Repair sequences in ‘off-task’ conversations in an EFL university classroom in Japan: Japanese language resources and learning opportunities

Extending repair in peer interaction: A conversation analytic study

“…Concerning the complexity of classroom discourse, analytic focuses have been gradually given to peer interactions. The roles that language experts and novice learners play in the classroom are not stationary ( Merke, 2016 ): peers can also perform as the explainer to construct knowledge collaboratively in class ( Jakonen, 2018 ; Stone, 2019 ). To flesh out the specific features of peer interaction, researchers aim to demonstrate the roles that peers play in the construction of classroom discourse, and the learning outcomes that yield from peer assistance.…”

“…Central to this categorization, on-task interaction refers to interactional trajectories within conventional classroom communication; off-task interactions feature the everyday language use in the classroom. Public interactions following pre-designed instructions and executing required tasks are seen as on-task, while interactions that do not proceed with the current tasks are typically analyzed as off-task ( Hauser, 2016 ; Stone, 2019 ). While the on-task classroom talk prototypically unfolds around teacher-initiated questions and students’ responses ( Duran and Sert, 2021 ), the off-task talk reflects characteristics of real-life interaction ( Markee, 2005 ).…”

“…Despite the growing studies on on-task interactions, a relative lack of attention has been given to the detailed analysis of off-task peer interactions. The recent exceptions include the studies on L2 learning in the wild ( Illés and Akcan, 2017 ; Eskildsen, 2018 ), a study about how L1 is used in peer interaction to facilitate L2 learning ( Jakonen, 2018 ), and a report of repair in an off-task talk in a Japan EFL classroom ( Stone, 2019 ). Among these studies, Illés and Akcan (2017) analyzed how off-task interactions in the classroom incidentally link to the language used in the real world and argued for encouraging off-task interactions during the process of L2 learning.…”

“…Following the call to emphasize the interactional competence of EFL learners ( Kasper, 2006 ; Young, 2008 ; Barraja-Rohan, 2011 ), researchers and practitioners argue that language should not be learned in a vacuum. Pedagogical arrangements, therefore, such as language immersion program ( Ahlund and Aronsson, 2015 ), communicative language class ( Stone, 2019 ), language café ( Engwall et al, 2021 ) and conversation-for-learning ( Kasper, 2004 ; Kim, 2012 , 2017a , b ; Hauser, 2013 , 2017a , b ; Kasper and Kim, 2015 ; Zimmerman, 2020 ) are implemented to augment L2 learners’ exposure to and the employment of the target language, offsetting the limitations of conventional language teaching. Although the titles of these arrangements are diverse, they are indeed homogeneous in terms of rendering learning opportunities for learners and establishing a flexible participation framework.…”

“…An emerging body of research intends to display the sophisticated designs of different participating frameworks in the classroom by analyzing peer interactions. This vein of research includes how learners retrospectively orient to learning achievements in Content and Language Integrated Classrooms ( Jakonen, 2018 ) and how learners use their L1 to scaffold the off-task peer interactions in EFL class ( Stone, 2019 ).…”