), D1 scores resemble NS • NNS rely more on lexical verbs to express stance • NNS: opinion task / NS: factual picture description • It + existential verbs

37. Can we expect differences in the NS & learner, NNS groups? 1. The OPI YES Other NNS SLA Other OPIs

38. References • Aguado, P., Pérez-Paredes, P. & Sánchez, P. 2012. Exploring the use of multidimensional analysis of learner language to promote register awareness. System 40(1): 90–103. • Biber, D. 1988. Variation across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: CUP. • Gilquin, G., De Cock, S., Granger, S. 2010. The Louvain International Database of Spoken English Interlanguage. Handbook and CD-ROM. Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain. • Pérez-Paredes, P., & Sánchez Tornel, M. (2015). A multidimensional analysis of learner language during story reconstruction in interviews. In M. Callies & S. Götz (Eds.), Learner Corpora in Language Testing and Assessment. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

39. Thanks for your attention Pascual Pérez-Paredes D. Filología Inglesa, U. Murcia www.perezparedes.es