Refusal Pragmatic Looping (RPL) in second-language interaction: sequential constraints on refusal trajectories in a spoken learner corpus

• Introduces Refusal Pragmatic Looping (RPL) in multi-turn refusals. • Explains refusal stagnation via stance, sequencing, and processing. • Shows asymmetry constrains trajectory development under pursuit. • Reinterprets repetition as actional containment, not deficit. • Highlights value of learner corpora for trajectory-based analysis. This study investigates the development of refusal trajectories in second-language Japanese using 23 workplace role-play interactions from the International Corpus of Japanese as a Second Language (I-JAS). It identifies a recurrent interactional pattern, termed Refusal Pragmatic Looping (RPL), in which refusals recur in response to continued pursuit. Drawing on four complementary analytic perspectives, including speech-act pragmatics, interactional competence, epistemic stance, and cognitive processing, the analysis examines how refusal actions are designed and developed across multi-turn sequences. Findings show that learners routinely select sociopragmatically appropriate refusal formats at the onset of the sequence but struggle to reconceptualise the action once it is pursued. As interlocutors persist, refusal trajectories become increasingly constrained, sustaining relational alignment while narrowing subsequent action options. Trajectories typically stabilise only when the interlocutor suspends pursuit, rather than through learner-initiated negotiation. RPL is proposed as a trajectory-level mechanism that explains how refusal actions may become interactionally stalled despite appropriate form-level performance. The study demonstrates that pragmatic success in institutional interaction depends not only on the design of individual turns but on the ability to manage trajectory development across successive turns. It also highlights the value of spoken learner corpora for revealing interactional processes that remain inaccessible in elicited, single-turn tasks.