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Multimodal (inter)action analysis of task instructions in language teaching via videoconferencing: A case study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2021

Ciara R. Wigham Open the ORCID record for Ciara R. Wigham [Opens in a new window]  and
Müge Satar Open the ORCID record for Müge Satar [Opens in a new window]
Ciara R. Wigham
Affiliation:
Université Clermont Auvergne, France (ciara.wigham@uca.fr)
Müge Satar
Affiliation:
Newcastle University, United Kingdom (muge.satar@newcastle.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Online language teaching is gaining momentum worldwide and an expanding body of research analyses online pedagogical interactions. However, few studies have explored experienced online teachers’ practices in videoconferencing particularly while giving instructions, which are key to success in task-based language teaching (Markee, 2015). Adopting multimodal (inter)action analysis (Norris, 2004, 2019) to investigate the multimodal construction of instructions in a single case study, we examine instruction-giving as a social practice demonstrated in a specific site of engagement (a synchronous online lesson recorded for research purposes). Drawing on the higher-level actions (instruction-giving fragments) we have identified elsewhere (Satar & Wigham, 2020), in this paper we analyse the lower-level actions (modes) that comprise these higher-level actions, specifically focusing on the print mode (task resource sheets, URLs, text chat, and online collaborative writing spaces) wherein certain higher-level actions become frozen. Our findings are unique in depicting the modal complexity of sharing task resources in synchronous online teaching due to semiotic misalignment and semiotic lag that precludes the establishment of a completely shared interactional space. We observe gaze shifts as the sole indicator for learners that the teacher is multitasking between different higher-level actions. Further research is needed to fully understand the interactional features of online language teaching via videoconferencing to inform teacher training policy and practice.

Keywords

multimodal (inter)action analysistask-based language teachingvideoconferencinginstruction-giving practicesprint modefrozen actions
Type
Research Article
Information
ReCALL , Volume 33 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 195 - 213
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Association for Computer Assisted Language Learning

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