Instructed L2 Interactional Competence in the First Year

Abstract

This chapter illustrates the outcomes of the first two semesters of university language instruction targeting the development of interactional competence (IC) in Chinese as a Foreign Language, with a specific focus on active listenership and topic management. IC is a crucial ability for both first language and second language (L2) speakers. The chapter also illustrates how Conversation Analysis (CA)-inspired learning outcomes for L2-Chinese have been identified and how the instructional materials have been structured following the IC pedagogical cycle suggested by A. M. Barraja-Rohan and elaborated by E. Betz and T. Huth. Conversation analysts are becoming increasingly concerned with the pedagogical implications of their findings. The students were required to write evidence-based, guided reflections in which they had to report on specific moments of their own interactions that went well and other moments that they perceived as problematic.