Enacting and expanding multilingual repertoires in a peer language tutorial: Routinized sequences as a vehicle for learning

Abstract

Despite the prevalent use of English in translocal encounters, mobile individuals are faced with the constant need to continue expanding their multilingual repertoires. Language learning among English-knowing multilinguals merits attention from English as a lingua franca (ELF) and Conversation Analysis (CA) researchers since both groups are increasingly interested in how mobile populations adapt to diverse interlocutors and communicative demands in their life trajectories. The present study examines the enactment and expansion of multilingual repertoires in a peer language tutorial involving a Thai tutor and three Japanese tutees. Particularly, it illuminates how participants implement common actions and routinized sequences, such as repeat-after-me and grammatical correction, by juggling English and other languages in fine coordination with embodied resources. Beyond a sole focus on the official target language (i.e., Thai), it also shows how participants manage orientations to the teaching/learning of Japanese through language alternation. Furthermore, as the participants recognized routinized sequences without overt instructions, the findings suggest that not only did they share certain knowledge of English, but also histories of socialization as language learners. The article will conclude by discussing the implications of the study for recent developments in CA, concerning the understanding of repertoire and language learning in multilingual settings.