Examining Learner Agency in Plurilingual Peer Interactions: Managing Participation in Virtual and Face-to-Face Tasks

From socioconstructivist perspectives, learning is a social process that occurs through collaborative interaction. In task-based L2 learning, this involves a dynamic adaptation to the evolving circumstances of the task, integrating learning within the discursive actions learners perform when participating in the resolution of the task. This study explores how secondary students organise their participation and enact learner agency during plurilingual, task-based peer interactions in a transnational classroom proposal. Focusing on two scenarios – virtual telecollaboration and face-to-face group tasks – the study examines how learners navigate between progressivity (task advancement) and intersubjectivity (mutual understanding). Using Conversation Analysis, we analyze their discursive actions identifying behavioral, cognitive, and relational dimensions of agency. By focusing on learners’ procedures to overcome challenges, co-construct meaning, and balance academic and social interactional goals, the study highlights the significance of peer interactions in fostering agency, proactive participation, as well as effective communication and successful task completion across linguistic boundaries.