Abstract
This study provides an empirical analysis of conflict talk among second language learners, focusing on the opening aspects of conflict talk sequences, specifically the short sequences between an arguable and initial opposition. Data is based on 178 hours of small group discussions video-recorded in Japanese university English classes. Analysis revealed: (a) repetitions and why-type questions directly following an initial speaker’s claim were likely to adumbrate upcoming oppositions, (b) when a questioning repeat failed to elicit an account for the original speaker’s claim, the potential opposer explicitly pursued an account for the claim with a why-type question, (c) a major action these repeats and why-type questions performed was to call for speakers of potential arguables to provide sufficient accounts for their claims. The findings contribute to research on argumentative talk in classrooms by extending analysis beyond adjacent turns, by highlighting the resources of repetitions and why-type questions that speakers deploy to adumbrate oppositions, and by explicating the details of second language learner talk in peer discussions.
Funding statement: This research was supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (15K02766). Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Funder Id: 10.13039/501100001691, Grant Number: 15K02766
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our great appreciation to John Hellermann for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Our grateful thanks also go to the anonymous reviewer for the constructive suggestions during the review process.
Appendix
A Transcription conventions
[ ] | overlapping talk | |
= | latched utterances | |
(0.0) | timed pause (in seconds) | |
(.) | a short pause | |
co:lon | extension of the sound or syllable | |
. | fall in intonation (final) | |
, | continuing intonation (non-final) | |
; | intonation between a period and a comma | |
¿ | a rise stronger than a comma but weaker than a question | |
mark | ||
? | rising intonation (final) | |
CAPITAL | loud talk | |
Underline | emphasis | |
↑ | sharp rise | |
↓ | sharp fall | |
° | ° | quiet talk |
< | > | slow talk |
> | < | fast talk |
# | # | creaky voice |
$ | $ | smiley voice |
hh | audible aspirations | |
(hh) | laughter within a word | |
(( | )) | comment by the transcriber, including nonverbal |
conduct | ||
( | ) | problematic hearing that the transcriber is not certain about |
“ | ” | Idiomatic translation of Japanese utterances except |
for single word translations |
B Abbreviations used in interlinear gloss
- IP
Interactional particle (e. g., ne, sa, no, yo, na)
- Top
Topic marker (-wa)
- Q
Question marker (ka and its variants)
- QT
Quotation marker (-to, -tte)
- Cop
Copulative verb
- NR
Nominalizer (e. g., no, n)
- Nom
Nominative (-ga)
- Neg
Negation marker
- POL
Politeness marker
- PST
past
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© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Collaborative dialogue: opportunities and challenges in vocabulary acquisition and retention of threshold EFL learners
- Prefacing opposition: Resources for adumbrating conflict talk in second language peer discussions
- Language learning strategy use in context: the effects of self-efficacy and CLIL on language proficiency
- A critical examination of perceptual learning styles in English language teaching
- Research Articlse
- Negotiation of meaning and negotiation of form in Chinese EFL classroom discourse
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Collaborative dialogue: opportunities and challenges in vocabulary acquisition and retention of threshold EFL learners
- Prefacing opposition: Resources for adumbrating conflict talk in second language peer discussions
- Language learning strategy use in context: the effects of self-efficacy and CLIL on language proficiency
- A critical examination of perceptual learning styles in English language teaching
- Research Articlse
- Negotiation of meaning and negotiation of form in Chinese EFL classroom discourse