While discourse markers (DMs) are crucial for coherence and interactional competence, previous research suggests that learners' usage of DMs differs from L1 speakers. Prior research has taken either a discourse-functional or interactional approach, yet combining these two methods may provide greater understanding of the unique learner…

In the field of applied linguistics, Diane Larsen-Freeman is widely recognized, among her numerous contributions, as the originator of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). Over the years since her seminal publication (Larsen-Freeman, 1997), CDST has evolved into a meta-theory that guides the field's thinking on a variety of developmental…

In this microanalytical study, designed as part of an interdisciplinary and intercultural virtual exchange project for undergraduate students, the authors investigate the correlation between task design on the one hand and participant interaction during task performance on the other. The task created for this study consisted of 12 low-frequency…

While much research on writing tutorial interactions with second language (L2) writers has focused on the tutor's instructional practices, little attention has been given to the ways in which the tutee responds to them. Based on 6 h of video-recordings from 8 tutoring sessions between 6 tutors (L1 users of English) and 8 tutees (L2 users of…

This study examined the effect of the interaction approach on young EFL learners' lexical depth in a private language institute in Talesh, Iran. To achieve this, a Michigan test was administered to 40 EFL learners. Those language learners who met the selection criterion, i.e., performed one standard deviation above and below the mean on the test…

The article explores "culture talk" at the outset of first-time encounters between teachers and students of English as a foreign language in the conversation lounge of a Japanese university. It analyses the interactional procedures by which the foreign place of origin of the teacher becomes the topic of conversation following his or her…

The present paper examines negotiation of meaning and language-related episodes in Chinese-German eTandem interaction, focusing on Chinese as target language. Against the background of the interactionist approach to language learning and drawing upon Swain and Lapkin's (1998, Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French…

This article attempts to shed some light on the possible learning benefits for language acquisition and intercultural development of authentic social interaction with expert peers through computer mediated communication (CMC) tools. The environments used in this study are video communication and the 3D virtual world "Second Life." For…

Inteaction determines and affects the conditions of language acquisition especially in contexts where exposure to the target language is limited. This is believed to be successful only within the context of small classes (Chavez, 2009). This paper examines learners' progress resulting from interaction in large classes. Using pre-, post-, and…

This study investigates the dynamics in the Spanish classroom between heritage language learner (HLL) dyads, second language learner (L2L) dyads, and mixed HLL-L2L dyads. Specifically, it examines oral, written and embodied discourse that informs our understanding of how learners attend to language. Analysis for this dissertation examined…

This study attempted to investigate the characteristics of interaction dynamics in a group oral interaction carried out by Japanese learners of English. The relationship between the participants' language development and interactional management functions (IMFs) was also explored. Oral performance tests in a paired or a small group have recently…

Examines the value of conversation partner programs that pair up second language students and native speakers for out-of-class conversation. Findings reveal the activities conversation partners engage in, the perceived advantages of the experience for nonnative and native participants, and the problems encountered. Results can be used to guide…

Examines whether second-language (L2) learners' interaction with other L2 learners can address their input, output, and feedback needs for L2 learning in ways interaction with native speakers (NSs) had been shown to do. Results indicate interaction between L2 learners can address some of these needs, but it does not provide as much modified input…

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…