| This research was an instrumental case study into language play behaviors in beginning college-level French at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It used the Bakhtinian theoretical constructs of dialogism, polyglossia, and carnival (Bakhtin 1981, 1984a, 1984b) in close discourse analysis to elucidate the nature of language play, and to speak to tensions in the second language acquisition literature about whether play is primarily geared toward practice or for fun (Broner & Tarone, 2001; Cook 1995, 1997, 2000; Lantolf, 1997). It addressed the questions of what types of language play beginning French learners produce; how this language play is situated in its social, pedagogical, and temporal contexts; and why certain learners and the instructor engage in it.;The study was divided into four phases. Starting with 7 sections of introductory French during the first two weeks of the semester, I selected a final focus section consisting of the teacher and 19 students. Data sources include an initial student survey, gauging their propensity to play with language, a semester of daily audio- and videorecordings of classroom interaction, typed field notes, and interviews with the instructor and 12 of the focus students.;Results indicated four types of language play: play with sounds, play with the poetics of classroom language, play with voices, and critical play. Bakhtinian analysis revealed that practice play and ludic play can be distinguished, but that they were closely related and often produced by the same participants. Episodes of play occurred primarily in the context of whole-class activities, particularly choral repetition, at beginnings and endings of class periods, and during moments of attention to language form. No chronological progression in complexity of play was observed. The participants who engaged in the most play explained that they used it as an intentional cognitive strategy, to maintain social affiliation, and to create a sense of levity in the classroom. Implications for both theory and teaching practice are provided. |
