Interactional Competence and the Development of Alignment Activity

Based on qualitative analysis of conversational interactions collected over the course of a Spanish language learner's academic year abroad, this article explores the development of interactional resources related to alignment activity in the learner's conversational participation. Alignment activity refers to the means interlocutors use to demonstrate their intersubjectivity. Alignment moves such as assessments, collaborative contributions, and collaborative completions index shared understanding, the ability to adopt the other's point of view, and the ability to speak in the other's voice. Analysis of the learner's alignment activity over the course of the year abroad reveals changes in participation that allowed the learner to play a more active role in the co-construction of communication as her time abroad progressed. The findings in this study contribute to the operationalization of the concept of interactional competence (IC) and to our understanding of its development over time. This study proposes the inclusion of alignment activity as another important grouping of interactional resources relevant to models of IC (He & Young, 1998; Young, 2008, 2011).