Virtual Reality (VR) offers language learners a valuable environment for practicing language skills and other aspects essential for language development, interaction, and negotiation of meaning. For example, speaking practice in VR using avatars can reduce speaking anxiety and increase users' sense of agency. Social spaces in VR present…

The phenomenon of silence has been investigated in face-to-face learning over the years. It is one of the main concerns in physical classes since it may prevent the quality of teaching and learning and cause a challenge for instructors to negotiate with their students comprehensively. With the advent of technology, online learning has been…

Abstract In this article, we bring together conversation analysis and usage-based linguistics to investigate the second language (L2) developmental trajectory of a linguistic construction within the complex multimodal ecology of naturally occurring social interaction. We document how, over the course of 15 months, an L2 speaker's use of the French…

Silence is a common phenomenon in language learning where students stay silent, and it is potentially frustrating to instructors and not conducive to the foreign language input and output necessary for ongoing classroom-based language learning. Silence has been investigated initially in the face-to-face classroom and discussed thoroughly over the…

Foreign language learning is highly interactive and requires opportunities for academic speaking. The focus of this paper is how foreign language undergraduate students experienced this process in an online learning context. Through semi-structured interviews with seven undergraduate French, German and Spanish students, participants highlighted…

In this article, Camille Debras explores face-to-face tandem interactions between undergraduate university students who are native speakers of French and English and the role multimodality plays in these. Drawing from linguistics research on the multimodality of tandem interactions, four multimodal interactional linguistics studies based on the…

This study looked at multiple forms of silence and nonverbal cues of language anxiety in the foreign language classroom to explore their functions from the perspectives of students. Using the Classroom Oral Participation Scheme (COPS) developed by King (2013), 18 hours of observation produced data on learners' verbal and non-verbal participation…

Research into the multimodal aspects of language is increasingly important as communication through a screen plays a greater role in modern society than ever before (Liou, 2011). Multimodality has been explored from a number of angles relating to computer-mediated communication (CMC), such as its affordances and impact on language learners,…

This study examined Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' perceptions and use of politeness strategies in oral classroom discourse. In so doing, 29 EFL teachers were selected, and their classroom conversations with their students were audio-taped and observed. Further, ten teachers were interviewed to provide a deeper insight into…

This article examines how the environment and routines within preschools can support second language use and development. It suggests that certain imitable aspects common to Swedish preschools make the environment suitable for L2 use and development. Data build on a qualitative synthesis of two studies from which typical routine activities where…

In two-way interactive listening, listeners are expected to use interactional skills or strategies to understand meaning, recognize interlocutors' intentions, make responses, and establish common ground. However, strategy use can be affected by learner differences and affective factors. The present study investigated the effects of group…

The papers in this special issue provide support for continued scrutiny of interactional competence (IC) as an important component of the speaking construct. The contributions underscore the complex nature of IC and remind us of the multiple factors that affect any construct definition. At the same time, each study offers insights into those…

There is limited research on second language (L2) vocabulary teaching and learning which provides fine-grained descriptions of how vocabulary explanations (VE) are interactionally managed in beginning-level L2 classrooms where learners have a limited L2 repertoire, and how the VEs could contribute to the learners' conceptual understanding of the…

Visual cues may help second language (L2) speakers perceive interactional feedback and reformulate their nontarget forms, particularly when paired with recasts, as recasts can be difficult to perceive as corrective. This study explores whether recasts have a visual signature and whether raters can perceive a recast's corrective function.…

In the context of higher education foreign language courses are viewed as skills-oriented subjects that aim to enable students to communicate in a foreign language. The main four language skills to be developed are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Until recently, decisions about which of the linguistic skills should be emphasized in a…