I will present a preliminary analysis of a brief episode of playful interaction among three students in an English language classroom at a Japanese university. The analysis focuses on 1) how the playful keying of one student's answer allows the students to briefly transform a question-answer task into an opportunity for creative play with the English language, 2) how the students index the non-serious nature of the interaction, and 3) how they move out of the play episode. Workshop participants will then be invited to work with the data in a data session format, either to explore more deeply one or more of the three foci listed above or to move in a different direction.
We look together at English ordinary conversation cited by many people.