As the title suggests, this collection of articles is a festschrift for Gass—a well-deserved one. Gass’s work over the years has covered three principal areas of enquiry: (a) the role of linguistic universals in SLA, (b) the role of interaction, and (c) tasks. This book, however, contains chapters that relate only to interaction and tasks.
The role of interaction in acquisition has attracted the attention of numerous researchers who work in very different research traditions. Gass herself has worked in what has become known as the cognitivist interactional paradigm, and it is thus fitting that the bulk of the chapters in this book also represent this paradigm. N. C. Ellis once again lays out the cognitivist underpinnings of interactionism in SLA. Spada and Lightbown provide a very readable and insightful history of second language (L2) interaction research. They show how it evolved from early days when the focus was on the observation and description of interaction involving L2 learners to today’s focus on noticing and corrective feedback. Other chapters examine aspects of interaction in young learners (Oliver) and computer-mediated interaction (Smith; Ortega). The chapters by Smith and Ortega point out that there are marked differences between online and face-to-face interaction. Loewen focuses on a single interactional feature—recasts—and extends previous research by examining multiple response episodes that involve this feature. These studies contribute new insights about the nature of interaction involving learners, the methodology needed to investigate interaction, and the role that interaction plays in L2 learning.
Other paradigms for studying L2 interaction are understandably less well represented in this book, given that they do not figure in Gass’s own work. Tarone draws on variationist theory to emphasize the importance of considering social context in studies of L2 interaction. Tarone’s chapter is an important one, given that, by and large, research within the cognitivist interactional paradigm has neglected the constitutive role played by social context in interaction and in L2 learning. Brooks and Swain draw on sociocultural theory to examine how four adult English-as-a-second-language learners’ collaborative work on a piece of writing enabled them to construct zones of proximal development that fostered language learning. This study provides a welcome emic perspective to counter the etic perspective of the bulk of the other chapters. In a book that purports to offer multiple perspectives on interaction, it would have been reasonable to expect to find chapters in which interaction is examined from the perspective of conversational analysis and sociocognitive theory. However, there are no such chapters, although Philp’s concluding chapter mentions the contribution these perspectives can make to interactionist research.
A continuing focus of Gass’s own research has been tasks. As a construct, task serves as both a research tool and a pedagogic device. In other words, researchers use tasks to elicit interaction that they can study, whereas teachers use tasks to create contexts in which communicative skills can develop. Tasks, therefore, provide an interface between theory and research, on the one hand, and pedagogical practice, on the other hand. Indeed, it is this interface that Gass has exploited in much of her work. Two chapters in this book report studies of tasks. Bygate and Samuda propose that tasks be examined in terms of field, purpose, and engagement, which jointly determine the pressure to communicate that they consider the key to understanding how tasks can facilitate acquisition. Using this framework, Bygate and Samuda provide a detailed discussion of the interactions that result from two tasks. Dornyei and Tseng approach tasks in a very different way that bears little resemblance to Gass’s own work on tasks. They use structural equational modeling to investigate the interrelationships among three dimensions of task processing—task execution, task appraisal, and action control—all of which are measured by means of tests and Likert-scale questionnaires (there is no measure of actual task performance in this study). The main finding is that for tasks to work effectively, learners need to be skillful at appraisal to ensure that the dynamics of interaction function effectively.
Philp’s concluding chapter points to the richness of interactionist research and also to some gaps, including those evident in this book. She reviews the research in terms of cognitive processes (in particular, noticing), social perspectives, and the individual learner factors that mediate interaction and its effect on learning. She also discusses the link between interactionist research and L2 pedagogy. Readers will find that this book illuminates all of these aspects of interaction, some more effectively than others. All in all, the book is a fitting tribute to Gass’s work.
