This book brings together a collection of current research on the assessment of oral proficiency in a second language. Fourteen chapters focus on the use of the language proficiency interview or LPI to assess oral proficiency. The volume addresses the central issue of validity in proficiency… read more
This paper examines code-switching between English and Chinese by speakers of Chinese as a heritage language. It focuses on spontaneous, dynamic, natural and high-density code-switching within the smallest building block of a speaking turn – the turn constructional unit. Drawing upon naturally… read more
This study explores the intersubjective and dynamic construction of modal meanings in Chinese discourse. Specifically, it examines the role conversational repair plays in ascertaining the entailments of modal meanings such as obligation, possibility and permissibility, specifying the range of modal… read more
From an interactionally enriched linguistic anthropological perspective, this article promotes the view that identity is indexical with specific sets of acts and stances, which in turn are constructed by specific language forms. Based on detailed sequential and grammatical analyses of data from… read more
This article addresses the usage of "you know" in naturally occurring interactional data from a functional-linguistic and conversationanalytic perspective. We suggest that "you know" is more than a lexical choice made by the speaker to express his/her unilateral communicative desires. It is a… read more
Abstract This article explores narrative activities in academic counseling encounters. It shows that academic counselors actively initiate, solicit, narrate, and collaborate on stories so as to display knowledge and expertise, assess and articulate students' counseling problems, and problematize… read more