ePrints

Securing affiliation and managing disagreement: Epistemic primacy claims in group-based L2 oral assessments

Lookup NU author(s): Michael Stephenson, Dr Spencer HazelORCiD

Downloads

• Accepted version [.pdf]

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

This study explores the use by examinees of claims of epistemic primacy, in the form of noun-copula clause constructions, as devices through which to perform the social action of disagreeing during group-based, task-oriented second language oral assessment tasks. Using a conversation analytic approach to examine sequences in which these disagreeing turns occur, we report on this turn format’s ability to secure an affiliative response from fellow examinees and thereby maintain a collaborative flow. In doing so, we uncover one way of disagreeing which is particularly germane to the collaborative demands of these assessment tasks. The relevance of these findings for the development of learner and assessor training and assessment materials are considered.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Stephenson M, Hazel S

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Applied Linguistics

Year: 2026

Volume: 47

Issue: 1

Pages: 127–146

Print publication date: 01/02/2026

Online publication date: 23/11/2024

Acceptance date: 18/10/2024

Date deposited: 20/02/2025

ISSN (print): 0142-6001

ISSN (electronic): 1477-450X

Publisher: Oxford University Press

URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amae077

DOI: 10.1093/applin/amae077

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/vygc-q409

Altmetrics

Share