Interaction has received attention in different fields of applied linguistics. In the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), scholars have perceived interaction as a platform where L2 learners can engage in language experimentation. It has been considered in light of Long's (1981) Interaction Hypothesis, which posits that negotiation of…

According to research in pragmatics, gender represents an important factor in individuals' turn-taking behaviour, with results indicating overall male-dominated conversational patterns. Despite the significance of gender in the students' conversational styles in an academic setting, gender and turn-taking has yet to be investigated in the foreign…

This article is a conceptual and methodological exploration of a new construct, task interactional difficulty, and of a possible approach to assessing task demands in general. After arguing for the use of 'task difficulty' instead of 'task complexity', the notion of task interactional difficulty is analyzed, first by reviewing previous SLA…

"Interactional competence" is a theoretical construct that has only recently been tested empirically. Speakers contribute to an interaction with their individual resources; however, interactional competence is co-constructed by all participants. Interactional competence can be observed in spoken interaction as speakers' combined ability…

Studies of learner-learner interactions have reported varying degrees of pronunciation-focused discourse, ranging from 1% (Bowles, Toth, & Adams, 2014) to 40% (Bueno-Alastuey, 2013). Including first language (L1) background, modality, and task as variables, this study investigates the role of pronunciation in learner-learner interactions.…

One of the recent issues in English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) writing instruction has been the quest for a more effective way to give feedback to L2 learners' writing drafts. Although teacher-learner writing conferences have been increasingly used for providing ample opportunity for negotiating revisions, relatively little attention…

The telecollaborative project under study involves, on the one hand, Masters students who are studying to become teachers and who design the tasks as well as tutor them, and, on the other hand, French language students. The relationship in this type of telecollaboration has been shown to be both asymmetric and symmetric. The hypothesis this paper…

Researchers in second language socialization (SLS) often examine those interactions relating to a learner's integration within a target community. Kramsch and Whiteside (2008) noted the importance of "symbolic competence" in this integration. Symbolic competence, defined as the ability to access contextually relevant social and political…

Grounded in Vygotskyan sociocultural theory, this qualitative, classroom-based investigation incorporates an open-ended task framework. Open tasks in the present study were defined as ones designed to take shape in the second language classroom as teacher and adult learners jointly worked through exploratory problems. One central feature of open…

The purpose of this research was to identify the types of interaction that emerged not only in a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) but also in face-to-face settings. The study also assessed the impact of the different kinds of interactions in terms of language learning. This is a qualitative case study that took place in a private Colombian…

A discussion of points raised by Dell Hymes in his article "On Communicative Competence" leads to a proposal for a clearer and more comprehensive theory of communicative competence based on two models, a matrix of discourse analysis and a model of communication interaction. Pedagogical implications of the theory are considered, including the…

The question of whether the English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classroom is an environment that promotes input, feedback, and the production of output that is necessary for successful second language learning is addressed. Such questions have arisen within the context of a growing emphasis on communicative activities and student-to-student…