Social Interaction and L2 Classroom Discourse: (Studies in Social Interaction)

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 explicates 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.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements; Chapter 1: Introduction to the book; 1.1. Introduction; 1.2. The significance of this book; 1.3. The dataset; 1.4. Contents of the book; Chapter 2: Social interaction and L2 classroom discourse; 2.1. Introduction; 2.2. Interaction as a social phenomenon; 2.3. Approaches to (L2) classroom discourse; 2.4. Conversation Analysis: a sequential approach to classroom interaction; 2.4.1 Conversation Analysis; 2.4.2 Conversation Analysis in CD: Turn-taking, allocation, and triadic dialogue; 2.5. Transcription conventions; 2.6. L2 classroom contexts; 2.7. Conclusion; Chapter 3: Co-construction of understanding in L2 classroom interaction; 3.1. Introduction; 3.2. CA-for-SLA and L2 interactional competence; 3.3. Epistemic, Multimodal, and Multilingual resources; 3.3.1. Epistemic orientations of participants in language classrooms; 3.3.2 Multimodal resources in language classrooms; 3.3.3 Multilingual resources in language classrooms; 3.4. Teacher talk, student participation, and L2 learning opportunities; 3.5. L2 Classroom Interactional Competence; 3.6. Conclusion; Chapter 4: From troubles to resolution: management of displays and claims of insufficient knowledge in L2 classrooms; 4.1. Introduction; 4.2. The interactional unfolding of claims of insufficient knowledge; 4.3. Epistemic Status Check (ESC) as an interactional phenomenon; 4.4. (Un)willingness to participate as participants’ concern; 4.5. Successful management of CIK; 4.6. Discussion and Conclusion; Chapter 5: Use of multimodal resources in L2 classroom interaction; 5.1. Introduction; 5.2. Multimodal resources used in repairing hearing and understanding problems; 5.3 Multimodal resources used in doing correction; 5.4. Multimodal resources in elicitation sequences; 5.5. Multimodal resources in explanation sequences; 5.6. Multimodal resources in ‘orientations to learning’; 5.7. Conclusion; Chapter 6: Use of multilingual resources in classroom interaction; 6.1. Introduction; 6.2. Teacher initiated code-switching; 6.3. Teacher induced code-switching; 6.4. Management of student-initiated code-switching; 6.5. Conclusion; Chapter 7: Implications for teaching in L2 classrooms; 7.1. Introduction; 7.2 Management of interactional troubles; 7.3 Increased awareness on UTP; 7.4 Multimodal aspects of CIC; 7.5. Multilingual aspects of CIC; 7.6 Learner initiatives and managing epistemic, multilingual and multimodal resources; 7.7. Conclusion; Chapter 8: Implications for language teacher education; 8.1. Introduction; 8.2 Tracing the development of CIC; 8.3 A microscopic and reflective model for language teacher education; 8.4. Conclusion; Chapter 9: A Bright Future?; 9.1 Introduction; 9.2 Research ethics; 9.3 Future directions; 9.3.1 Implications for researchers; 9.3.2 Implications for practitioners; 9.4 Conclusion; References; Appendices

About the Author :
Olcay Sert is Professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics at Mälardalen University, Sweden. He is the editor of the journal Classroom Discourse, author of Social Interaction and L2 Classroom Discourse (2015) and co-editor with Silvia Kunitz and Numa Markee of Classroom-based Conversation Analytic Research: Theoretical and Applied Perspectives on Pedagogy (2021).

Review :
Social Interaction and L2 Classroom Discourse is a meticulous and well-written book that provides rigorous empirical analysis of important moments in the L2 English classroom, including the co-construction of understanding, interactional troubles and their resolution, and the microgenesis of L2 (classroom) interactional competence. It is an important contribution to the field of applied linguistics because it consolidates ideas in conversation analysis in order to make recommendations for L2 pedagogy that are both well-warranted, deriving as they do from a robust empirical record, and exceptionally practical. A very important contribution to both existing academic research and L2 education practice and policy.shortlisted for the 2016 BAAL book prize Several texts on Applied Linguistics take a highly theoretical approach to their subject matter, which may leave the classroom practitioner feeling that the issues discussed have little relevance to, or use for the classroom. However, by providing detailed transcripts of classroom interaction, along with visual data to support the transcripts, Sert has produced a monograph that focuses on the application of theory derived from research to the real-world L2 classroom. He has produced a text that is accessible to teachers with little knowledge of Conversation Analysis who wish to develop better interaction with learners. This is a book written with teachers in mind, and it would be a highly useful guide for instructors wishing to have interaction with learners that is informed by pedagogical goals, rather than the notion that any language produced by teachers is effective in promoting learner output. By combining research and practice, this book is a comprehensive resource for in-service L2 teacher development projects and L2 language teacher education programs. Teacher educators could adopt examples and transcripts of excerpts along with visual phenomena from the book for analysis, discussion, and reflection with pre-service teachers to enable understanding of L2 learning in various contexts. The discussion of research ethics in Chapter 9, the detailed analyses in Chapters 4-6, and the CA orientation, make this book invaluable for qualitative research, CA, and/ or SLA courses. Sert successfully shows how CA findings can provide a deeper understanding of classroom interaction, show evidence of the development of CIC in practice, inform teacher-training programs, and potentially influence educational policy. Sert’s must read book introduces conversation analysis to readers who are not familiar with the power of this methodology, while simultaneously providing a detailed theoretical discussion of cutting edge issues in the field. And his contributions to understanding teacher education as a data driven enterprise are both provocative and enlightening.