Abstract
The paper, devoted to the analysis of classroom interaction in a multilingual setting, investigates the relationship between code alternation and participation by taking the example of a seminar held in an officially trilingual university, co-taught by three instructors and characterized by language competence asymmetries among participants. Inspired by Conversation Analysis, the paper examines how, during a discussion phase within the seminar, the alternation between languages (German as the L1 of most participants, and English as a lingua franca) becomes a communicative resource that allows instructors to jointly lead the event while enhancing students’ active participation.