Chapter 6: (MIS) Understanding in the Language Classroom: The Case of a Japanese Student and a Brazilian English Language Teacher

(Mis)understandings are part of everyday life. Whether we are at home, work, school, church, or during customer service situations, interaction has the potential for misunderstanding. We frequently take for granted the act of comprehension and understanding and only take notice of understanding when we feel something has gone “wrong”—someone has misinterpreted something we have said or has responded differently to our expectation, or vice-versa. In a language classroom, the potential for misunderstandings to happen is surefire. This study reports on how Hoshihiko, a Japanese university student, and I, his Brazilian English language teacher, worked together through a gap in understanding between task instruction and task interpretation (Ohta, 2001).