Questioning and Responding in Target Language Use Situation tasks: A Think-aloud Study

The present study reports a qualitative study aiming to explore whether cognitive processes underlying responding and questioning in English are cognitively analogous. It further sought to discover the latent differences between responding and questioning cognitive processes in Target Language Use Situation tasks. To this end, 20 Iranian general IELTS applicants from two different institutes in Shiraz, with two different language proficiency levels (intermediate and advanced) participated in the study. They were administered a normal oral IELTS responding and a reverse questioning task. Articulated Thoughts in a Simulated Situation (ATSS) paradigm as a think-aloud approach was used to collect qualitative data during task completion. The applicants' recorded voices during task completion were transcribed and analyzed to examine the potential differences between responding and questioning cognitive processes. The analysis of the qualitative data through ATSS paradigm, in general, indicated that the cognitive processes underlying these two processes are not exactly parallel. The applicants tended to be more accurate and fluent during responding tasks. More specifically, they had fewer and shorter pauses and generated more intelligible and comprehensible productions by committing fewer grammatical errors in both proficiency levels. The paper discusses the findings and the implications for second language learners, teachers, and test developers.