A CONVERSATION ANALYTIC INVESTIGATION INTO CO-CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN ONLINE TASK-ORIENTED INTERACTION

Task-based interaction in foreign language learning has long been a focus in applied linguistic research. It has been argued that the intersection of computer-assisted language learning and task-based language learning, especially when combined with an enriched negotiation of meaning, can facilitate foreign language development. In this article, we analyse the co-construction of participants’ knowledge within the use of a game designed to facilitate online task-based EFL interaction. Unlike theory, researcher, and code driven traditional SLA studies, we employed Conversation Analysis methodology. The focus of our study, in which screen recordings as well as 20-hour long L2 interactions have been used, is the orientations of participants right after they find the correct answer and the epistemic progression that unfolds from that moment on. Our analyses show that the multimodal resources used by the participants and the norms of the task-based interaction form intertwined sequential actions, and the dynamics of epistemic progression unfold through orientations of participants to such actions. Our study can contribute to the applied linguistics studies on epistemic states and stance, to foreign language learning, and to computer mediated task based interaction design.