Chapter 6. Variation in NS-learner interactions

This study examines variation of pragmatic resources seen in native speaker (NS)learner dialogue as related to institutional and conversation frames. Following Tannen (1993) and Ensink (2003) who apply several of Goffman’s (1974) ideas of frames to discourse such as narratives and public speech, this investigation focuses on NS-learner dialogue in informal interviews and personal conversations to understand L2 pragmatic co-construction and resources that learners use as the conversation progresses in relation to frames. The analysis shows that the participants’ orientation to frames of different kinds is correlated to the various pragmatic resources they use, such as implicatures, humor, speech acts, feedback, intonation, and discourse markers. The data illustrate that pragmatic variation can stem from differences in expectations and changes in frames.