Classroom-based Conversation Analytic Research

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

   PDF

2. Introduction: CA-SLA and the Diffusion of Innovations

   • Numa Markee, Silvia Kunitz, Olcay Sert

   Pages 1-18

3. Toward a Coherent Understanding of L2 Interactional Competence: Epistemologies of Language Learning and Teaching

   • Simona Pekarek Doehler

   Pages 19-33

4. CA Research in L2 Classrooms

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 35-35

      PDF

   2. Introduction to Part I

      • Numa Markee, Olcay Sert, Silvia Kunitz

      Pages 37-40

   3. The Intersubjective Objectivity of Learnables

      • Ali Reza Majlesi

      Pages 41-69

   4. Doing the Daily Routine: Development of L2 Embodied Interactional Resources Through a Recurring Classroom Activity

      • Søren W. Eskildsen

      Pages 71-101

   5. “How Do You Spell That?”: Doing Spelling in Computer-Assisted Collaborative Writing

      • Nigel Musk

      Pages 103-131

   6. Instruction-Giving Sequences in Italian as a Foreign Language Classes: An Ethnomethodological Conversation Analytic Perspective

      • Silvia Kunitz

      Pages 133-161

5. CA Research in Content Based Language Classrooms

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 163-163

      PDF

   2. Introduction to Part II

      • Numa Markee, Silvia Kunitz, Olcay Sert

      Pages 165-167

   3. Does a Positive Atmosphere Matter? Insights and Pedagogical Implications for Peer Interaction in CLIL Classrooms

      • Natalia Evnitskaya

      Pages 169-196

   4. Multimodal Perspective into Teachers’ Definitional Practices: Comparing Subject-Specific Language in Physics and History Lessons

      • Leila Kääntä

      Pages 197-223

   5. Tracing Teachers’ Ordering Decisions in Classroom Interaction

      • Yo-An Lee

      Pages 225-251

6. CA Research and Teacher Education

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 253-253

      PDF

   2. Introduction to Part III

      • Olcay Sert, Numa Markee, Silvia Kunitz

      Pages 255-257

   3. Transforming CA Findings into Future L2 Teaching Practices: Challenges and Prospects for Teacher Education

      • Olcay Sert

      Pages 259-279

   4. Harnessing the Power of Heteroglossia: How to Multi-task with Teacher Talk

      • Hansun Zhang Waring

      Pages 281-301

   5. “What Do You Think About This?”: Differing Role Enactment in Post-Observation Conversation

      • Younhee Kim, Rita Elaine Silver

      Pages 303-328

7. CA and Assessment

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 329-329

      PDF

This book presents an international range of conversation analytic (CA) studies of classroom interaction which all discuss their empirical findings in terms of their theoretical and methodological contribution to the field of second language studies and their potential pedagogical relevance. The volume is thus unique in its focus on the theoretical and practical insights of CA classroom-based research and on the impact that such insights might have at the pedagogical level, from teaching to testing to teacher education. Given the growing interest in the pedagogical applicability of CA research, this book is a timely addition to the existing literature. 

• conversation analysis studies of classroom interaction
• language pedagogy
• L2 second language acquisition
• CLIL content and language integrated learning
• language teacher education
• pedagogical implications of conversation analysis studies
• theory and methodology of conversation analysis
• teacher and student practices in the L2 classroom
• interaction between student and teacher in content-based classes
• CA-informed testing
• learning and instruction

“This new book demonstrates the latest CA research in the field of second language learning more comprehensively. … This volume … represents a new attempt to bridge the gap between the research and practice of Conversation Analysis. The design of the volume is also very friendly. … . It will also be read widely by audiences who are interested in Conversation Analysis and its application, especially to second language teaching and learning.” (Yuntong Liu and Yan Wang, The Linguist List, linguistlist.org, September 9, 2021)

“This book also endeavor to package their findings in ways that are accessible for all kinds of language teaching professionals ... . this book makes a crucial contribution to the field of applied linguistics by deliveringa thoroughly rigorous account ... . This book will be of particular interest to those with a CA background, but it is sure to be an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the complexity of classroom interaction." (Mark Romig, SALT, Studies in Applied Linguistics & TESOL, Vol. 21 (2), 2022)

“The volume could be on the reading list on postgraduate programmes on foreign language teaching as well as teacher training programmes. … the volume’s chapters contain many increments to knowledge in terms of our understanding of the processes of language learning, teaching, and assessment in a wide range of settings. It provides many helpful guidelines and examples of how insights from CA studies may be packaged to make them more digestible and useful for practitioners.” (Paul Seedhouse, Applied Linguistics, May 24, 2021)

“This is the first edited collection of research papers which addresses L2 classroom practices from a conversation analytic perspective, incorporating both theoretical and applied issues. Its international perspective, using data from a wide range of contexts and dealing with language teaching, L2 teacher education and assessment, gives the volume a distinctive and appealing flavour. The editors have been extremely successful in bringing together such a collection, presented in an accessible and relevant style. This volume is sure to have wide appeal to teachers, teacher educators, researchers and anyone involved in language assessment.” (Steve Walsh, Newcastle University, UK)

• Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

  Silvia Kunitz

• Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA

  Numa Markee

• School of Education, Culture and Communication, Mälardalen University, Västerås, Sweden

  Olcay Sert

Silvia Kunitz is Senior Lecturer in English at the Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies at Karlstad University (Sweden). She completed her PhD in applied linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA) in 2013. In her research, she relies on conversation analysis to explore how teaching and learning are accomplished as socially situated activities. She has recently co-edited the volume Teaching and Testing L2 Interactional Competence: Bridging Theory and Practice (2019, Routledge) with Rafael Salaberry. She is one of the associate editors of Classroom Discourse. She has also worked as a language teacher in Italy and the US and has been involved in teacher education, both at the pre-service and in-service levels in the US and Sweden.
Numa Markee is an Emeritus Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA). His main research interests include the management of curricular innovation (see Managing Curricular Innovation, 1997, Cambridge University Press) and the use of conversation analysis as a tool for analyzing second language classroom talk and acquisition (see Conversation Analysis, 2000, Lawrence Erlbaum). His most important recent publications are The Handbook of Classroom Discourse and Interaction (2015, Wiley Blackwell) and Conversation Analysis and Language Alternation (2018, John Benjamins, co-edited with Anna Filipi). He is also one of the associate editors of Classroom Discourse. In addition, he has carried out consultancies on EFL curriculum design and implementation as an English Language Specialist for the US State Department in Chile, Brazil, Nepal, India, Thailand and Laos, and has taught ESL/EFL/ESP in the US, the UK, Switzerland, Mexico, Algeria and the Sudan.


Olcay Sert is an Associate Professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics at Mälardalen University (Sweden). His research dealswith classroom discourse, L2 interaction, and language teacher education. His book Social Interaction and L2 Classroom Discourse (Edinburgh University Press, 2015) was shortlisted for the British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Book Prize in 2016 and was a finalist for the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) first book award in 2017. He is leading the Mälardalen INteraction & Didactics (MIND) Research Group and is the editor of Classroom Discourse. He has also worked as a language teacher in Turkey and the UK and has been actively involved in teacher education in Turkey and Sweden.

Policies and ethics