The Social, Intercultural, and Transactional Nature of Small Talk in the Second Language Classroom

Although the value of small talk is traditionally trivialized for its lack of usefulness in accomplishing goal-oriented communication, researchers now largely agree that it has an important role to play in various institutional contexts. However, this phenomenon is under-researched in the ESL classroom context. Attending to this concern, the present study examines various topics, distributions, and functions of small talk in the linguistically and culturally heterogeneous classrooms in an intensive English as a second language program in the United States. The findings show that small talk in the ESL classroom goes beyond its ritualistic function; it serves as an important tool for language learning and a useful resource for developing students’ intercultural communicative competence. Based on the findings, we recommend that ESL teachers integrate small talk into their instructional practices in order to achieve various social, intercultural, and pedagogical goals.