Returning as a Speaker: Pending Contributions and Changing Action in L2 Interaction

Abstract

A second-language (L2) speaker who returns to an unfinished contribution may face an     interactional task that differs substantially from the one projected earlier. A room first suggested as     an exhibition venue, for example, may become relevant to overnight storage after the     group has provisionally selected another venue. This article examines how speakers and     recipients make such connections recognizable. It brings together research on the longitudinal organization of L2 interaction,     conversational resumption, turn entry, embodied participation, and interactional assessment. The     analytical unit follows four publicly inspectable events: the establishment of pending     business, intervening action, a later pursuit of the contribution, and recipients'     subsequent treatment. It distinguishes the continuity of a referent or concern from the     continuity of the social action accomplished with it. It also distinguishes a speaker's     design of a return from the invitation or other access arrangement that permits the     return. Seven hypothetical alternatives drawn from one planning exchange demonstrate why     unchanged wording can be understood or questioned, why redesigned contributions may     receive no uptake, and why withdrawal must be recorded separately from resumed pursuit.     Three conditional expectations address the handling of changed relevance, recurrence     under comparable demands, and the explanatory limits of speaking-frequency counts. A     specified observation design comprises four recurring learner triads, 12 weekly project     meetings, an initial meeting, and a delayed meeting for each triad.