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PROBLEM-SOLVING MECHANISMS IN L2 COMMUNICATION

A Psycholinguistic Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1998

Zoltán Dörnyei  and
Judit Kormos
Zoltán Dörnyei
Affiliation:
Thames Valley University
Judit Kormos
Affiliation:
Thames Valley University
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Abstract

This paper investigates the various ways speakers manage problems and overcome difficulties in L2 communication. Following Dörnyei and Scott (1997), we distinguish four main sources of L2 communication problems: (a) resource deficits, (b) processing time pressure, (c) perceived deficiencies in one's own language output, and (d) perceived deficiencies in the interlocutor's performance. In order to provide a systematic description of the wide range of coping mechanisms associated with these problem areas (e.g., communication strategies, meaning negotiation mechanisms, hesitation devices, repair mechanisms), we adopt a psycholinguistic approach based on Levelt's (1989, 1993, 1995) model of speech production. Problem-solving devices, then, are analyzed and classified according to how they are related to the different pre- and post-articulatory phases of speech processing, and we illustrate the various mechanisms by examples and retrospective comments taken from L2 learners' data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Second Language Acquisition , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , September 1998 , pp. 349 - 385
Copyright
1998 Cambridge University Press

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