Private Turns: A Student’s Off-screen Behaviors during Synchronous Online Japanese Instruction

Although distance language education has been widely adopted in university learning, very few researchers to date have looked at off-screen behaviors of second/foreign language learners in their physical environment while they engage in synchronous (real-time) online courses. This study, in contrast, focused on one focal student’s off-screen behaviors while she sat in front of the computer in her physical environment during university-level synchronous Japanese class. The class was mediated by audio-based conferencing software ( Wimba ) where class participants’ behaviors in their physical environments were not observable to others. The primary data consist of two types of video recordings that were synchronized in a picture-in-picture format: focal student’s off-screen behaviors in her private environment and archived online classes with instructor and seven classmates (~20 hours). Drawing on conversation analysis, the study showed unique characteristics of interactional norms developed by the student in her physical environment in contrast to those observed in a controlled online environment. The focal student’s off-screen behavior suggested that she gained significant affordances from the course format; namely, opportunities to freely take her private turns by vocalizing the language off-screen without being heard. The study illustrates the potential of computer-based learning to promote increased learner agency and autonomy.