This study investigates the dynamic identities of an Asian university student engaged in English as a lingua franca (ELF) interactions from a membership categorization analysis (MCA) approach (Sacks, 1972a, 1989). Studies adopting MCA have demonstrated that identity and intercultural membership are co-constructed in ongoing interactions (e.g., Nishizaka, 1999; E. Zimmerman, 2007). Nevertheless, MCA studies have yet to document the multicultural identity of an individual and the ways in which members co-construct their multifaceted identities in naturally occurring non-institutional ELF interactions. The study analyzes interactions between two participants from different Asian countries, Japan and Korea. Approximately three hours of video recorded conversations were collected across four months. In and through the interaction, one of the participants was found utilizing multiple cultural identities to accomplish interactive goals. In addition, “language-form related category-bound activity” was used in constructing these identities. This study challenges the use of predetermined social categories and suggests an organic and interactional approach to identity construction.

Drawing on the notion of epistemic stance (Heritage 2013) and utilizing the analytical framework of Conversation Analysis, this study investigates the development of language learner identity from a longitudinal socio‐interactional perspective and suggests an alternative perspective in analyzing L2 development. English as a lingua‐franca interactions at a university dormitory in Japan were collected across 22 months between two participants with different L1s. Through the analysis of word search sequences, participants were found utilizing and managing claim of rights to the knowledge of language in constructing language expert or novice identities. Furthermore, these sequentially contingent positions were found negotiable and changeable, displaying learner identity and development as a co‐constructed phenomenon. This study suggests social epistemics and identity as a framework for analyzing language learner development.

The current study investigates the phenomena of “superficial intersubjectivity” occurring in English as a lingua franca (ELF) interactions at an international university dormitory in Japan. “Intersubjectivity” (Rommetveit, Ragnar. 1976. On the architecture of intersubjectivity. In Ragnar Rommetveit & Rolv Mikkel Blakar [eds.], Studies of language, thought, and verbal communication, 93–107. New York: Academic Press) refers to the shared perspective of the social world by the interlocutors. In ELF interactions where shared perspectives cannot be presumed, efforts to achieve intersubjectivity are critical. ELF research has explicated speakers’ efforts and cooperativeness to achieve intersubjectivity or avoid misunderstandings during interactions (Kaur, Jagdish. 2011a. “Doing being a language expert”: The case of the ELF speaker. In Alasdair Archibald, Alessia Cogo & Jennifer Jenkins [eds.], Latest Trends in ELF Research, 53–75. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing; Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2001. Closing a conceptual gap: The case for a description of English as a lingua franca. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 11[2]. 133–158). However, few studies have investigated cases where speakers display mutual understanding during a repair sequence even when the understanding is not accurate.

Approximately 37 hours of naturally occurring ELF interactions were collected and analyzed using a standard conversation analysis followed by a post-analytic researcher observation. Detailed analyses of repair sequences regarding a word suggest that in non-institutional ELF interactions the accuracy of intersubjectivity is not always prioritized. Rather, statements made by the speaker positioned as the one with relatively stronger linguistic ability seem to hold influence over the repair sequence, which prompts the interlocutor with relatively weaker ability to agree with inaccurate candidate understandings. The study suggests a connection between the positioning of speakers regarding linguistic knowledge and the construction of intersubjectivity in ELF interactions.

Topics presented in textbooks and covered in language classrooms are crucial parts of language teaching, as they facilitate student engagement, willingness to communicate, and ultimately, learning. However, whilst researchers and practitioners frequently discuss the authenticity of the language in textbooks, the authenticity and usefulness of textbook topics are rarely discussed or evaluated. To investigate their authenticity, topics from ELT textbooks and naturally occurring conversations were collected, categorized, and compared. The conversations occurred in English between Japanese and non-Japanese students from ten different countries at a university dormitory in Japan. When the textbooks and conversations were compared, large discrepancies between the treatment of some topics became evident, including students’ school lives. Pedagogic implications stemming from this review include incorporating topics that are realistic and practical for L2 English users into language classrooms to better prepare students for the ‘world out there’.

Researchers in the area of language teaching and learning had previously shied away from examining the micro‐detail of classroom interaction, regarding it as an excessively complex, heterogeneous, and particularly “messy” source of data. However, studies utilizing conversation analysis (CA) have demonstrated that second/foreign‐language (L2) classroom interaction can be analyzed, and, as with conversation, there is order at all points. In recent years, a wide range of languages, subjects, age groups, teaching practices, and classroom activities have been analyzed using CA, including task‐based language teaching and content and language‐integrated learning. This entry discusses how CA has been employed to investigate interaction which occurs in L2 classrooms.

This paper argues for the incorporation of bottom-up activities for English as a foreign language (EFL) listening. It discusses theoretical concepts and pedagogic options for addressing bottom-up aural processing in the EFL classroom as well as how and why teachers may wish to include such activities in lessons. This discussion is augmented by a small-scale classroom-based research project that investigated six activities targeting learners’ bottom-up listening abilities. Learners studying at the lower-intermediate level of a compulsory EFL university course were divided into a treatment group (n = 21) and a contrast group (n = 32). Each group listened to the same audio material and completed listening activities from an assigned textbook. The treatment group also engaged in a set of six bottom-up listening activities using the same material. This quasi-experimental study used dictation and listening proficiency tests before and after the course. Between-group comparisons of t-test results of dictation and listening proficiency tests indicated that improvements for the treatment group were probably due to the BU intervention. In addition, results from a posttreatment survey suggested that learners value explicit bottom-up listening instruction.