Sociomateriality of Semiscripted Pair‐Work Prompts in Beginner‐Level Japanese‐as‐a‐Foreign‐Language Classrooms

Abstract

AbstractIn order to conceptualize materials used in pair‐work activities from a sociomaterialist perspective, this study examined the moment‐by‐moment unfolding of 67 pair‐work interactions in beginner‐level Japanese‐as‐a‐foreign‐language classrooms. The types of pair‐work materials used in the focal classrooms—either textbook or teacher‐designed activities—were highly controlled with specific sequences of turns that learners were expected to follow. My analysis revealed that each phase of pair work—opening, main, and closing—entailed 2 concurrent layers of orientation to the ongoing event, namely, a ‘pedagogical‐activity layer’ and ‘normative‐interaction layer.’ The pedagogical‐activity layer, in which students followed the prescribed turns, was constructed as private and individualistic, whereas the normative‐interaction layer, in which students used normal interactional procedures, point to its collaborative, contingent, and remedial or corrective nature. The examination of pair‐work cases with these layers helps us better understand the intricacy and subtlety involved in the use of learning materials, as well as the conflicting capabilities of the materials, pointing to a sociomaterial concept of human and nonhuman intra‐action. This article also discusses implications for task design, as well as for the theorization of task in second language acquisition research.