Synchronous online language teaching involves the simultaneous
employment of a range of techno-semio-pedagogical competences (Guichon,
2012). Indeed, given their flexibility and versatility, digital tools and
the Internet can render teacher-student interactions dynamic. Among the
necessary professional skills and strategies for online synchronous
teaching, this paper focuses on the specific dimensions of affective
competences and the social need to maintain a climate of comfort during
one-to-one online tutoring interactions. We focus on a particular social
phenomenon that is strongly linked to emotions – facework (Goffman, 1967).
Applied to computer assisted language learning, we analyse how this social
practice unfolds in an interactional environment where the perception of the
other is mediated by a videoconferencing platform. We noted four different
types of facework triggering situations: lexical breakdowns, private
anecdote tellings, overlaps, and interruption of learner reflection time.
Our multimodal analysis of facework reveals the frequent use of the smile as
a mimicry semiotic resource and highlights the phenomenon of interactional
synchrony.