Factors impacting interaction in discussion tasks in a tertiary Japanese foreign language classroom:Perspectives from conversation analysis

This thesis examined multimodal interactional practices of advanced tertiary learners of Japanese as a Foreign Language working on classroom discussion tasks using the micro-analytic method of Conversation Analysis. The study focused on factors such as seating arrangements, the position of the projector screen, the task-types and the use of various artefacts. Research showed that students sitting in a side-by-side layout displayed a greater number of silences and delayed responses when displaying disagreement compared with students in a circular layout. These silences resulted in minimising a change in speaker; they also hampered progressivity of the interaction and activities. My findings, therefore, highlight the need to consider seating arrangements in combination with task-types to facilitate student collaborations and maximise the pedagogical potential of classroom configurations.