Interactional competence in L2 learning : Is it taught or activated?

Abstract

It has long been understood that learning a foreign/second language involves much more than simply acquiring vocabulary and grammar to a certain level. Language learners also need interactional competence （IC） to be able to successfully participate in spoken interactions in the target language （L2）. IC is comprised of a wide range of components, such as turn-taking and repair procedures, use of discourse markers and the ability to carry out speech acts and recognize when others are carrying them out. Some of these components will be the same in both the L1 and L2 and can be transferred into the L2 in an unconscious fashion. Thus, IC may develop over time as knowledge of the L2 increases and opportunities to interact in the L2 accumulate. IC can also be explicitly taught, especially where opportunities to interact in the L2 are limited and where there may be subtle differences between L1 and L2 interactional practices. The development of IC can be seen as falling along a spectrum, from unconscious application of universal interactional modes from the very outset of learning to automatic emergence of competence as knowledge and opportunity to interact increases, to specifically taught interactional practices incorporated in the teaching program.