The use of material resources in vocabulary explanations: a conversation analytic inquiry

Abstract

Recent studies have examined the interactional management of verbal and non-verbal vocabulary explanations in second language (L2) classrooms. However, the use of material resources in vocabulary explanations has not been fully investigated yet. Based on a corpus of fourteen class-hours of (50-min each) video recordings of an L2 Oral Communication classroom at a higher education setting in Turkey, this study explores how material resources are employed in vocabulary explanation sequences in combination with talk and gestures. Using the microanalytic lens of multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA) for the examination of the detailed transcriptions of vocabulary explanation sequences with material resources, three different patterns were identified: (1) gesture + material resources; (2) talk + gesture + material resources; and (3) scene enactment + material resources. The findings of this study contribute to classroom interaction research, more specifically to studies on vocabulary teaching, by providing a micro-analytic account of how material resources are employed in vocabulary explanations.