Learner initiative in action: Post-expansion sequences in a novice ESL survey interview task

•Micro-longitudinal CA is used to track learner initiative in a series of survey interviews.•The learner reformulates subsequent versions of an ad lib post-expansion sequence.•Post-expansion sequences are used to adjust and recycle responses across episodes.•Learner initiative provided opportunities to develop interactional competence. This study uses micro-longitudinal Conversation Analysis to track a novice learner of English as he conducts a series of semi-structured survey interviews with expert English speakers. The sequential analysis focuses particularly on unscripted elements of the interaction, including how the student deviates from his prepared list of questions and how he reformulates subsequent versions of a follow-up question. The study explores how the learner makes use of post-expansion sequences to build on the interlocutor's responses, reformulating and adjusting them across episodes, but not always because the co-participant orients to them as repairable. Grounding its findings in the observable details of talk, the analysis offers insight into how learner initiative provided opportunities for developing interactional competence through experimenting with reformulations. Implications for educators and task design are discussed.