This paper contributes to the much debated yet still largely unanswered question of how second language (L2) learning is anchored and configured in and through social interaction. Using a socio-interactional approach to second language (L2) learning (e.g., Hellermann, 2008; Mondada & Pekarek Doehler, 2004; Pekarek Doehler, 2010), I examine students’ search for the meaning of a lexical item and …