Sequences of normative evaluation in two telecollaboration projects: A comparative study of multimodal feedback through desktop videoconference

Abstract

In our study we analyse how the same interactional dynamic is produced in two different pedagogical settings exploiting a desktop videoconference system. We propose to focus our attention on a specific type of conversational side sequence, known in the Francophone literature as sequences of normative evaluation. More particularly, we analyse data from two telecollaborative projects through desktop videoconference: a French-Chinese tandem, and a French-Irish telecollaboration between trainee teachers and learners of French as a foreign language. The comparison of two different pedagogical settings allows us to understand what types of interactional dynamics are co-constructed through the desktop videoconference environment and which characteristics are specific to each pedagogical setting. Within a socio-interactionist perspective, we analysed four hours of interactions, focusing particularly on the transmodal enactment of the sequences under scrutiny and its relation to learners’ uptake. Our results show on the one hand that there are some quantitative differences in the production of sequences of normative evaluation between the two pedagogical settings, and on the other hand that, contrary to our hypothesis, the co-construction of these sequences does not differ in multimodal density across the two contexts. We discuss these results and propose some tentative explanations for them.

Multimodality in webconference-based language tutoring: An ecological approach integrating eye tracking

“…The second are sequences of normative evaluation (hereafter SEN; Py, 2000): another type of side sequence in which the language expert considers that there has been an error in the interlocutor's expression and signals this. 2 Analysis was conducted by replicating the procedure in previous research (Cappellini & Azaoui, 2017). First, the two authors independently identified the conversational phenomena of interest, then discussed any discrepancies until agreement was reached.…”

“…For instance, Yamada and Akahori (2010) manipulated the presence of the video feed of one of the interlocutors to gauge its impact on the other interlocutors' grammatical accuracy correction while speaking. Although this approach has informed some recent studies (Kozar, 2016, for instance), research has more commonly adopted holistic approaches in which multimodality is conceived of as a whole and is studied within paradigms such as multimodal conversation analysis (CA) (Cappellini & Azaoui, 2017;Sert & Balaman, 2018), interactional sociolinguistics (Satar, 2016), social semiotics, or combinations thereof (Helm & Dooly, 2017;Satar & Wigham, 2017). These studies have enhanced our understanding of how multimodality is used as a whole during interaction, often by focusing on particular conversational dynamics such as instruction-giving sequences (Satar & Wigham, 2017, 2020, policing (Sert & Balaman, 2018), or side sequences of negative feedback (Cappellini & Azaoui, 2017).…”

“…Although this approach has informed some recent studies (Kozar, 2016, for instance), research has more commonly adopted holistic approaches in which multimodality is conceived of as a whole and is studied within paradigms such as multimodal conversation analysis (CA) (Cappellini & Azaoui, 2017;Sert & Balaman, 2018), interactional sociolinguistics (Satar, 2016), social semiotics, or combinations thereof (Helm & Dooly, 2017;Satar & Wigham, 2017). These studies have enhanced our understanding of how multimodality is used as a whole during interaction, often by focusing on particular conversational dynamics such as instruction-giving sequences (Satar & Wigham, 2017, 2020, policing (Sert & Balaman, 2018), or side sequences of negative feedback (Cappellini & Azaoui, 2017). This article aims at proposing a methodological approach that starts with multimodal CA and articulates it with an ecological approach based on the concept of affordance and integrating relevance theory.…”