Occasioning and re-occasioning learnables in a cooking class

Abstract This study uses multimodal conversation analysis to explore “re-occasionings” in multilingual interaction recorded at a cooking school in Okinawa, Japan. We first examine the initial occurrence of a phrase that is treated as learnable by the recipients. We then consider how successive (re)orientations to shared interactional history with this phrase shape the trajectory of the activity across a period of 15 minutes. L1 contributions make the learners’ online (mis)understandings amenable to repair and occasion other formulations as requiring clarification. By embedding learnables within complex multimodal gestalts, the instructor provides the learners with further opportunities to hear the target phrase and understand it beyond its base definition. The learners display their evolving understanding of the learnables, which contributes to their socialization in terms of language use, cooking proficiency, and familiarity with the classroom pedagogical approach.