Creative Imitation in Second Language Continuation Talks

This study reports a conversation analytic case study designed to investigate in a fine-grained way the use and the features of creative imitation in expression during second language (L2) continuation talks and to evaluate how language proficiency and other factors influence its use. Our data consisted of audio and video recordings of two pieces of conversation between two L2 speakers with contrasting proficiency and a native speaker of Chinese, as well as a respective stimulated recall interview with each of them. The findings revealed that creative imitation closely paired language learning with use and reinforced form-context mapping; it reduced language errors and facilitated idea generation by scaffolding, thereby ironing out the comprehension-production asymmetry. Also, creative imitation employed by the two L2 learners varied, that is, the advanced-level L2 learner outperformed the elementary-level one in both frequency and quality of its use. The findings have both theoretical and practical implications.