L2 Interactional Competence and Development

According to the editors (professors of applied linguistics at Pennsylvania State U. and Portland State U. in the US and U. of Neuchatel in Switzerland) recent research has demonstrated the effectiveness of conversation analysis as a theory and method for describing the resources comprising L2 (second language) interactional competence, but there remain lingering questions about its effectiveness for understanding how L2 users develop such competence. This, then, is the primary question addressed by the ten chapters presented here, which draw on such interactional contexts as classrooms, pharmacy consultations, tutoring sessions, and video game-planning and a range of languages (including English, German, French, Danish, and Icelandic) in order to apply conversation analytic methods to investigating the use and development of L2 interactional competencies. Distributed in the US by UTP Distribution. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Joan Kelly Hall is Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics at Pennsylvania State University.

John Hellermann is Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics in the Department of Applied Linguistics at Portland State University.

Simona Pekarek Doehler is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Neuch?tel, Switzerland.