I’m a professor of applied linguistics and German. My research and teaching interests lie in:

• Language use in social interaction
• Interactional competence in second language
• Video-mediated interaction
• L2 teaching
• TA development and language program direction

My research centers on linguistic and embodied practices that speakers use to make sense of each other and to “get things done” together in social and cultural settings. I do this by employing methods from Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics, demonstrating the interplay between linguistic structure (e.g., an imperative versus a declarative), prosodic realization (e.g., stress, pitch), and embodied resources (e.g., gaze, gesture), as well as their relative and temporal position within a conversation.

Currently, I am focusing on two research projects. The first project revolves around the question of what motivates L2 speakers to select one linguistic form over the another to accomplish a particular interactional function in real time. I examine the linguistic and embodied elements German L2 speakers use to manage conversations (e.g., asking questions or demonstrating understanding) with German L1 speakers in a video-mediated environment.

My second research project is a contrastive linguistic analysis of negation particles nein/nee in spoken German and na in spoken Persian. Collaborating with linguists at other institutions (Waterloo, Institute for German Language, and Ulster), this cross-linguistic research aims to investigate the role these particles play in managing news and stance-taking, as well as epistemic and affective positioning. It will also explore similarities and language- and culture-specific practices in two different languages.

Whenever possible, I apply research from spoken interaction to second language pedagogy (interactional competence), instructional materials development, and graduate teacher training. I am also a member of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization (GIS) in Second Language Studies.

Selected recent publications:

Betz, E., Golato, A., Drake, V., and Taleghani-Nikazm, C. (forthcoming). “Verbal and bodily practices for addressing trouble associated with mbodied moves in game play”. In Margaret Selting and Dagmar Barth-Weingarten (eds.) “New Perspectives in Interactional Linguistic”.  

Schirm, S., Uskokovic, B. and Taleghani-Nikazm, C. (2023). “The competence in little words: Response patterns in German L2 interaction.” Applied Pragmatics. Special Issue: Assessing Interactional Competence: Between Description and Grading.

Uskokovic, B. and Taleghani-Nikazm, C. (2022). “Talk and Embodied Conduct in Word Searches in Video-Mediated Interactions”. Social Interaction - Video based studies of human sociality. Special Issue: Bodily Practices in Action Formation and Ascription in Multilingual Interaction.

Taleghani-Nikazm, C., Betz, E., & Golato, P. (2020). “Mobilizing Others: Grammar and lexis within larger activities.” Edited volume with John Benjamins Publishing Company, Studies in Language and Social Interaction Series. (Series editors: Sandra Thompson and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen).

Recent courses taught:

German 8600: Grammar at work: The intersection of German language and interactional contexts

German 5602: Advanced Language Institute: German for the Professional World

German 8600: Multilingualism in a Changing Global World

German 8600: Interactional Competence in L2

.