Longitudinal Changes in Word Search Sequences
Aki Siegel, Paul Seedhouse · Edinburgh University Press eBooks · 2024
Chapter 5 investigates if the word search sequences initiated by four Japanese participants changed over time. It examines the patterns in the use of word search sequences over time between the four lead participants and their interlocutors. The chapter is divided into two parts. First, it analyses the overall patterns of change found among the four Japanese participants, namely. This includes the participants’ overall English language proficiency and the quantified frequency of word search sequences. We then give a detailed analysis of the word search sequence patterns of the four main participants and their fixed partners. By analysing the data by time and by participants, the chapter examines the individual differences as well as commonalities as this small cohort of four L2 speakers adapts to their ELF interactional environment and interlocutors. We reveal the relative levels of homogeneity and heterogeneity in relation to the word search sequences employed by these four participants over time. The chapter demonstrates that it is possible to study these dyadic interactions themselves as complex systems which adapt over time to changes in the participants, their partners and the environment.