Social-interactional approaches to SLA

Abstract

In this paper I address the current state of the art in social-interactional research on SLA. I first provide a brief outline of the historical development of those lines of research that are commonly subsumed under the (broad) heading of ‘social-interactional approaches’, and I discuss their conceptual underpinnings as well as some of their research results. I then focus specifically on current research in what has become a major driving force in socially oriented research on SLA, namely conversation analysis (CA-SLA). I discuss some of the empirical evidence CA-SLA has offered for L2 learning as a socio-cognitive process bound up with the moment-to-moment unfolding of L2 speakers’ social practices. I also review its contribution to our understanding of L2 interactional competence and its development over time. I conclude by sketching avenues for future research.