Managing Competency‐Based Resistance in Video‐Mediated L2 Peer Feedback Sessions

Abstract Though there is growing empirical evidence on managing advice resistance as an institutional work of higher status party with superior epistemic knowledge domain (e.g., trainer) across diverse settings (e.g., supervision meetings), there is still a lack of research on how second language (L2) learners handle peer resistance in real time once it has been made relevant by the advice recipient in feedback sessions. Through the lens of multimodal conversation analysis, this study examines how L2 learners respond to resistance on a moment‐by‐moment basis in a video‐mediated study group. Peers observe and evaluate each other's performance in paired/group‐format task‐oriented interaction and provide advice on interaction management (e.g., turn‐taking). Drawing on data from 21 h of screen‐recorded feedback interactions, the findings show that learners' ability to manage the advice recipient's competency‐based resistance and jointly negotiate alignment and understanding in situ provides a window into their L2 interactional competence (IC). Finally, the study highlights resistance as a valuable interactional phenomenon and identifies pedagogically relevant practices through which learners manage recipients' resistance and move the interaction toward shared understanding during peer feedback interactions. The findings hold implications for other institutional contexts (e.g., mentoring) in which participants routinely encounter and manage resistance to achieve pedagogical or professional objectives.