Abstract
This paper examines how L2 presenters interact with questioners and attempt to recover a conversation when a communication breakdown (CB) occurs during the question-and-answer (Q&A) period of an oral presentation. In many cases, the occurrence of a CB was indicated by silence on the presenter's end. It was then common for questioners to attempt to recover communication by showing examples and paraphrasing their initial question. It can be argued, however, that presenters need to try and interact with questioners more assertively. Factors such as unfamiliarity with academic jargon, pragmatic ambiguity in Japanese, and the social relationship of presenter and questioner, who are often college professors, were found to be the leading causes of CB.
