Abstract

Drawing on data from a range of contexts, including classrooms, pharmacy consultations, tutoring sessions, and video-game playing, and a range of languages including English, German, French, Danish and Icelandic, the studies in this volume address challenges suggested by these questions: What kinds of interactional resources do L2 users draw on to participate competently and creatively in their L2 encounters? And how useful is conversation analysis in capturing the specific development of individuals’ interactional competencies in specific practices across time? Rather than treating participants in L2 interactions as deficient speakers, the book begins with the assumption that those who interact using a second language possess interactional competencies. The studies set out to identify what these competencies are and how they change across time. By doing so, they address some of the difficult and yet unresolved issues that arise when it comes to comparing actions or practices across different moments in time.

Hall et al have advanced our understanding of second language learning with this timely collection. Contributors demonstrate the importance of interactional competence and they show how it develops through embodied participation in multi-party interaction. This collection provides a comprehensive account of one of most exciting developments in second language learning and teaching.

This volume presents a unique collection of papers investigating the nature and the development of second language interactional competence in a wide range of languages and settings. The 9 empirical studies demonstrate how interactional competence in a second language is developed through participation in the full social ecology of human action and language use. The collection opens new directions for the field of second language acquisition research by providing detailed longitudinal accounts of interactional development in a second language.

This volume is a milestone in the application of conversation analysis to the study of language learning and development. Readers interested in such key topics as the dimensions of interactional competence, learning as a social activity, and the development of interactional competencies over time will find this book an indispensable resource for teaching and research.

Joan Kelly Hall is Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics at Pennsylvania State University.

John Hellermann is Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University.

Simona Pekarek Doehler is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.