Building affiliation in the L2 classroom: the role of side sequences

Previous conversation analytic (CA) studies have explored how affiliation is created in L2 classrooms. This study adds to the research by documenting the opportunities for creating affiliative moments between teachers and students afforded by side sequences, an under-explored topic in L2 classroom research. A CA analysis of five side sequences occurring in 4 h of video recordings of an IEP grammar course reveals that the teacher and students deploy a wide range of interactional resources to display affiliation while mitigating disaligning moments, managing epistemic relations, and engaging in humorous talk in side sequences. These affiliative moments create opportunities for student engagement in ways that pre-planned instructional activities may not.