Native speaker/nonnative speaker interaction and orientation to novice/expert identity

Based on analysis of six conversational interactions between a native speaker and a nonnative speaker of Spanish recorded over the course of the learner's year abroad, this study examines the interlocutors’ orientation to their identities as novice and expert. The study details the conversational moves that index their orientation to their novice and expert roles, how they co-create this dynamic, and how this dynamic evolves over the course of the year. The interlocutors’ explicit discussion of language learning frames the conversations as a type of engagement that mirrors Lave and Wenger's (1991) construct of Legitimate Peripheral Participation, in which the novice can participate in expert interaction but with limited responsibility and available support. Support is most often seen in the form of corrective repair, initiated by both the nonnative speaker and the native speaker. The analysis indicates the contexts in which correction occurs in these interactions and includes discussion of longitudinal changes in correction patterns over the course of the year abroad. Evidenced in the evolution of the interlocutors’ orientation to the novice/expert paradigm is movement away from the initial dynamic that appears to have a learning orientation, towards a recognition that the novice/expert dynamic is merely a resource available if needed.

► The interlocutors explicitly frame the conversations as novice/expert. ► The framing mirrors the construct of Legitimate Peripheral Participation. ► Novice/expert paradigm is indexed by repair. ► Initial dynamic has learning orientation, with both form and meaning-based repairs ► Later dynamic focuses on a rich degree of meaning, not accurate form of utterance.