Showing smartphones in a collaborative learning activity in video-mediated L2 interaction

The study zooms in on video-mediated smartphone showings in a collaborative online learning activity. In these showings, a participant brings their smartphone to the webcam, and graphic-linguistic features of the display are developed into a joint focus of attention in a digital language café. Drawing on multimodal Conversation Analysis (CA), the study illustrates how one L1 user and one L2 user of Norwegian turn the activity of talking about a podcast show into a stepwise learning activity in which their smartphones become the focal objects in the interaction. The findings demonstrate that video-mediated smartphone showings constitute a complex, multimodal and highly collaborative practice. It provides opportunities for various social actions in the service of promoting both smartphone engagement and interactive engagement. Moreover, the article discusses how this ostensive practice facilitates learning. The study provides new and empirical insights into how participants use smartphones in learning activities in video-mediated interaction.