ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 compares higher-level actions (HLAs) and lower-level actions (LLAs) in task instructions-as-process in synchronous online lessons when the same teacher repeats a task with a different number of learners: two learners in the first iteration and one learner in the second. After presenting the teacher’s site of engagement, our analysis of HLAs uncovers two failed task attempts in the second iteration. Our subsequent analysis of HLAs and LLAs shows that although LAUNCHING THE TASK was similar in both iterations, there were differences in CONFIRMING ACCESS TO THE (CORRECT) RESOURCE, SENDING THE RESOURCE and READING THE CONTENT OF THE RESOURCE. Semiotic misalignment, due to a lack of confirming access to the resource, and modal density misalignment, which foregrounded different HLAs in the teacher and the learner’s attention/awareness continuum, appear to explain the unsuccessful task initiations. Micro-level analyses illustrate how instruction giving was remedied. The chapter then explores the similarities and differences in the teacher’s modal configurations depending on the number of learners.
