Peer interaction constitutes a focal site for understanding learning orientations and autonomous learning behaviors. Based on 10 h of video-recorded data collected from small-size conversation-for-learning classes, this study, through the lens of Conversation Analysis, analyzes instances in which L2 learners spontaneously exploit learning opportunities from the on-task public talk and make them relevant for private learning in sequential private peer interaction. The analysis of extended negation-for-meaning practices in peer interaction displays how L2 learners orient to public repair for their learning opportunities in an immediate manner and in so doing, how different participation framework is being utilized to maximize their learning outcomes. As these extended repair practices are entirely managed by learners themselves, they yield both efficient and inefficient learning outcomes. Findings reveal that learners frequently resort to their peers to recycle the focal trouble words for learning opportunities, shifting their participating role from the on looking audience to active learners. By reporting the rather under-researched post-repair negotiation-for-meaning sequence in peer interactions, the study highlights the relevance between on-task classroom activities and private learning, contributing to understanding private learning behaviors in the language classroom and learning as a co-constructed activity locally situated in peer interaction.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of three teaching approaches: a deductive teaching approach, an inductive teaching approach, and an inductive-deductive teaching approach on facilitating Chinese EFL learners’ use of request modifiers. Written discourse completion tasks were employed to collect learners’ request data and a follow-up interview reported Chinese EFL learners’ overall positive attitudes towards pragmatic instruction with a preference for the deductive approach. The findings presented the necessity for instructions of request in EFL contexts and reveal the superiority of the inductive-deductive teaching approach on pragmatic knowledge. Combing the results of the experiment with learners’ perceptions, it indicates that practitioners should consider incorporating both deductive and inductive instructions to fit learners’ preferences of instructional styles and learning needs. Besides, in terms of learners’ pragmatic competence, such a teaching approach would also guarantee the treatment effect in both short and long runs.

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