Introduction

In the previous chapter we defined conversational competence and reviewed the way it develops in the mother tongue. The relevance of L1 development in terms of L2 teaching depends very much on whether we view L2 language development as being similar to L1 development, or different. Opinion is still divided on this issue, but one thing we can say with a degree of confidence is that, similar or not, the way conversational skills develop in an L2 is not the same as the way they develop in the L1. This is because, unlike first-language learners, second-language learners (unless they are very young children) already have a well developed conversational competence on which to draw. They know how to open and close conversations, take turns, change topic, interrupt, yield the floor, fill pauses, indicate discourse direction, back-channel, tell stories and be cooperative – in their first language. At issue, then, is not how second-language conversationalists acquire such skills from scratch, but how and to what extent these skills are transferred from their L1 to their L2. Related questions are: what factors – including instruction and exposure – might facilitate (or impede) the transfer of these skills into the second language? And, what is the relation between conversational competence and the learner's overall language proficiency? These questions will be addressed in this chapter.

Fluency

‘The ability to carry on conversations is not just a reflection of grammatical competence…’ (Schmidt and Frota, 1986: 262). Generations of disappointed learners – and teachers – can verify this fact. Grammatical competence does not predict conversational ability. Conversely, conversational ability is not necessarily a sign of a sophisticated grammar.