Focus on form as a joint accomplishment: An attempt to bridge the gap between focus on form research and conversation analytic research on SLA

Abstract

Several debates have recently addressed complementarities and/or (in)compatibilities between two lines of research concerned with second language interactions: Focus on Form research and conversation analytic work on repair in second language interactions. While our expertise primarily lies in the latter, we follow up on recent calls emanating from the former for more qualitatively oriented analysis. In this paper, we report on a study of correction in naturally occurring French L2 classroom interaction addressing the following question: how is attention focus on form distributed among the participants and interactionally organized across the temporal unfolding of talk? We show the analytic difficulty of determining precisely whose focus we observe in focus on form episodes. The findings substantiate an understanding of attention focus – along with the cognitive orientations of participants – as a process that is interactionally occasioned and organized, and the transformation of which into joint focus hinges on the local contingencies of talk.