Studies in Social Interaction

Traces the non-linear dynamic longitudinal L2 development of word search sequences in informal social interaction using CA-for-SLA and Complexity Theory

• Provides an analytical framework which can be applied to spoken communication in any setting
• Explains and unites two high-profile research methodologies: Conversation Analysis and Complexity Theory
• Draws on 37 hours of video-recorded social conversations across two years between students from a range of countries including: Botswana, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Romania, Thailand, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam
• Demonstrates longitudinal development of L2 interactional competence of Japanese learners of English through informal English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) interaction
• Watch the introductory film about the book

Human Spoken Interaction as a Complex Adaptive System explains how human spoken communication functions, combining two separate complex adaptive systems: the universal ‘interaction engine’ and language(s), which now number around 7,000. Siegel and Seedhouse offer a comprehensive overview of how the components and processes of the interaction engine work together to enable us to understand each other, whatever the language. Through combining Complexity Science and Conversation Analysis, this book explains how to simultaneously analyse spoken interaction on micro and macro scales. Detailed analyses of L2 learners reveal them to be simultaneously expert in using the interaction engine and inexpert in using the specific language. The study shows that the basic characteristics of the interaction engine are the same as for other life-related complex systems and that it is possible to access the perspectives of participants inside this complex adaptive system as it is evolving.

Conceptualising learner participation as a multimodal phenomenon

• Features extracts from naturally occurring classroom interaction in L2 and non-L2 settings
• Defines key pedagogical concepts such as learner participation and learner engagement
• Video extracts clearly illustrate multimodal actions

Traditionally, teachers and researchers have looked for student participation in moments when teachers provide interactional space for it – this book takes a more holistic approach, examining how learners are participating (or not) throughout classroom interaction. It looks beyond turn-taking to consider participation as a multimodal phenomenon, including actions such as posture and gaze. It also expands the scope of classroom conversation analysis in three ways: 1) by focusing on student actions 2) by incorporating multimodal analysis, and 3) by examining both language learning contexts and non-L2 classrooms. In doing so the book uncovers how the identity of ‘being a student’ is enacted and provides implications for practice, teacher education and observation including emphasis on teacher interactional awareness and reflective practice.

Universities are among the most dynamic contemporary arenas for intercultural contact, and one of the most interesting phenomena for social interaction studies, both conceptually and empirically. There are around four million people worldwide studying abroad, with numbers growing. These international student sojourns are, first and foremost, social experiences, with social interaction being both a success factor for and outcome of intercultural transition. But what’s it like being an ‘international’ student? How is the experience different from studying ‘at home’, and what might make it a success, or otherwise? This volume details how recent research has attempted to answer these questions and others related to the transition between different national learning environments, and shows how it is helping to inform debates, policy and practice on the international student experience.

A data-led examination of interaction in language teacher education

• Studies of the socialisation of trainee teachers
• Adopts empirical, corpus-based approaches to data analysis bringing quantitative and qualitative dimensions to the data descriptions
• Includes interactional tasks at the end of each chapter to consolidate understanding and encourage reflection
• Draws on a number of modes of interaction including face-to-face lectures, tutorials, practice, feedback and online modes of computer-mediated communication including blogs, discussion forums, and chat

Combining corpus linguistics and discourse analysis, this book draws on a range of spoken and written data collected from a variety of contexts. It explores interaction in pre- and in-service education programs and analyses the spoken and written interactions of teachers with varying levels of experience who are adopting a range of modes of interaction. Both face-to-face and online modes of computer-mediated communication are explored. In doing so the book provides examples of how data can be approached and used to uncover social-interactional themes and issues, in relation to language teacher education and as a micro-context of social interaction in general.

With coverage of both theory and practice, this book is a key resource for educators and postgraduate students in areas such as second language teacher education, TESOL, cross-cultural communication, sociology, philology, as well as discourse analysts.

Analyses how different English language teacher identities and power relationships are oriented to and made relevant in social interaction

This textbook uses analysis of interaction in a range of teacher education and professional practice settings in ELT to explore the different identities and power relationships which teachers orient to. It traces the role of identity and interaction in the processes of acquiring new teaching skills and knowledge, reflecting on professional practice and constructing teaching selves, and explores the limits and constraints on these processes imposed by global forces such as the marketization of education. The book is written for teachers, teacher educators, postgraduate students and researchers interested in the relationships between social interaction, identity and professional practice in ELT. It is suitable for use in conjunction with any postgraduate-level course on language in interaction, as it surveys and critically discusses various approaches and includes many practical examples.

Key features

• Includes a full survey of different approaches to the study of language teacher learning and identity
• Provides an introduction to a range of frameworks for analyzing talk and identity in teacher education and professional practice contexts
• Analyses spoken data from activities such as guided lesson-planning, post-teaching reflection, discussions of teaching materials
• Each chapter ends with practice tasks, discussion points, and references for further reading
• Suitable for use in conjunction with any postgraduate-level course on language in interaction, as it surveys and critically discusses various approaches and includes many practical examples

Investigates language teachers’ thoughts, beliefs and knowledge through the lens of social interaction

In the past decade there has been a surge of interest in the study of language teacher cognition – what language teachers know, think and believe – and of its relationship to teachers’ classroom practices. Social Interaction and Teacher Cognition is the first book to use a discursive psychological perspective to examine teacher cognitions. Informed by conversation analysis (CA), the book offers a close examination of cognition-in-interaction in three distinctive aspects: learning to teach, novice and expert teachers’ cognition, and interactive decision making. The book views cognition as a socially constructed and contextual process, and treats interaction as a framework that deals with psychological matters in a public and visible way. It will be of particular relevance to those researching teacher cognition in EFL contexts and will appeal to anyone interested in the study of classroom interaction.

• Features a three part structure of survey, analysis and application
• Takes a discursive psychological approach to teacher cognitions
• Uses conversation analysis to examine cognition-in-interaction
• Provides detailed examples of language in interaction in EFL contexts

Provides a close investigation of interactional practices in L2 classrooms

FINALIST: AAAL First Book Award

FINALIST: BAAL Book Prize

This book offers a close investigation of interactional practices in L2 classrooms, and provides a deeper appreciation of the processes involved in the co-construction of understanding and knowledge in settings for instructed language learning.

Using Conversation Analysis, and referring to epistemic, multimodal, and multilingual resources, Olcay Sert interprets key interactional and pedagogical practices observed in language classrooms by closely examining the verbal and nonverbal features of teacher-student interaction; for example, gaze, gestures and orientations to classroom artefacts.

With an emphasis on the multimodal and multilingual resources, this is one of the first studies to comprehensively address these issues in L2 classrooms with a clear theoretical and practical underpinning, and is an essential study for researchers and postgraduate students in TESOL and Applied Linguistics.

• Provides a close investigation of interactional practices in L2 classrooms
• Examines the verbal and nonverbal features of teacher-student interaction
• Refers to epistemic, multimodal, and multilingual resources
• Includes case studies on EAL classrooms in Luxembourg and on EfL classrooms in Turkey

Examines social interaction in second language voice-based chat rooms

How do speakers of English as an additional language manage their talk and interaction in chat rooms?

Christopher Jenks thoroughly analyses the interactional effects of technology, and explores in detail the social and linguistic implications of communicating in second language chat rooms. Providing a unique look at how second language talk is organized in an online setting, this book is essential reading for postgraduate students and scholars in computer-mediated communications, social interactions, TESOL and applied linguistics. It focuses on voice-based chat rooms instead of text-based ones, adding to and enriching the existing body of research on second language textbooks within computer-mediated communication studies. It contains multiple transcripts and figures to illustrate the discussion