Developing practices for first-time encounters: Pursuing mutual understanding and relational achievement in conversations-for-learning

Abstract

A first-time encounter is an important opportunity for creating social networks, as participants routinely conduct self-presentations during this occasion. Second-language (L2) users, however, face particular difficulties engaging in first-time encounters; but no studies have examined how L2 users’ self-presentational practices develop over time. To fill this gap, this study investigates how an L2 English user calibrates her interactional practices to conduct self-presentations during first-time encounters. The participants were a senior Thai student attending a Thai college and six English instructors whom she met for the first time in a series of dyadic conversations-for-learning over a two-month period. Conversation analysis revealed how the focal participant displayed her orientations toward intersubjective and relational issues, resulting in better recognition of the initiating action. She then accordingly calibrated her response designs over time to resolve repeated intersubjective issues and ensure relational achievement during self-presentational sequences. The results suggest pedagogical implications for learning self-introduction practices.