Proffering absurd candidate formulations in the pursuit of progressivity

Amar, Cheikhna; Nanbu, Zachary; Greer, Tim

doi:10.1080/19463014.2020.1798259

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In line 7, Kim pursues an answer from Nao by proffering a candidate response (“Is it a heart sickness?”). On the surface this aligns with the potentially serious way in which Nao's pre‐request was formulated, but through laminated embodiment, Kim actually formulates this as an absurd candidate formulation (Amar, Nanbu, & Greer, 2021), by leaning back as she produces an exaggerated heart‐shaped gesture and elongating the vowel on “heart.” Therefore, Kim's joke‐first points to the missing modifier in Nao's request and affords him an opportunity to repair the utterance himself. Nao's next‐turn response in line 8 correctly treats Kim's candidate as designed to be rejected and replaced with a more fitting response (Amar, Nanbu, & Greer, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…On the surface this aligns with the potentially serious way in which Nao's pre‐request was formulated, but through laminated embodiment, Kim actually formulates this as an absurd candidate formulation (Amar, Nanbu, & Greer, 2021), by leaning back as she produces an exaggerated heart‐shaped gesture and elongating the vowel on “heart.” Therefore, Kim's joke‐first points to the missing modifier in Nao's request and affords him an opportunity to repair the utterance himself. Nao's next‐turn response in line 8 correctly treats Kim's candidate as designed to be rejected and replaced with a more fitting response (Amar, Nanbu, & Greer, 2021).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Therefore, Kim's jokefirst points to the missing modifier in Nao's request and affords him an opportunity to repair the utterance himself. Nao's next-turn response in line 8 correctly treats Kim's candidate as designed to be rejected and replaced with a more fitting response (Amar, Nanbu, & Greer, 2021). However, it appears that at this point Nao has still not realized that the missing word is "motion," or perhaps even that there is a missing word, so in line 11 he attempts to deal with the trouble by explaining his understanding of "motion sickness," i.e., that the sickness is all over his body.…”

Section: Disaligning With a Learner Contribution Via Complicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Creating Obstacles to Progressivity: Task Expansion in Second Language Role‐Plays

Nanbu

Greer

2022

TESOL Quarterly

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One way that language educators can extend a role‐play is by adding a complication to encourage the learner say more. This study uses multimodal conversation analysis to explore such obstacles to progressivity among Japanese learners of English at an experiential language learning facility. We first examine an interactional practice in which the educator orients to a learner contribution as misaligned and creates a role‐play‐specific basis for rejection that expands the sequence, draws attention to linguistic form, and realigns the learner's responses with the task. We then analyze a related practice in which the educator “feigns” a next‐turn display of misunderstanding to signal trouble located in some aspect of the learner's prior turn and thereby occasions the learner's reflection on possible pragmatic, syntactic or lexical issues with their contribution. The educators therefore create a temporary interactional barrier that the learner must overcome to progress the sequence. These practices allow the educators to emulate the way that mechanisms like repair, correction and rejection operate in mundane interaction beyond the classroom (i.e., “in the wild”) and offer insight into how unscripted role‐play tasks can provide opportunities for expanded L2 use.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Disaligning With a Learner Contribution Via Complicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Creating Obstacles to Progressivity: Task Expansion in Second Language Role‐Plays

Nanbu

Greer

2022

TESOL Quarterly

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Problematizing Possible -isms in Adult Second Language Classrooms

Tadic

2024

Applied Linguistics

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While addressing issues of prejudice and exclusion is crucial for helping adult second language (L2) learners acquire and critique socio-interactional norms of their pluralistic communities, there is still a lack of work examining how teachers can problematize prejudiced talk when it arises in the classroom. Within the detail-oriented frameworks of conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis, this study examines teacher practices for problematizing students’ hearably prejudiced, stereotypical, or exclusionary talk—that is, students’ possible -isms. Drawing on data from 55 hours of video-recorded English L2 classes in the United States, I explore three problematizing responses to possible -isms: (i) introducing complexities, (ii) offering counter examples, and (iii) treating -isms as absurd. While introducing complexities neutralizes students’ hearable -isms as somehow inadequate, the latter two practices treat the -isms as entirely inaccurate through illustrated and invited corrections. The analysis reveals these practices to be finely attuned to the institutional goals and features of the adult L2 classroom, allowing teachers to incorporate a critical perspective and delicately problematize possible -isms without threatening solidarity with their diverse adult learners.

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Ear cupping in EFL classroom interaction: an embodied means of pursuing students’ response

Amar

2022

Text &Amp; Talk

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This paper describes one of the embodied resources language teachers use to pursue a response from students: placing one hand behind the ear in an Ear Cupping (EC) gesture. The data analyzed are taken from over 20 h of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom interaction video-recorded at a Japanese university. The paper explores how teachers use EC to pursue a response in cases when a Second-Pair Part (SPP) contribution from the student(s) is sequentially and temporally delayed, missing or inapposite. The findings suggest that the use of the EC gesture to pursue a response demonstrates the teachers’ orientation toward a normative understanding that a question posed within the classroom should be answered, even when a specific respondent has not been nominated. The analysis therefore reveals that the gesture constitutes an embodied means of monitoring intersubjectivity and increasing engagement in large groups of language learners.

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Proffering absurd candidate formulations in the pursuit of progressivity

Cited by 4 publications

References 32 publications

Creating Obstacles to Progressivity: Task Expansion in Second Language Role‐Plays

Creating Obstacles to Progressivity: Task Expansion in Second Language Role‐Plays

Problematizing Possible -isms in Adult Second Language Classrooms

Ear cupping in EFL classroom interaction: an embodied means of pursuing students’ response

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