Online Second Language Acquisition

Book excerpt: A book-length exploration of the role of online chat in supporting the teaching and learning of foreign languages is well overdue. Tudini's new book takes a Conversation Analysis approach, which is new to online Second Language Acquisition. It provides observable, previously undocumented insights into how native speakers and learners pursue the learning of foreign language and culture during online text chat.It looks at dyadic chat between native speakers and learners, with examples drawn from a corpus featuring 133 learners and 584 native speakers of Italian. This unique book contributes to our understanding of how conversation in a foreign language unfolds between native speakers and learners in an online social environment, rather than in the classroom. It will be of interest to researchers in second language acquisition and conversation analysis, as well as language teachers.