Interactional Competence Development in English as a Foreign Language

Professor of applied linguistics in the TESOL Program at Hawaii Pacific University. Her research interests include interactional competence development, second language learning, conversation analysis, classroom discourse, and Vietnamese applied linguistics.

How do second language learners improve their language while getting their job done at a workplace? This presentation addresses this question by analyzing a guest-relations officer`s social interaction with international guests at a hotel in Vietnam focusing on her changes and pronunciation of the word massage over 10 months. The findings provide implications for language, teaching and workplace communication skills training.