A Series of Conversation Analysis Based Pedagogical Activities for Increasing Interactional Awareness

Abstract

This article presents a series of activities that are informed by research on conversation analysis and used for increasing the EFL [English as a Foreign Language] learners’ awareness of interactional mechanisms of English language. The activity series consists of (1) lecture (e.g., turn taking, sequence and preference organization, repair), (2) conversation workshop, (3) audio and video-recording, (4) sharing the recordings with students, (5) guided watching of the recordings repeatedly and filling out a self-feedback sheet, (6) transcription, and (7) a whole class video-oriented feedback session led by the teacher. Each step is repeated for each interactional mechanism using Wong and Waring (2010) as a reference for the course design. We present a series of ordered activities recalibrated for use in high school EFL classrooms based on insights gained from previous implementation in higher education classrooms.

Keywords

• conversation analysis
• L2 interactional competence
• EFL classrooms
• interactional awareness