Co-Designing Social Interactions in Everyday Life

This project investigates second language use and learning in the wild, that is in everyday interactions embedded in diverse sociocultural and material environments outside the classroom. We analyse language learning as an in situ process shaped by the participants situated practices and sensitive to the contingencies and material ecologies of different types of social activities. In addition, the project combines methods of interaction research and collaborative design to develop experiential language pedagogy that is based on the learners real life needs and places the language user at the centre of the learning process.

Background

The project builds on previous conversation analytical work on second language use and development (CA-SLA). It understands language learning as active, occasioned, and embodied participation in social activities, intrinsically related to the methods of achieving, maintaining and restoring intersubjectivity. In our view, understanding the grammar of social actions is a key element in the process of language learning: the learner needs to understand how to use linguistic, embodied and other resources to construct meaningful social actions. The development of interactional competence means that the learners methods for accomplishing these actions become more varied and context-sensitive over time. T

he data for the project is gathered by videorecording various interactions in the participants life. Some participants are recorded longitudinally: By tracing the same participants interactions over time, the project will renew our understanding of how L2 interactional competence is embodied and emerges within the interactional infrastructure and material ecologies of social activities. Our research data also includes pedagogical experiments.

Goal

Tutkimusprojektimme yhteiskunnallisena missiona on levittää ajatusta siitä, että suomea voi puhua monin eri tavoin ja monenlaisilla aksenteilla: kieltä ei tarvitse osata täydellisesti, jotta sitä voisi käyttää. Haluamme tukea yhteiskuntamme monikielistymistä ja eri kielten arvostamista mutta myös lisätä tietoa siitä, miten suomen kieltä voi käyttää sitä vasta opettelevien kanssa kääntämättä vuorovaikutuksen kieltä automaattisesti englanniksi.