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This chapter provides a background of classroom discourse research with particular focus on research into the interactional organization of classroom interaction. Walsh’s (200, 2011) modes are introduced as a key framework for this volume. Prior research on student participation is summarized here, including the concepts of (un)willingness to participate and classroom interactional competence. Finally, multimodal conversation analysis, the methodological framework for this volume, is presented, including brief summaries of research on gaze, gesture, body movement, artifacts, and complex multimodal Gestalts. Notes on transcription practices are presented here, as well as descriptions of the data corpora drawn upon for this study.

Traditionally, teachers and researchers have looked for student participation in moments when teachers provide interactional space for it – this book takes a more holistic approach, examining how learners are participating (or not) throughout classroom interaction. It looks beyond turn-taking to consider participation as a multimodal phenomenon, including actions such as posture and gaze. It also expands the scope of classroom conversation analysis in three ways: 1) by focusing on student actions 2) by incorporating multimodal analysis, and 3) by examining both language learning contexts and non-L2 classrooms. In doing so the book uncovers how the identity of ‘being a student’ is enacted and provides implications for practice, teacher education and observation including emphasis on teacher interactional awareness and reflective practice.