Pedagogical interaction can be observed through many different landscapes, such as the graduate seminar, the writing skills center, the after-school literacy program, adult ESL classrooms, and post-observation conferences. By viewing these settings through the lens of conversation analysis, this volume lays the groundwork for three principles of pedagogical interaction: competence, complexity, and contingency. The author explores these principles and how they inform what makes a good teacher, how people learn, and why certain pedagogical encounters are more enlightening than others. Drawn from the author’s original research in various pedagogical settings, this volume collects empirical insights from conversation analysis and contributes to theory building.

Theorizing Pedagogical Interaction will appeal to students and scholars in applied linguistics, educational linguistics, and communication studies who are interested in the discourse of teaching and learning.