Story recipiency in a language café : Integration work at the micro-level of interaction

This ethnomethodological (EM) and conversation analytic (CA) study explores the responsive behaviors of two Swedish volunteers during storytelling by two migrants in a language café in Sweden. The two stories revolve around employment and language proficiency, two topics that are often raised in the café as they invoke issues that are crucial for the migrants' integration process. Language cafés are indeed sites that aim to promote the migrants' process of becoming members of a community. In this article, which contributes to EMCA research on interactions between first (L1) and second language (L2) users, we demonstrate how the L1 speaking volunteers, through embodied, stance-sharing responsive behaviors, support positive aspects of the migrants’ identity as valuable individuals that can legitimately be part of and contribute to the Swedish society with their professional and linguistic skills. These findings bring to the fore how integration on the macro-level is managed at the micro-level