Seeing both the wood and the trees : A micro/macro description of interactional competence development in L2 English learning

Abstract

This paper describes the changes that were observed in the interactional behavior of learners of English over a semester in response to a syllabus and teaching methodology that specifically focused on interactional skills development. The students were video recorded engaging in unrehearsed spoken interaction at the beginning and end of a four month English course. The conversations were transcribed and analyzed. The analyses are carried out at both a macro- and micro-level, with overviews of the unfolding of an interaction over several minutes and small-scale analyses of short sequences. The analyses revealed an observable change in the interactional behavior of the participants. The initial recordings were characterized by short turns, sudden topic shifts, reliance on a question-and-answer format, lack of common English discourse markers, among other typical learner practices. The later recordings saw the deployment of more extended turns, stepwise transition of topic, naturalistic use of L2 discourse markers, less reliance on ‘current-selects-next’ as a turn transition strategy and other interactional competencies. I suggest that the emergence of these more advanced interactional practices is based on a combination of factors such as frequency of classes, length of course, interactional focus of teaching and extensive opportunity to interact in the target language. The findings allow robust claims to be made about the development of aspects of interactional competence that are both generally observable across the larger discourse and specifically situated in the small-scale practices of the participants.