Meaning Negotiation Processes of Communication Breakdowns in L2 Learners’ Interactions in the Classroom

This study examined the meaning negotiation processes of communication breakdowns in relation to the causes of communication problems found in interactions between learners in the L2 classroom. The data consisted of audio- and video-recordings of adult ESL learners engaged in group discussions. Analysis of the discourse occurring in the learners’ communicative interactions focused on identifying the causes of breakdowns using the negotiation of meaning model (Varonis & Gass, 1985) and the learners’ treatment processes adopting a process-centered approach to communication breakdown (Bruton & Samuda, 1980). The results showed that the communication breakdowns learners encountered largely arose from troubles in lexicon, grammar, pronunciation, discourse, factual knowledge, and non-hearing. In particular, nonunderstanding due to problems at the lexical, discourse and non-hearing level comprised the main sources of comprehension difficulty. As for the treatment process, the majority of the non-understandings were recognized by the learners, taken up for meaning negotiation, and successfully resolved. Specifically, breakdowns of lexical, discourse, and non-hearing problems were most likely to be treated through the process of being perceived, negotiated, and resolved. The communication breakdowns resulting in no resolution were cases in which the learners were aware of a breakdown but could not resolve after a negotiation process or did not perceive the problem and initiated no negotiation. Breakdowns of lexical and discourse causes were also most likely to lead the learners into these unsuccessful treatment processes.