The effect of collaboration on the cohesion and coherence of L2 narrative discourse between english NS and korean L2 english users

Abstract

This research looks at differences between how native speakers of English and Korean L2 English learners manage cohesive reference maintenance, as well as the effect of scaffolded interlocutor collaboration on the coherence and cohesion of extended L2 narrative discourse. Scaffolded and unscaffolded narratives were elicited from 10 Korean learners of English as an L2 and were compared against the narratives of 5 native speakers of English, to compare the grammatical means used to maintain coherent reference to discourse referents within and across clauses, as well as to see the effect that any scaffold during performance. A link was found between the coherence of NS narrative discourse and accurate use of co-referential & distant anaphoric grammatical referential devices, and the presence of scaffolding was found to increase the accuracy of non- scaffolding helps L2 learners to create and hold more accurate reference to discourse referents, and instances of unscaffolded narrative discourse present increased difficulty for the L2 speaker. Finally, as L2 learners have more difficulty managing accurate reference maintenance, the overall coherence of their discourse is reduced. © Asian EFL Journal Press 2011.