Developing EFL Learners’ Interactional Competence through Discursive Practice: A Longitudinal Classroom Study Using Mixed Methods

Abstract

Although studies on L2 IC through discursive practice have gained prominence, little is known about pedagogical steps to develop IC (Hall, et al., 2011; van Compernolle, 2015; Young, 2009, 2011, 2019), especially in the language classroom. More recently, Salaberry and Kunitz (2019) claim that “only a few attempts have been made to bridge the gap between research and practice with regard to the teaching of IC in the L2 classroom” (p. 1). Moreover, very few longitudinal studies were conducted to investigate how learners adapt interactional resources they developed with participants to a new context in the L2 classroom (Pekarek Doehler, Wagner, & Gonzalez-Martinez, 2018, Young, 2009). Through a mixed methods analyses, including recordings, interviews, self-evaluation, and performance evaluation of speaking data, this study delineates how Japanese university students in an EFL classroom setting went through three stages (peripheral participation, active participation, full participation) to develop their IC. Consequently, this study identified four pedagogical steps to implement IC in the L2 curriculum