A Case Study: Overcoming Failure in the Search for Common Ground

Abstract

This chapter is the first of three which are dedicated to a case study of a pair of learners and their teacher. It looks in detail at how the challenges and risks of playing in the target language are manifest in the data where failure can throw light on the linguistic and cultural challenges learners face in attempting to play. The data also reveals the importance of non-linguistic elements such as body language which the learners use to overcome the obstacles to play. Another finding is the degree to which the structures and sounds of the target language provide a resource for pleasurable play. The chapter argues that, like children, early-stage learners are not yet inured the target language’s properties and thus are more readily able to see its potential as a plaything.