Production and understanding of change‑of‑state tokens in English talk‑in‑interaction among L1 and L2 speakers

This study investigates the production and understanding of change-of-state tokens like oh and ah in English conversations among one L1 speaker and three L2 speakers. Using conversation analysis, it examines how these speakers do interactional work to achieve shared understanding through these tokens. The L1 speaker produces oh to signal changes of state ( Heritage 1984 ), which L2 speakers respond to appropriately. On the other hand, the L2 speakers often use ah , apparently influenced by its usage in their native language (Korean), which the L1 speaker also understands as indicating a change of state. While these discourse particles help achieve intersubjectivity, the study identifies moments of potential misalignment in orientations, as L2 speakers sometimes use ah in ways the L1 speaker does not fully grasp. The findings highlight the importance of the situated adaptability in multilingual interactions and the mutual responsibility to embrace interactional variations between L1 and L2 speakers.