Explaining vocabulary in the second language classroom: A conversation analytic account

Research on vocabulary teaching and learning has formulated a rich knowledge base for understanding both what a vocabulary explanation should entail and how it can be conducted. Relatively lacking is a detailed description of how explanation is managed when vocabulary items arise spontaneously in the ongoing classroom interaction. Based on a two-hour videotaped adult ESL (English as a Second Language) class co-taught by two teachers, we offer such a description within a conversation analytic framework. In particular, we show how the teachers explain the vocabulary using either the analytic or the animated approach. While the former engages predominantly verbal and textual resources, the latter activates an ensemble of multimodal means such as gestures, environmentally couple gestures, and scene enactment. Findings of this study contribute to the existing literature with some much needed specifications of the “technology” of vocabulary explanations.