Observations of Learners’ Facilitating Interaction outside the Classroom:

A project to Incorporate Learners’ Trial and Error into Class Activity

Abstract

The author conducted a project that encouraged learners to record their use of Japanese outside the classroom. The learners reported their output, as well as the situations, the speaker's intentions, the listener's reactions and their awareness, which were incorporated into subsequent lessons. The various examples brought by the learners revealed that the success of facilitating interaction hinges on considering the listener's presence in the context, including what the listener knows in the context, what information is crucial for the listener and how much discretion the listener has in the matter. Analysis of these reports and discussions with the learners provided suggestions for teaching cooperative interaction in the context to the learners of different cultures.