This book addresses the topic of interactional competence in the area of learning Japanese as a second language. It presents data collected from learners studying abroad in Japan to explain developments in their interactional competence as found in their use of speech styles and co-construction of an utterance.

Naoko Taguchi is Associate Professor in the Modern Languages Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests include second language pragmatics, classroom-based research, English-medium education and Japanese SLA. Her recent publications include Context, Individual Differences and Pragmatic Competence (Multilingual Matters, 2014) and Technology in Interlanguage Pragmatics Research and Teaching (coedited with Julie Sykes, John Benjamins, 2013).