Interactional competence development as task-oriented language socialization

Abstract This article explores the connections between the development of L2 interactional competence and language socialization by analyzing interactions between a novice hotel staff member and various international guests in Vietnam. Using longitudinal conversation analysis, we trace changes in the novice’s informings about the hotel’s spa services over the course of ten months. The analysis reveals gradual changes in her interactional practices toward more effective task accomplishment. Specifically, she changed (a) the pronunciation of the word massage and (b) the listing of the spa services. These modifications are shown to be linked to the guests’ initiations of repair targeting the word massage and the guests’ expressed interest in the massage service over the other spa services. We discuss how these findings suggest a form of agentive, task-oriented language socialization in which the novice incorporates co-participants’ resources and perspectives for more effective task accomplishment.