Group dynamics in Chinese EFL curriculum development discussions
A longitudinal transpositioning perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21196841 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Miaomiao Zuo (0000-0003-1031-7303, Huizhou University), Kevin W H Tai (0000-0002-2098-8082, Education University of Hong Kong) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 193-240 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-29 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Applied Linguistics Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1868-6303 • E-ISSN: 1868-6311 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/applirev-2025-0098 |
| OpenAlex | W4416724986 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 31 |
While group dynamics have been widely studied in student interaction in EFL education, little is known about how it operates among teachers. Likewise, transpositioning, with its “trans-prefix” reconceptualizing positioning as a processual and iterative activity across linguistic, spatial, and relational dimensions, remains underutilized for examining teacher professional interaction. This study therefore investigates how transpositioning shapes group dynamics in teacher collaborative curriculum development. Drawing on a longitudinal dataset of four video-recorded meetings among six EFL teachers at a Chinese university, this study employs Multimodal Conversation Analysis (MCA) within an ethnographically informed approach to trace moment-by-moment interactional practices and their evolution over time. Findings reveal that transpositioning primarily occurs across three interrelated dimensions (i.e., spatial, role and epistemic). These fluid shifts foster distributed leadership, collective sense-making and emotional safety, portraying collaborative curriculum development as a multimodal, relational, and epistemically negotiated practice within real-time discourse. The longitudinal MCA enhances analytic depth by linking micro-interactional shifts to broader developmental trajectories, illustrating how collaborative practices evolve and reconfigure over time. In sum, the study extends transpositioning theory into the context of peer-level professional collaboration across a longer interactional trajectories, evidencing the “trans-prefix” as capturing the dynamic, boundary-transcending nature of interaction beyond traditional positioning theory
Conversation · Conversation analysis · Curriculum · Longitudinal study · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Doing Conversation Analysis
Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction
Expansive Learning at Work
Transpositioning
Transpositioning in English medium instruction classroom discourse
Accomplishing “rapport” in qualitative research interviews
An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict
Multiple Temporalities of Language and Body in Interaction
Longitudinal Conversation Analysis - Introduction to the Special Issue
The role of group dynamics in low‐achieving EFL students’ speaking development
Reflective practice-oriented online discussions
The development of teacher autonomy in collaborative lesson preparation
Mitigating ethnic minority students’ Foreign language anxiety through Co-learning in Chinese as an additional language classrooms
Transformative pedagogy for inclusion and social justice through translanguaging, co-learning, and transpositioning
Positioning
Development of Professional Identity and Related Metacognitive Thinking Procedures of English Language Teachers Through Spontaneous Collaboration for Pedagogical Problem-Solving
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |