Request for permission to Switch to L1: Treatment for unlocatable problems in English medium of instruction classrooms

• Published in: Linguistics and education Vol. 71; p. 101074
• Main Author: Ishino, Mika
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Classroom interaction; Conversation analysis; Language alternation; Repair practices in L2; Request for permission to switch to L1; Language alternation; Request for permission to switch to L1; Repair practices in L2; Conversation analysis; Classroom interaction
• ISSN: 0898-5898; 1873-1864
• DOI: 10.1016/j.linged.2022.101074

•This study examines students-initiated language alternations to L1 in EMI classrooms.•Conversation analysis revealed that L1 alternations are used for repair operations.•L1 switches were not necessarily needed for the respective trouble types.•“L2 incapability” only emerged in participants’ trouble categorizations. This study illustrates a particular interactional practice that students deploy to initiate language alternation to their first language (L1) in English medium of instruction (EMI) classrooms. Specifically, the study focuses on the students’ request for permission to switch to L1 (i.e., “can I speak in Japanese?”) that is observed in the middle of repair operations. The utterance is designed to invite the teachers’ “go-ahead” as a preferred response. Although the formulation of the students’ request indicated that their interactional troubles were caused by their linguistic incapability in English (i.e., their limited English-speaking skills), conversation analysis revealed that they were caused by their misalignment in the given certain sequential environment. Based on the findings, the study highlights a critical issue in EMI classrooms, where participants share theirL1.