Tareas de conversación y patrones de interacción entre aprendientes de ELE

Abstract

This study investigates the patterns of interaction between 10 groups of students of Spanish as a foreign language as they carry out a classroom task consisting of a free text discussion. Three distinct patterns of interaction were found, two of them are more classroom-based whereas the other is more “contingent” (van Lier 1996) and similar to authentic, real-world interaction. The findings suggest that the different understandings of the task – either with a transactional or with an interpersonal outcome – are decisive for the type interaction between groups. Furthermore, some recommendations on the design of oral-interaction tasks are made as well