The Machinery of Turn-taking in L2 Instructed Talk-in-interaction

Although various aspects of instructed discourse have been intensively investigated, relatively few studies have closely examined tum-taking systems in the L2 pedagogical context. Moreover, no study to data has analyzed in detail the turn-taking organization of L2 instructional discourse within differing participation frameworks (i.e., interactional task types). This study aims to examine how the patterns of turn-taking in classroom discourse vary according to different participation frameworks. Classroom data were videotaped and transcribed following the conversation-analytic methodology. The results show that participation frameworks play a crucial role in determining the turn-taking sequences in pedagogical interactions. The turn-taking system in teacher-fronted tasks was characterized mainly by IRF sequences. Several other unique features specific to institutional discourse were manifested in these tasks, suck as the turn-initiation techniques by students, dual interactional patterns, a single party talk, longer gaps, and gazing as a turn-allocation device. In role-playing tasks, which normally involve two official interlocutors, the teacher could be considered to be another official participant due to her frequent, supportive, and evaluative intervention.