Autobiographic research interviews have become an accepted and valued method of qualitative inquiry in TESOL and applied linguistics more broadly. In recent discussions surrounding the epistemological treatment of autobiographic stories, TESOL researchers have increasingly called for more attention to the ways in which stories are embedded in…

A key question in the debate on conversation analysis as an approach to SLA concerns the role of cognition in interaction and learning. Where is cognition located, and how is understanding in interaction achieved? For an empirically grounded answer, I will explore the procedural apparatus that sustains socially shared cognition. Following a brief…

As one of several approaches to SLA as social practice, Conversation Analysis (CA) has the capacity to examine in detail how opportunities for L2 learning arise in different interactional activities. Its particular strength, and one that distinguishes it from other social practice approaches, is its consistent focus on the orientations and…

This article explores some roles for conversation analysis (CA) as an approach to second and foreign language learning by examining the initial segment of a Gesprachsrunde, a dyadic conversation-for-learning conducted between a beginning learner of German as a foreign language and a native speaker of German. The analysis focuses on the situated…

A study examined pragmatic routine and indirection as regularly-used strategies for accomplishing linguistic action that, while conventional, can pose problems for non-native speakers. Two kinds of conventionalities are distinguished: conventionality of means (kinds of semantic structure that have acquired a standard illocutionary force, such as,…

Focuses on the proper place of interlanguage pragmatics in the realm of second-language acquisition (SLA). This introductory essay describes the thematic issue of the ensuing articles as an endeavor to move interlanguage pragmatics more closely toward the center of SLA. The research suggests that many aspects of pragmatic competence can be…

Focuses on some positions advanced by Firth and Wagner in a preceding article regarding research in second language acquisition (SLA). Argues that if the microanalytic tools of conversation analysis were incorporated into a language socialization approach to SLA, it would be possible to reconstruct links between second language discourse and the…

Analyzes four types of repair activity in the foreign language classroom. A distinction is made according to whether the trouble source is produced by a teacher or a learner. Findings show that different preferences for repair patterns vary with the type of classroom activity (language-centered or content-centered). (Author/SED)

Reports on a study of language learners' comprehension of speech acts and discourse functions, referred to as pragmatic comprehension. Analyzes two types of learners' pragmatic misunderstandings: their failure to distinguish between phatic talk and referential talk, and their failure to identify the intended illocutionary force of indirect speech…

A review of data collection methods used in 39 studies of interlanguage pragmatics, focusing on the validity of different types of data resulting from discourse completion, role play, observation of authentic speech, and multiple approaches, concludes that caution is needed in determining the true validity of the collected data. (72 references)…

The need for an analytical approach to the study of phatic, metalingual, and metacommunicative functions in asymmetrical communicative situations (between native speakers and language learners) is discussed. The study presents theoretical frameworks for gambits and repairs, the linguistic phenomena that primarily serve those functions, and…

Profiles interlanguage pragmatics as an area of inquiry in second-language acquisition (SLA) research by reviewing existing studies with a focus on learning, examining research findings in interlanguage pragmatics shedding light on basic questions in SLA, exploring cognitive and social-psychological theories illuminating aspects of pragmatic…