Second Language Conversations

Now in its second edition, this volume offers a strong synthesis of classic and current work in conversation analysis (CA), usefully encapsulated in a model of interactional practices that comprise interactional competence. Through this synthesis, Wong and Waring demonstrate how CA findings can help to increase language teachers’ awareness of the spoken language and suggest ways of applying that knowledge to teaching second language interaction skills. The Second Edition features: Substantial updates that include new findings on interactional practices Reconceptualized, reorganized, and revised content for greater accuracy, clarity, and readability Expanded key concepts glossary at the end of each chapter New tasks with more transcripts of actual talk New authors' stories The book is geared towards current and prospective second or foreign language teachers, material developers, and other language professionals, and assumes neither background knowledge of conversation analysis nor its connection to second language teaching. It also serves as a handy reference for those interested in key CA findings on social interaction.

"This collection is the first to consistently adopt Conversation Analysis as an approach to second language interaction. By examining first and second language speakers' participation in a wide range of activities, it challenges the dominant view of 'nonnative speakers' as deficient communicators. Proposing instead to understand second language users' conversational participation as interactional achievement, the book makes a powerful case for 'ethnomethodological respecification' in second language research." Professor Gabriele Kasper, University of Hawai'i Conversations involving speakers whose first language is not the language in which they are talking have become widespread in the globalized world. Migration, increased travel for business or pleasure, as well as communication through new technologies such as the internet make Second Language Conversations an increasingly common everyday event. In this book Conversation Analysis is used to explore natural, casual talk between speakers in a second language. The contributors shift emphasis away from controlled contexts such as the classroom towards more sociable environments in which people go about their daily routines. English, German, French, Japanese, Finnish and Danish are all analyzed as second languages within a variety of professional, educational and sociable situations. This collection of essays aims to present naturally occurring Second Language Conversations in order to show what speakers in these situations do; how they utilize first language conversational practices, and whether or not grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation help or hinder the construction of meaning. >

Explores the role played by conversation in the teaching and acquisition of a second language.

Members of divergent societies are increasingly involved in interactional situations, both publicly and privately, where participants do not share linguistic resources. Second language conversations have become common everyday events in the globalized world, and an interest has evolved to determine how interaction is conducted and understanding achieved in such asymmetric conversations. This book describes how mutual intelligibility is established, checked and remedied in authentic interaction between first and second language speakers, both in institutional and everyday situations. The study is rooted in the interactional view on language, and it contributes to our knowledge on interactional practices, in particular in cases where some doubt exists about the level of intersubjectivity between the participants. It expands the traditional research agenda of conversation analysis that is based on the concepts of ‘membership’ and ‘members’ shared competences’. By showing in detail how speakers with restricted linguistic resources can interact successfully and achieve the (institutional) goals of interactions, this study also adds to our knowledge of the questions that are central in second language research, such as when and how the non-native speakers’ ‘linguistic output’ is modified by themselves or by the native speakers, or when the non-native speakers display uptake after these modifications.

Conversation and speaking skills are the key building blocks for much of language learning. This text increases teachers’ awareness about spoken language and suggests ways of applying that knowledge to teaching second-language interaction skills based on insights from Conversation Analysis (CA). Conversation Analysis and Second Language Pedagogy: reviews key CA concepts and findings directly connects findings from CA with second language pedagogy presents a model of interactional practices grounded in CA concepts includes numerous transcripts of actual talk invites readers to complete a variety of tasks to solidify and extend their understandings features a useful collection of practical teaching activities. The time is ripe for a book that blends conversation analysis and applied linguistics. This text takes that important step, extending the reaches of these once separate academic fields. Assuming neither background knowledge of conversation analysis nor its connection to second language teaching, it is designed for courses in TESOL and applied linguistics and as a resource for experienced teachers, material developers, and language assessment specialists seeking to update their knowledge and hone their craft.

Five Implications for Research -- Conclusion -- References -- Index

This book offers a critical examination of second language (L2) learning outside institutional contexts, with a focus on the way second language learners introduce, close, and manage conversational topics in everyday settings. König adopts a Conversation Analysis for Second Language Acquisition (CA-SLA) approach in analyzing oral data from a longitudinal study of L2 learners of French, au pairs in Swiss families, over several years. With this approach the author presents insights into the ways in which L2 learners introduce and close conversational topics in ongoing conversations and how these strategies evolve over time, setting the stage for future research on this little documented process in second language acquisition. This volume contributes toward a greater understanding of L2 learning “in the wild,” making this key reading for students and researchers in second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and French language learning and teaching.