Epistemic Challenges and speaker legitimacy: Evidence from an L1-L2 Japanese podcast

Abstract

Epistemics, originating in cognitive linguistics, have been shown over the past four decades to be a core issue in the organization of interaction. It should thus come as no surprise, then, that issues of knowing and not knowing are fundamentally moral questions, enforced moment-by-moment in interaction. While omnirelevant during any interaction, the case of L1-L2 talk is particularly enlightening because issues of linguistic competence may be topicalized more frequently in these interactions. How is it that L2 speakers, especially those with advanced competency, deal with contestation of their proclaimed linguistic competence? Utilizing a conversation analytic-inspired approach, this paper analyzes the interactions between an L1 and L2 speaker of Japanese on a co-hosted podcast marketed for L2 learners of Japanese. In particular, I take up instances where a speaker challenges the epistemic claims made by the other in relation to their linguistic competence. Through microanalysis of their talk, I aim to show how these epistemic challenges are designed to both enforce their local epistemic claim and defend their epistemic territory on one hand while simultaneously asserting their macro-level claim to legitimacy as a competent L2 speaker on the other.