Tasks, Teacher Feedback, And Learner Modified Output In University Classroom Interaction-a Case Study

Tasks and interactional feedback have been the foci of instructed second language acquisition research in recent years. However, how task factors may influence feedback patterns during naturally occurring teacher–student interaction in classroom settings has not been widely investigated. The studies in this line of research are especially lacking in China. To bridge this gap, the current case study set out to explore the differences of amount of tasks versus nontasks between two teachers, and investigate the differences between the two teachers in amount, type of teacher corrective feedback, opportunity for and learner immediate modified output in tasks versus nontasks during naturally occurring classroom. The data set included transcripts of 6 audio taped lessons from two university-level intermediate English foreign language classrooms. The two classes were taught by two teachers and each of them was audio taped for about three lessons which cover the teaching of a whole unit. After the recording, the two teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire that surveyed their understandings of TBLT(task-based language teaching) and tasks. The questionnaire aims to provide additional information for finding potential reasons of teacher choices.The analyses reveal the following findings: 1) the teacher with a less than 5-year teaching experience implemented a higher percentage of tasks than the teacher with a 10 to 20-year teaching experience; 2) teachers may provide more often feedback in nontasks than in tasks; 3) teachers tend to provide more frequently single implicit feedback in tasks than in nontasks compared with single explicit feedback. Specifically, each type of single implicit feedback may occur more often in tasks than in nontasks, and every type of single explicit feedback more frequently in nontasks than in tasks; 4) teachers tend to provide more often three types of combined feedback: mere implicit combined feedback type, mere explicit combined feedback type, and mixture of implicit and explicit kind of combined feedback. Mere implicit kind of combined feedback may be more often provided in tasks than in nontasks; mere explicit kind of combinedfeedback may be more often given in nontasks than in tasks; the mixture of implicit and explicit type of combinedfeedback may be more frequently provided in nontasks than in tasks; and 5) both student opportunity for and actual learner modified output may occur more often in nontasks than in tasks.The findings of this study indicate that task variables may have an impact on the patterns of teacher feedback and learner modified output in naturally occurring classroom in addition to experimental contexts. This further implies that, in terms of research methodology, task variables should be taken into consideration when interpreting findings of future classroom interactional feedback research. The findings also reveal that although there may be more incidences and reception of teacher feedback in nontask-based or more form-focused activities, tasks implemented during naturally occurring classrooms could also provide a suitable platform for interaction-driven language learning opportunities such as teacher feedback. It is also suggested by this study that teachers’ educational background and teaching experience may impact their implementation of tasks.