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Using the framework of conversation analysis, this study investigated the interactional workings of laughter in task-based interactions. The analysis was drawn from 160 cases of pair work interactions, collected in 2nd-semester Japanese-as-a-foreign-language classrooms. The pair work activities examined in this study are mostly grammar-focused, with prescribed sequences of turns presented on activity prompts. While the learners are closely following these prescribed sequences, analysis of their laughter reveals the complex interplays of their interpretations of activity designs, their appropriation of instructional materials, their negotiation of moment-by-moment orientations, and their positioning in interpersonal relationships, all of which give rise to unique interactional outcomes. Moreover, the resourceful use of laughter can be deemed relevant to language learning as it relates to active engagement with language use. This study suggests that a close examination of laughter provides rich information about task-based interactions that may otherwise be overlooked.

In this article, we seek to reconceptualize content-based instruction (CBI) curricula and practices from a critical perspective. Further, we propose developing criticality as an essential component of CBI, advocating for an approach we call critical content-based instruction (CCBI). While the importance of CBI has long been recognized, previous discussions predominantly focused on its effectiveness for language learning (and content learning to a lesser degree), and overlooked its fundamental linkage and relevance to broader educational missions. In order to fully maximize the potential of CBI and envision language education as integral to the advancement of society, we argue that a critical approach to CBI should be considered. First, we lay out how CBI came to be and how it has been treated in language pedagogy. We believe CBI is indeed a suitable forum for introducing and implementing a critical perspective because of its original contribution of broadening language education to meet societal needs. Second, we provide an overview of recent discourse surrounding world language education. Based on these reviews, we lastly and most importantly delineate directions for CCBI by presenting examples and possible challenges.

In order to conceptualize materials used in pair‐work activities from a sociomaterialist perspective, this study examined the moment‐by‐moment unfolding of 67 pair‐work interactions in beginner‐level Japanese‐as‐a‐foreign‐language classrooms. The types of pair‐work materials used in the focal classrooms—either textbook or teacher‐designed activities—were highly controlled with specific sequences of turns that learners were expected to follow. My analysis revealed that each phase of pair work—opening, main, and closing—entailed 2 concurrent layers of orientation to the ongoing event, namely, a ‘pedagogical‐activity layer’ and ‘normative‐interaction layer.’ The pedagogical‐activity layer, in which students followed the prescribed turns, was constructed as private and individualistic, whereas the normative‐interaction layer, in which students used normal interactional procedures, point to its collaborative, contingent, and remedial or corrective nature. The examination of pair‐work cases with these layers helps us better understand the intricacy and subtlety involved in the use of learning materials, as well as the conflicting capabilities of the materials, pointing to a sociomaterial concept of human and nonhuman intra‐action. This article also discusses implications for task design, as well as for the theorization of task in second language acquisition research.

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