Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye t... more Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye towards the assessment of Interactional Competence (IC) (Galaczi & Taylor, 2018; Plough et al., 2018; Roever & Kasper, 2018). This study is premised on the argument that a key function of IC is to achieve and maintain intersubjectivity, as made publicly viewable through the practices that participants employ to display that they understand each other, and how they understand each other. The paper thus suggests that IC assessment can and should consider intersubjectivity as a ratable construct. Using Multimodal Conversation Analysis (Goodwin, 2018; Mondada, 2011), the paper examines two paired-speaking assessment tasks conducted by learners of German at the end of their fourth semester of study, focusing on how and when the learners display understanding of prior talk, examining how they receipt turns and display epistemic and affective stances in a publicly viewable way. The study suggest...
This journal issue contains a number of papers/teaching units that are dedicated to the review an... more This journal issue contains a number of papers/teaching units that are dedicated to the review and analysis of some ways in which authentic language materials can be used for the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese from the beginning to advanced levels. We first describe the rationale for the expanded use of authentic language data in classroom instruction, and then we present four exploratory units to showcase some of the effective classroom teaching procedures that are useful to make learners aware of (and eventually use) important features of language interaction in Chinese. The units use two types of authentic materials: natural conversations and entertainment media (TV and movies). Some of the materials, due to the nature of the communicative settings associated with them, raise important theoretical questions about norms and expectations of (intercultural) communication and goals of language learning. This introduction provides a brief review of the theoretical foundatio...
This study follows Ishida's (2017) call for longitudinal studies that examine how learners in the... more This study follows Ishida's (2017) call for longitudinal studies that examine how learners in the early stages of their study abroad sojourn develop skills in responding to prior talk. Using multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA), the study compares three interactions across a six-week sojourn between a learner of Japanese and his host father. For longitudinal comparison, the study focuses on sequences in which the learner has initiated a question or comment, and the host father provides a non-minimal response. The study finds a diversification of resources and an expanded repertoire of possible actions for displaying recipiency, changing from primarily minimal response tokens that only weakly display his stance towards the prior talk early on, to the greater use of assessments and non-minimal expansions toward the end of the sojourn. The study provides evidence that short-term study abroad experiences for novice languages learners can afford opportunities for the development of interactional competencies.
Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye t... more Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye towards the assessment of Interactional Competence (IC) (Galaczi & Taylor, 2018; Plough et al., 2018; Roever & Kasper, 2018). This study is premised on the argument that a key function of IC is to achieve and maintain intersubjectivity, as made publicly viewable through the practices that participants employ to display that they understand each other, and how they understand each other. The paper thus suggests that IC assessment can and should consider intersubjectivity as a ratable construct. Using Multimodal Conversation Analysis (Goodwin, 2018; Mondada, 2011), the paper examines two paired-speaking assessment tasks conducted by learners of German at the end of their fourth semester of study, focusing on how and when the learners display understanding of prior talk, examining how they receipt turns and display epistemic and affective stances in a publicly viewable way. The study suggests that the same practices the participants employ to display their understandings to each other can be used in a heuristic fashion by language testers to assess IC and concludes by considering the practical implications these have for classroom assessment.
Following Ellis's (2005) call for more social and process-oriented planning research, this study ... more Following Ellis's (2005) call for more social and process-oriented planning research, this study explores how learners approach collabo-rative planning tasks in the classroom as a locally contingent activity in situ. Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, the present study focuses on a group planning stage that precedes the final task of delivering a presentation. Fine-grained analyses of the interaction reveal that group planning is essentially a nonlinear, social, and pragmatic activity wherein the students manage participant roles, resolve disputes and misunderstandings, and collectively work toward effective task completion. These findings highlight that, although the groups begin with the same task-as-workplan (Breen, 1987; Seedhouse, 2005), the students' concerns are driven by locally constructed goals and plans-in-process, and as they work toward a group consensus they are required to deal with a wide range of social and interactional contingencies.
Tasks are viewed as a principled foundation for classroom teaching, social interaction, and langu... more Tasks are viewed as a principled foundation for classroom teaching, social interaction, and language development. This special issue sheds new light on how task-based classroom practices are supported by a diverse range of principles. This introduction describes current trends in classroom practice and pedagogic research in relation to task-based language teaching (TBLT), offering a rationale for revisit-ing the TESOL profession's understandings of the uses of tasks in language classrooms. It then summarizes the contributions appearing in this issue, which address topics including: interaction in task planning and completion, the use of tasks to support writing development , learner perceptions and interpretations of tasks, and the relationship between autonomy and TBLT. Collectively, these contributions advance complementary theoretical perspectives on classroom learning and teaching in diverse EFL and ESL settings. Overall, they reflect the broadening scope of second language acquisition theory while maintaining a tight focus on classroom realities.
The chapter examines how a second language speaker of Japanese tells a disaster story to an L1 Ja... more The chapter examines how a second language speaker of Japanese tells a disaster story to an L1 Japanese-speaking recipient in ordinary conversation. Drawing on Goodwin's (2013) notions of lamination and substrates, the study shows how the teller and recipient orient to the story as a stance object by selecting, assembling, and recycling different types of multisemiotic resources, including language forms, cultural references, prosody, ideophonic vocalizations, and embodied action such as gaze, facial expression, and gesture. By displaying emotions of different quality and intensity, and doing so with different configurations of semiotic practices, at different sequential moments, the participants show what they understand the current activity within the telling to be.
Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye t... more Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye towards the assessment of Interactional Competence (IC) (Galaczi & Taylor, 2018; Plough et al., 2018; Roever & Kasper, 2018). This study is premised on the argument that a key function of IC is to achieve and maintain intersubjectivity, as made publicly viewable through the practices that participants employ to display that they understand each other, and how they understand each other. The paper thus suggests that IC assessment can and should consider intersubjectivity as a ratable construct. Using Multimodal Conversation Analysis (Goodwin, 2018; Mondada, 2011), the paper examines two paired-speaking assessment tasks conducted by learners of German at the end of their fourth semester of study, focusing on how and when the learners display understanding of prior talk, examining how they receipt turns and display epistemic and affective stances in a publicly viewable way. The study suggest...
This journal issue contains a number of papers/teaching units that are dedicated to the review an... more This journal issue contains a number of papers/teaching units that are dedicated to the review and analysis of some ways in which authentic language materials can be used for the teaching and learning of Mandarin Chinese from the beginning to advanced levels. We first describe the rationale for the expanded use of authentic language data in classroom instruction, and then we present four exploratory units to showcase some of the effective classroom teaching procedures that are useful to make learners aware of (and eventually use) important features of language interaction in Chinese. The units use two types of authentic materials: natural conversations and entertainment media (TV and movies). Some of the materials, due to the nature of the communicative settings associated with them, raise important theoretical questions about norms and expectations of (intercultural) communication and goals of language learning. This introduction provides a brief review of the theoretical foundatio...
This study follows Ishida's (2017) call for longitudinal studies that examine how learners in the... more This study follows Ishida's (2017) call for longitudinal studies that examine how learners in the early stages of their study abroad sojourn develop skills in responding to prior talk. Using multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA), the study compares three interactions across a six-week sojourn between a learner of Japanese and his host father. For longitudinal comparison, the study focuses on sequences in which the learner has initiated a question or comment, and the host father provides a non-minimal response. The study finds a diversification of resources and an expanded repertoire of possible actions for displaying recipiency, changing from primarily minimal response tokens that only weakly display his stance towards the prior talk early on, to the greater use of assessments and non-minimal expansions toward the end of the sojourn. The study provides evidence that short-term study abroad experiences for novice languages learners can afford opportunities for the development of interactional competencies.
Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye t... more Since the turn of the century, the field of language assessment has increasingly turned its eye towards the assessment of Interactional Competence (IC) (Galaczi & Taylor, 2018; Plough et al., 2018; Roever & Kasper, 2018). This study is premised on the argument that a key function of IC is to achieve and maintain intersubjectivity, as made publicly viewable through the practices that participants employ to display that they understand each other, and how they understand each other. The paper thus suggests that IC assessment can and should consider intersubjectivity as a ratable construct. Using Multimodal Conversation Analysis (Goodwin, 2018; Mondada, 2011), the paper examines two paired-speaking assessment tasks conducted by learners of German at the end of their fourth semester of study, focusing on how and when the learners display understanding of prior talk, examining how they receipt turns and display epistemic and affective stances in a publicly viewable way. The study suggests that the same practices the participants employ to display their understandings to each other can be used in a heuristic fashion by language testers to assess IC and concludes by considering the practical implications these have for classroom assessment.
Following Ellis's (2005) call for more social and process-oriented planning research, this study ... more Following Ellis's (2005) call for more social and process-oriented planning research, this study explores how learners approach collabo-rative planning tasks in the classroom as a locally contingent activity in situ. Drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, the present study focuses on a group planning stage that precedes the final task of delivering a presentation. Fine-grained analyses of the interaction reveal that group planning is essentially a nonlinear, social, and pragmatic activity wherein the students manage participant roles, resolve disputes and misunderstandings, and collectively work toward effective task completion. These findings highlight that, although the groups begin with the same task-as-workplan (Breen, 1987; Seedhouse, 2005), the students' concerns are driven by locally constructed goals and plans-in-process, and as they work toward a group consensus they are required to deal with a wide range of social and interactional contingencies.
Tasks are viewed as a principled foundation for classroom teaching, social interaction, and langu... more Tasks are viewed as a principled foundation for classroom teaching, social interaction, and language development. This special issue sheds new light on how task-based classroom practices are supported by a diverse range of principles. This introduction describes current trends in classroom practice and pedagogic research in relation to task-based language teaching (TBLT), offering a rationale for revisit-ing the TESOL profession's understandings of the uses of tasks in language classrooms. It then summarizes the contributions appearing in this issue, which address topics including: interaction in task planning and completion, the use of tasks to support writing development , learner perceptions and interpretations of tasks, and the relationship between autonomy and TBLT. Collectively, these contributions advance complementary theoretical perspectives on classroom learning and teaching in diverse EFL and ESL settings. Overall, they reflect the broadening scope of second language acquisition theory while maintaining a tight focus on classroom realities.
The chapter examines how a second language speaker of Japanese tells a disaster story to an L1 Ja... more The chapter examines how a second language speaker of Japanese tells a disaster story to an L1 Japanese-speaking recipient in ordinary conversation. Drawing on Goodwin's (2013) notions of lamination and substrates, the study shows how the teller and recipient orient to the story as a stance object by selecting, assembling, and recycling different types of multisemiotic resources, including language forms, cultural references, prosody, ideophonic vocalizations, and embodied action such as gaze, facial expression, and gesture. By displaying emotions of different quality and intensity, and doing so with different configurations of semiotic practices, at different sequential moments, the participants show what they understand the current activity within the telling to be.
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Papers by Rue Burch