Teachers’ responses in student-initiated question sequences during between-desk interactions in EFL project work

A defining feature of project-based English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classrooms is teachers’ routine circulation between desks to answer students’ questions. Drawing on conversation analysis (CA), this study investigates how two teachers respond to students’ questions during between-desk interactions (BDIs) in project work. Specifically, it examines how the teachers structure their second-position turns in student-initiated question sequences that emerge during BDIs. The analysis reveals that the teachers either respond with a conditionally relevant second-pair part or with a counter-question turn that initiates an insertion sequence or reorients the student’s question, thereby shifting the projected trajectory of the interaction. These response formats are illustrated through typical pedagogical actions the teachers perform in response to different types of questions. The study concludes that the two distinct response formats observed during BDIs enable locally sensitive instructional support that is finely attuned to students’ evolving needs at different stages of their project work and to the pedagogical contingencies of the moment.