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Positioning the Expert: Word Searches, Expertise, and Learning Opportunities in Peer Interaction
Author(s) -
Reichert Tetyana,
Liebscher Grit
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the modern language journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.486
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1540-4781
pISSN - 0026-7902
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2012.01397.x
Subject(s) - negotiation , conversation , conversation analysis , interpersonal communication , context (archaeology) , computer science , process (computing) , focus (optics) , knowledge management , cognitive science , psychology , sociology , social psychology , communication , social science , paleontology , physics , optics , biology , operating system
The goal of this article is to further our understanding of how learning opportunities are created in interactions. Based on a conversation analysis of peer interactions of foreign language learners, we investigate how the negotiation of expert positions among these learners affects this process. The focus of the analysis is on the relationship between the conversation analytic notion of “doing‐being‐an‐expert” and learning in the context of word searches. We challenge the fixed notions of expert and novice and highlight the roles of interpersonal context, tools, and positioning in the negotiation of expertise. Drawing on the socio‐interactionist notion of situating learning in interaction, we argue that there is a link between the negotiation of expert positions and opportunities for learning.