Correction in talk between native and non-native speaker

Non-native speakers who are not yet competent in their second language frequently use linguistic forms which differ from the native standard. Native speakers sometimes correct the deviations. This paper explores the selectivity of correction: What is the basis for the native speaker's selection of which mistakes to correct? The analysis here, of a corpus of naturally occurring non-pedagogic conversations between native and non-native speakers, suggests that the issue of selection can be explained, not so much in terms of the types of deficiencies, but in terms of the kinds of repairs that can be done and the kinds of environments in which the deficiencies occur, Also, by investigating corrective exchanges in native-non-native talk, this paper seeks to contribute to the discussion of whether the participants' asymmetrical relations are consequential for the organisation of repair. Other-correction is observed to occur frequently in asymmetrical conversation, but nevertheless its occurrence is constrained. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.