Lexical Alignment to Non-native Speakers

Two picture-matching-game experiments investigated if lexical-referential alignment to non-native speakers is enhanced by a desire aid communicative success (by saying something the conversation partner can certainly understand), form of audience design. In Experiment 1, group native British English that was not given evidence their partners’ picture-matching performance showed more than speakers, while another such aligned equivalently two types speaker. 2, conducted with Castilian Spanish, replicated greater without feedback. However, 2 also production grammatical errors confederate produced no additional increase even though making suggests lower competence. We suggest this pattern consistent collaborative strategy, model correct usage. Together, these results support role for design in structured task-based dialogue, but one strategically deployed only when deemed necessary.