2026 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Negotiation of Meaning in non-SLA Contexts: An Ethnography of an Undergraduate Linguistics Classroom

Document Type

Student Presentation

Presentation Date

4-24-2026

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Aiden VanderStouwe

Abstract

Negotiation of meaning is a concept that refers to the process of two or more people achieving a mutual understanding when there is a communication gap (Li, 2025). It is largely used in the field of second language acquisition to describe the process of language learners acquiring new vocabulary and grammar through an interaction with native speakers and other learners of the target language. However, negotiation of meaning is generally not applied to contexts where adults are learning new words and concepts in their first language. This ethnographic research explores how a group of undergraduate students in a linguistics classroom work together to understand new concepts and connect technical terminology to those concepts. This course focused on phonetics and phonology, where students were tasked with understanding the mechanics and theories of the sounds of the world's languages. In the process of sitting with 5 student groups in the classroom, I found that students used strategies like confirmation checks, self-corrections, and using visual aids to navigate the material. These communication and learning strategies parallel the ones seen in language-learning classrooms showing that negotiation of meaning can be a useful concept even outside of language-learning contexts.

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