This study aimstoexaminetheinterplay between on-linetalk irrelevanttoatask, i.e., gossip talk, and participant alignment during task processing. Specifically, this study examines qualitatively how the gossip talk contributes to L2 interactants' configuration of participant alignment during on-lineproblem-solving activities.Thedataconsistofthescripts ofmorethansixty hoursofL2on-linechatting ofcollegelevelEnglish learners. The qualitative, empirical analysis has shown that the participants'knowledgeofextra-taskworldisdisclosedduringthegossip talk eitherbetween problems to solve oratthe beginning ofthe chat. The task-embedded gossip occurring between problems to solve has generatedfewerturnsthan thechat-opening gossip.Thetask-embedded gossip wasalsolimited in itseffectson reconfiguration ofparticipatory structure and functioned only to reconfirm the predefined participant framework. Chat-opening gossip, by contrast, made significant contributions to emergent participant alignment, which was reflected during thetaskprocessinginthesubsequentturns.Thefindingsindicate thattheunfocusedaction,i.e.,thegossiptalk, contributestothefocused action, i.e, task processing, in terms of construction of participant alignment

I.Introduction
  1.ParticipationasanActionandParticipationFramework
  2.On-lineChatandL2Developmen
  3.Socio-culturalCompetenceinTaskAchievementandGossipTal
  4.ResearchQuestions
 II. DataandMethodsofAnalysi
  1.Participant
  2.Procedures
  3.Dataanalysis
  4.LimitationsoftheStudy
 III. ResultsandDiscussio
  1.LocationofGossip-talkduringtheOn-lineCha
  2.Task-embeddedGossipandParticipantAlignment
  3.Chat-openingGossipandParticipantAlignmen
 IV. Conclusion
 References
 Appendi

• Jeong-Yeon Kim(Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)