JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 321 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature) Vol. 8 No. 2, August 2023 ISSN (print): 2502-7816; ISSN (online): 2503-524X Available online at https://ejournal.unib.ac.id/index.php/joall/article/view/26821 https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v8i2.27430 Alignment and embodiment in a play script writing process: A sociocognitive perspective 1Eka Margianti Sagimin , 2Setiono Sugiharto 1Doctoral Program in Applied English Linguistics, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, INDONESIA and English Department, Universitas Pamulang, INDONESIA 1Jalan Puspiptek, Buaran, Tangerang Selatan 2 Doctoral Program in Applied English Linguistics, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, INDONESIA 2Jalan Jend. Sudirman 51, Jakarta ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received: May 09, 2023 Revised: Jun 27, 2023 & Jul 15, 2023 Accepted: Jul 17, 2023 Recent development in second language acquisition scholarship has advanced our understanding of how language is acquired by aligning the mind, body, and socio-material world. Although many studies have been conducted from this perspective, more study on alignment focusing on writing a play script story in literature is needed. Drawing upon the idea of socio-cognitive alignment, this study investigated English literature student interactions during the process of writing a play script. It aims were to find out how mind-body-world as socio-cognitive alignment could contribute to a meaning- making process during writing a play script. A moment analysis was used as a method for analyzing data which were elicited from an audio/videotape recording and semi-structured interviews using a digital platform. Results revealed that the integration of mind, body, and world was well-coordinated during the process of writing the play script. That is, the integration of mind-body- world was evident in how the students employed both verbal resources and other multimodalities in working with literary works and fiction. The study also demonstrated the importance of alignment and interaction for the development of fiction writing and language competence of EFL students. Keywords: play script story second language acquisition sociocognitive alignment mind-body-world moment analysis Conflict of interest: None Funding information: None Correspondence: Eka Margianti Sagimin, Doctoral Program in Applied English Linguistics, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, INDONESIA dosen00481@unpam.ac.id ©Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA 4.0 international license. How to cite (APA Style): Sagimin, E.M., & Sugiharto, S. (2023). Alignment and Embodiment in a play script writing process: A sociocognitive perspective. JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 321-337. https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v8i2.27430 https://ejournal.unib.ac.id/index.php/joall/article/view/26821 https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v8i2.27430 https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.33369/joall.v8i2.27430&domain=pdf https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v8i2.27430 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2215-5276 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9435-5264 Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 322 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 Recent developments in second language acquisition theories have embraced different, but interrelated, kinds of important notions such as sociocognition (Atkinson, 2002) extended, embedded cognition (Atkinson, 2010a), and alignment (Atkinson et al., 2007). All these notions have captured the scholars’ attention to further investigate issues related to how language is acquired both in second and foreign language contexts. Atkinson (2010a) contends that sociocognitive approach is an approach to studying language learning and teaching which views the social and the cognitive aspects of language learning as integrating the mind-body-world as a whole. In line with mind-body-world integration, Atkinson et al., (2007) previously proposed the term alignment, which means human actors should perform and maintain their work in a coordinated and dynamic way. Hence, the term alignment is the compounded means which learners can give some effects in coordinated interaction as well as maintaining the dynamic interaction in adaptive ways (Atkinson et al., 2007). He views the term alignment as "adapted to adapt" which means a description of humans' evolved disposition to align. It views learning as a process of adaption/alignment with environment which are made up substantially. It then becomes how social actors are dynamically adapt-depending on, integrating, and constructing the ever-changing mind- body-world environments based on socio-cognitive principles. When it comes to learning any language, particularly a second language, the idea of sociocognitive alignment becomes crucial for both language learners and teachers. Within the framework of sociocognitive approach to SLA, human cognition is reconceived as an adaptable intelligence. It can also be seen as serving the principal evolutionary purpose of promoting adaptation to ecosocial environment (Clark, 1999, cited in (Atkinson, 2014). The focus area of this study begins with the notion that studies on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) have traditionally been dominated by the cognitivist orientations – which privilege the role of mind/brain in the learning process (Larsen-Freeman, 2007 in Ortega (2011) as well as in (Atkinson, 2012; Canagarajah, 2018c; Gobbi, 2019) by following the concept of “the mind” from the Chomsky-an. The cognitivist orientation has also been influenced by Chomsky’s cognitive development theory (Chomsky, 2006). Some scholars also alleged that competence is served as cognitive internalization of grammatical knowledge for learners (Jacoby & McNamara, 1999; in (Canagarajah, 2018b). We, therefore, may not able to disregard the existence of cognition as it is typically used to designate the mind/brain which is not only necessary and sufficient locus of human thought and learning, but it is also as a form of processing the information (Nishino & Atkinson, 2015). By following this concept, learners of English may find the way of learning by using the brain or reasoning. Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 323 However, what has not been investigated is how the integration of mind, body, and world as the sociocognitive alignment embedded the FL learners in writing a play script for fiction genre. It also includes the process of writing a play script involving the fiction skills that students should master on both the language competence and writing a literary work in drama performance classrooms for EFL learners of English. This study intends to bridge the gap that not only the brain uses for learning but also it involves the social interaction and any kind of tools in the environment. It also because the alleged ideology of monolingualism, the teaching of writing is also thought to have a harmony between mind, body and material object in the world (Sugiharto, 2015). It can be said that, human can learn anything including language not only involving cognitive but also body and social interaction with human or non-human. In addition to this, piece of studies also discusses the term sociocognitive approach, in learning a language. It defined as the impetus of learning a second or foreign language through sociocognitive alignment. This perspective on language learning and instruction may also assert that social, cognitive, embodied, and material aspects of human activity, including learning, are intertwined (Churchill et al., 2010). It implies when a person learning a language, their mind-body-world can grow simultaneously through social interaction with others as well as with their environment, including tools and their affordances. Moreover, second language writing (SLW) could be viewed as a sociocognitive process since all aspects of the process involve mind, body, and ecosocial world function integratively (Nishino & Atkinson, 2015). They claimed that writing is substantially a cognitive activity. After all, writing can be presented in the mind, body and material social ecology that exerts an effect on its users. However, we have to see how the learner may succeed in acquiring a second or foreign language. Some critical aspects, which consider as the crucial indicator, are language competence and its material to support them. By viewing the sociocognitive perspective, so as the writing skills, the learner will get the process on it, she or he also must know to write as well as the grammatical knowledge. Initially, the work of L1 alignment greatly influenced research on L2 alignment. The idea of alignment in sociocognitive orientation has gained prominence in applied linguistics with the use of mind-body-world integration on meaning construction and language learning (Canagarajah, 2018c). However, research methods on second language acquisition are increasingly being applied to investigate L2 alignment (Kim & Michel, 2023). In referring to alignment, some previous studies focusing on the sociocognitive alignment in the interaction between human and nonhuman activity also become the basic notion of this study. Nishino and Atkinson (2015) focused on how two American doctoral students composed their Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 324 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 papers in 13 face-to-face writing sessions. Another study also focuses on how interaction occurs between the learner and tutor when doing a worksheet (Atkinson, 2010b). Indeed, similar research has been focused on the cognitive process of how mind, body, and world work together in SLW contexts with collaboratively co-constructed a journal article together and in concert with their nonhuman. Studies on sociocognition by (Atkinson et al., 2007) investigated two Japanese students, Ako, a Japanese junior high school student, and Tomo as Ako's aunt as the participant. The study focuses on how the participants engage in English-related activities. Ako typically passed the time by using the computer, watching TV, eating sweets, and chatting with her aunt. It also focuses on the workings of mind-body-world alignment in second language acquisition by using videotaped interaction from Ako and Tomo's tutoring session. Tomo, on the other hand, was an accomplished user of English. Based on that and subsequent experiences, she believes that explicit grammar instruction and real-world communication are crucial for acquisition. Atkinson (2010a) also addresses the three basic concepts of the sociocognitive approach; first, the concept of inseparability that keeps mind, body, and ecosocial world together in producing social action like writing in an integrative and inseparable manner. Clark (2001) stated, cited in Nishino & Atkinson (2015), that our cognition is integrated with the socio-material environment, including body, other human beings, and a non-linguistic semiotic system like written sources, literacy, computers and the internet. Further, (Sugiharto, 2016) argues that sociocognitive alignment can also be considered as vital input for second language acquisition. Therefore, it has been believed that alignment takes place not just between human beings but also between human beings and their social and physical environments. Bateson's (1972 ) and Lemke's (1997) examples, quoted in (Atkinson, 2014), point out that the stick, the street, the people on the street, nonhuman affordances (such as handrails) and obstacles, the stick users hands, muscles, nervous system, circulatory system, endocrine system, brain, and various other features of the sociocognitive environment are all part of the same larger circuit of meaning and understanding, each part of them is existing in a dynamically adaptive relationship to the whole. In addition, the language competence for second/foreign language learners is also deeply elaborated. In his research, (Canagarajah, 2018a) conducted interview-based research by interviewing 24 Chinese STEM scholars in a mid-western US university, exploring their competence in professional communication in their workplace. However, the result of students' competence was not successful since the students have a lack of advanced grammatical proficiency in English. The author revealed that the dominant assumptions of competence derive from structuralist linguistics as Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 325 a model of SLA. They then argue for situating language in spatial and material ecologies, treating language as one among diverse other semiotic resources, and understanding his informants' communicative success. There are three features as the characteristics of language competence; 1) cognitive process, 2) form of knowledge, and 3) grammatical knowledge. For this reason, the learner should focus on those three criteria to master language competence (Canagarajah, 2018a). In line with this study, we adopted the term language competence as the guideline to analyze the English Literature students in the process of writing, which means, students may defined competence in language when they have a competency in the three area above (Canagarajah, 2018a). Recently, much studies concerning the issue on alignment, interaction and competence (Atkinson et al., 2007; Canagarajah, 2018a; Kim & Michel, 2023; Nishino & Atkinson, 2015; Uzum, 2011) in second language writing has become widely discussed by scholars. Although many studies have been conducted from the sociocognitive perspective, more study on alignment focusing on a play script story writing process in literature is needed. In so doing, this study bridges the missing gap on how the integration of mind, body, and world as the alignment which includes the process of writing a drama script involving the fiction skills that students should master on both the language competence and fiction writing of literary works in drama performance classroom for English learners. The study is based on the previous article written by Atkinson (2002), which draws on the concept of alignment as the complex processes through which human being effects coordinated interaction, both with other human beings and (usually human- engineered) environment situations, tools, and affordances. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the extent to which cognitive process of mind, body, and world can work together in writing a play script for English Literature students. Thus, this recent study attempts to investigate how the 6th semester students of English Literature at Unversitas Pamulang develop their writing process for play script by aligning themselves with their cognition, and sociomaterial world affordances. As a detail information, the 6th semester students have a drama performance subject as the output of the subject in previous semester. In this semester, they are demanded to create a project of drama performance starting from the storyline writing until the performance. Hence, in this recent study, it focused on the process of writing a play script in one class only. The process started on how the students making the storyline mapping, find the fiction story they would re-written and how the script writer start writing based on the storyline mapping until the story is ready to be used by the actor. It focused on the coordinated activities of an Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 326 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 English Literature student in doing writing activities for a play script along with their sociocognitive world. The above background has a significant influence on this study and is exciting to be investigated. Therefore, it seeks to answer the following research questions: 1. How were the mind-body-world integrated (socio-cognitive alignment) in the process of writing a play script? 2. How did the mind-body-world work in alignment to activate competence and apply it into a storyline writing? METHOD Research Design The recent study focused on the process of how mind, body, and world can work together as a sociocognitive alignment in second language writing for writing a play script. The qualitative approach is considered appropriate for this research by employing video/audio recorded data of respondents and semi-structured interviews. The nature of qualitative data mention that qualitative works with a wide range of data including recorded interviews, various types of texts (for example, field notes, journal and diary entries, documents) and images (photos or videos) (Levy et al., 2008). They also mentioned that during data processing, most data should be transformed into a textual form (interview recordings are transcribed) since most qualitative data analysis is done with words. Moreover, the video recorded is done during the writing process of the script writer writing its story, then it transcribed into picture as seen in the data finding. Meanwhile, in-depth interview is done by online platform Zoom since the data was gathered during the pandemic situation due to Covid 19 pandemic. In order to investigate participants' language use vis-à-vis their mind- body-world environment and their adaptive alignment to it, the moment analysis (Wei, 2011) was employed. Moment analysis is conducted through spur-of-the-moment actions, which prompted such actions and the consequences of such a moment, including the reactions by other people. By observing the integration of mind-body-world alignment during the process of writing a drama script involving their nonhuman environment, the gap on SLA and SLW studies can be better understood. Further, this study focuses on the alignment principle, which elaborates on moment-by-moment processes that coordinate ecosocial elements. Besides, (Atkinson et al., 2007) clarifies the term alignment as the 'the complex means by which human beings effect coordinated interaction and maintain that interaction in dynamically adaptive ways". They confirmed that 'coordinated interaction' is not limited to human beings alone but also happens among humans and non-human environments. Meanwhile, the moment analysis adapted from (Wei, 2011) is used to analyze the data to Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 327 investigate sociocognitive alignment. Wei clarifies that Moment analysis focuses on the spur-of-the-moment actions, what prompted such activities, and the consequences of such a moment, including the reactions by other people. Moment analysis requires data from several sources, but it is essential to observe and record naturally occurring interaction and metalanguage data, i.e., commentaries on the language user's own language practices as lived experience. Wei explicitly used the term Critical Moments Reflection Methodology (CMRM), which adapted from CoLab (http:/web.mit.edu/colab) as a tool to help people to retrieve knowledge they acquire through experience. Based on this method, its goal is to enable individuals or groups to understand their own experiences to improve their future actions. Moment analysis places a strong emphasis on the person and their cognitive processes surrounding the imaginative and essential moment of action. Therefore, this recent study focuses on how the scriptwriter team develops their creativity and crucial moments of action during the process of writing a play script. Instruments and Procedures For the detailed data, three students of the English Literature Study Program were selected as the participants in this research who created a storyline and wrote a drama script for their class project in terms of the Drama Performance course. Two students, "Firly" and "Romano", are the content creator and conceptor, and one student ", Meirizka" is the scriptwriter. The activities during the writing are recorded in video/audio recording. Creswell contends that setting the boundaries for the study, collecting the unstructured or semi structured observations and interviews, documents, and visual material including the establishment of the protocol for recording information are the step of data collections (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Moreover, three students of English Literature Study Program at Universitas Pamulang were joint this research as the participant. In the English Literature Study program, there is a Drama Performance subject which is taught for the 6th-semester students. Drama Performance subject is also a course that can treat the students to interpret the script or narrative into the art of body movement, including expressions inspired by the script and the harmony of stage artistic arrangements and musical illustrations. This was emphasized by Suroso (2015) that, " Naskah drama belum sempurna tanpa dibacakan dalam drama reading atau dipentaskan dalam drama panggung di hadapan sejumlah penonton". "The play scripts are yet perfect without being read in a reading drama in stage with the presence of many viewers". The play stage is one of the platforms for students to show their artistic appreciation on a stage. Besides, the Drama Performance course aims to make students explore their ability to express scripts into gestures, create stage performance which Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 328 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 based on the story settings, manage blocking, be trained in acting, be able to direct, know the production process of drama shows and other important aspects in show production. The first process of Teaching and Learning activities begins with drama script writing training that is practiced properly in a workshop. Then, the script was corrected and developed in class sessions to become a good script. After going through the script selection process from the student's production, the best manuscript was chosen and then developed into a story and agreed to be staged by students among the sixth-semester class. Students are given the freedom to express and develop ideas either in their literary fiction work or in adapted fiction work such as novels or films. Data Analysis Procedures The data sources used were video recording and online interview. The participant did the video during the process on mapping story and writing the script. From this video recording, it can be seen clearly how the writer interacted with the tools around her, the activities every moment during the writing and what was she doing while writing and typing in her laptop. Meanwhile, in-depth interview was done after the writing process. Some open-ended questions were delivered to three participants in different time. Therefore, the data collection instruments only focused on the use of video camera recording and in-depth interviews by using the video call from the Zoom meeting application and Whatsapp. All activities during the process of developing the idea from the scriptwriter team until the process of writing into a piece of the script on the storyline are recorded by the participants. We obtained the video recorded through the application Whatsapp from one of the respondents. While the semi-structured interview will also be used based on the pre-pared guiding question. Some questions were personal ones such as reasons for the fondness of writing a fiction story, the collaboration process with the team, and the way they developed the ideas into a storyline. We adapted semi-structured interview questions from the researchgate.net as the source. The questions were: Who helped you create this story?, what do you usually do when doing writing?, Are there interactions with other people or objects around you?, How do you build imagination or create a character in a story?, Tell the process of making this play story from an idea into a play that is ready to be staged. FINDINGS The research result came up with the basic or personality information of the respondents who participated in this study, as well as with the first process of making the concept. Two students were the content creators, while one student was the scriptwriter. Based on the information gained in the interview session, the students designed the story from the concept of mixing the two Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 329 different stories, ' Robin Hood' and 'Little Red Riding Hood.' They adopted those two stories into one storyline. At last, they found the title become 'Prince of Thief' which was adapted from Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood. The Integration of Mind-Body-World as Socio-Cognitive Alignment In regard to the first research question: How were the mind-body-world integrated (socio-cognitive alignment) in the process of writing a play script? we provide evidence by demonstrating some instances of how the participants develops the idea during the process of writing the play script. Figure 1. Concepting the Storyline Figure 2. Drafting Plot and Characterization From both Figure 1 and 2, we can see the creators (student A and student B) designed the plots from the scratch into a draft of the storyline by brainstorming any ideas that emerge from their brain. These ideas are made more tangible when the creators align themselves with the surrounding objects (pouring out the ideas in the whiteboard using the markers), so as it helps them able to visualize the ideas more concretely. Brainstorming ideas by making mind mapping and drafting is clearly a cognitive activity. After finding the story adaption, they give the concept to the scriptwriter, student C to continue writing the complete storyline. In this step, the group interaction ensues so that both the plot creators and the scriptwriter can have the same perspective in developing the idea from the story to be adapted. Then they start pointing the planning and choosing a cast or actor. From the draft, they can easily transfer the ideas to the script writer who are to write the whole story with a complete dialogue pertinent to social interaction among the participants. Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 330 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 Figure 3. Scriptwriter writing a story line Figure 4. Scriptwriter writing a story line In Figure 3 and 4, the scriptwriter, M was busy aligning herself with writing a storyline using the available-tools – laptop, paper, and pen. She was trying to develop the plot and suit each character in the story. The alignment and embodiment that takes place between cognition, body and non-human materials such as computer, cozy place, and other semiotic resources constitutes an assemblage. Figure 5. A scriptwriter googles some words from the internet Figure 6. A scriptwriter googles some words from the internet The embodied activity continues with the scriptwriter looks up some important words by googling them from the internet, as shown in Figure 5 and 6. The alignment with this non-human tool not only complements the inadequacy of human cognition in generating ideas, but can also facilitates writing competence. The Alignment of Mind-Body-World in Activating Writing Competence To answer the second research question, we used an in-depth interview with the scriptwriter team, which are transcribed in the following Excerpts: Excerpt 1# Who helped you create this story? 01 F: This story was created with the help of the director, all divisions also participating in giving the story ideas but mainly from the director Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 331 02 R: All crew has helped us. start from scriptwriter, property, assistant director, and refined again by scriptwriter 03 M: Some people helped me write this story, the drama crew2 were very helpful especially if I was having trouble writing, they gave me input so that makes me much easier to put the plot and dialogue in each scene. In Excerpt 1 above, those three students (F, R, and M) were assisted by the other divisions in this Drama Performance project, which means that they need input or suggestions from a different point of view in choosing the story of its plot and characterization. There is an interaction here between the scriptwriters and their surroundings, which provide evidence of an embodied and aligned activity. Excerpt 2# When you write a story, what do you usually do while writing? 04 F: I usually find a quiet place without any noise 05 R: listening to music 06 M: when writing a story, I usually reading quotes from the books to get an inspiring idea or googling the professional words, it helps me. To attest to the evidence of the mind-body-world interaction into nonhuman surroundings, Excerpt two can be seen as an exemplary instance. The participants here develop their own way of creating a story. F can only do the writing process in a quiet place, R did the writing by listening to music, and M read some quotes from books and searched the professional word to help them finish the story. Excerpt 3# Are there interactions with other people or objects around you? 07 F: No. 08 R: playing with the cat 09 M: If I'm writing a fiction story, I prefer alone. I just need music from YouTube or inspiration from Google or books so I can improve my writing even more. Excerpt 4# How do you build imagination or create a character in a story? 10 F: I usually see the idea from new stories I read or films that I have watched recently 11 R: Using references from like novels that I've read 12 M: Making a character is difficult. So I have to make the pros and cons. Finding the strength and weaknesses of the character. What makes him weak, what makes him cheerful. In my opinion, it's Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 332 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 complex, so it is better if you want to make the story from a new character, the plot can be much easier In relation to the mind-body-world integration, Excerpts 3 and 4 are clear evidence of this alignment. F responds with no interaction with other people or objects around him during the process, while R was busy playing cat amidst the writing. The interesting part was that M prefers to be alone while writing and just listening to music from the Youtube to inspire her to find the ideas. Further, their imagination is built when they read the storybook or watch the latest movie (F), using the Like Novel as the reference (R). However, M found a complicated way to finish the writing. She needs to make the pros and cons of describing the character to find an easier way in explaining the plot. Further, to see how they activates the knowledge through cognitive and apply it into a storyline they create then the story is ready to be staged by the actor. Excerpt 5 demonstrates this. Excerpt 5# Tell the process of making this drama story from an idea into a drama play that is ready to be staged. 13 F: Initially this story was the idea of the director and his assistant to combine the Robin Hood and Red Riding Hood story and then developed again by the scriptwriter 14 R: From the selection of ideas, my friend and I wanted to combine 2 stories, namely Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood at first, then we all built the plot one by one starting from the exposition to the resolution and the plot, so I gave it to the scriptwriter to finish. 15 M: I didn't participate with the initial process of making this Prince of Thief, only other crews who created the story or adapted the story from Robin Hood. then they told me the essential story then I found the idea of Robin hood which better combined by the myth of King Midas so that there seems to be a challenge between Midas, someone who looks arrogant, and Robin is more humble In the last part of the interview section, we sum up the process of making the storyline of the drama project. The three students yielded a similar answer in responding to the question, as seen in Excerpt 5. They combine the two stories between Robin Hood and Red Riding Hood and add King Midas as another character. Finally, they found the new story adaptation entitled "Prince of Thief". DISCUSSION The first research question concerned with how mind-body-world is integrated as socio-cognitive alignment. It was found that learners who had Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 333 experience in developing the idea of making a storyline which and writing a play script are always entangled in a complex web of an assemblage of both cognitive activity and other multimodalities. They claimed that while doing brainstorming together in the first session, they came up with the brilliant idea to build the story adaption. This process of acquiring language especially in second language writing reflect to the learning and teaching which views the social and the cognitive aspects of language learning as integrating the mind- body-world as a whole in embodiment (Atkinson, 2014). Thus, the students as the team could share the idea and find the best story which was later adapted into the new story. The influence of their circumstances was affected by the interactional aspect (Atkinson et al., 2007). It means, group interaction can also generate innovative ideas for the great story. The second research question concerned with how the mind-body- world work in alignment to activate competence and apply it into a storyline writing. It relates to the phenomena of the mind-body-world integration and human-non-human interaction (Atkinson, 2010a). They can successfully align themselves into their mind and body coordination (Nishino & Atkinson, 2015) with a semiotic resources. However, not all participants can align themselves to the social interaction while concentrating in writing process. One participant focused on her interaction with material object rather than her group of script writer, e.g., M prefers doing alone rather than doing with peer due to lack of concentration in a crowd situation. The result shows that regardless of integration of mind-body-world, participant claimed that they have different perspective in maximizing their cognition. It means, every learner has their own path to acquire such language and being competence. Interestingly, all the findings in the previous studies revealed similar results. Nishino and Atkinson (2015) found that Masa and Tomo could pass the writing process by involving their gesture sharing and associated linguistic action. Both participants either overlap or latch the other's turns. Meanwhile, Atkinson et al., (2007) conclude that based on that and subsequent experiences, they believed that explicit grammar instruction and real-world communication were crucial for acquisition. In line with the sociocognitive alignment, Canagarajah (2018b) also demonstrated that the dominant assumptions of competence derive from structuralist linguistics as a model of SLA is inadequate to account for the notion of competence, arguing instead for the importance of situating language in spatial and material ecologies, treating language as one among diverse other semiotic resources, and understanding the communicative success of his informants. Comparing with the data in the current study, it showed that three script writers performed naturally when creating a storyline and indeed viewed the integration of their mind-body with any kind of tool as the environment affordances. Unlike the result of Atkinson and Canagarajah’s Eka Margianti Sagimin & Setiono Sugiharto 334 JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 study about two Japanese students, there was one student typically passed the time by using the computer, watching TV, eating sweets, and chatting with her aunt. It also focuses on the workings of mind-body-world alignment in second language acquisition by using videotaped interaction from Ako and Tomo's tutoring session. If we compare with M as the script writer, she also had an interaction with the tools surrounding her such as eating activity, and browsing the internet. It revealed that this recent study may argue that alignment and embodiment in sociocognitive perspective can also be viewed into how English Literature students align between their surroundings, tools, e.g. laptop, whiteboard, utensils, books, food, etc., in writing a play script can run successful. It is proved that computer skills, physical and mental condition, the atmosphere in the room, coziness of the chair, who and what else are in the room, and time and weather also contribute directly and indirectly to writing process (Nishino & Atkinson, 2015). CONCLUSION Based on the result from the observation in video recording and interview section via Zoom and Whatsapp, there are some essential points that can be foregrounded. First, the coordination between mind, body, and world on the three students were different, particularly in the interaction during writing and the process of gaining the idea on the story. F likes to write the story in a quiet situation, while R and M are likely to have the same fondness that is interaction with surroundings or listening to music. It implies when a person learning a language, their mind-body-world as an embodiment can grow simultaneously through social interaction with others as well as with their environment, including tools and their affordances. It means, the writing process also demand the cognitive coordination on human. This situation has connected to the perspective on language learning and instruction which may also assert that social, cognitive, embodied, and material aspects of human activity, including learning, are intertwined (Churchill et al., 2010). The most important aspects of writing a play script that the scriptwriter should master, are language competence, cognitive process, a form of knowledge, and grammatical understanding. Not only that, s(he) must have fiction skills to elaborate the story in his/her imagination. Yet, they might develop or adopt the concept of the story based on literary works. In addition, as a scriptwriter of a play, we can see how they create their imagination into a story play become the product of English literature students' writing. Henceforth, this study has explored how English literature students develop their idea for drama act/ playwriting script, how she/he plans the activities, and activates the knowledge through cognitive and applies it into a storyline they create. Alignment, as Atkinson (2014) defines it is the sophisticated means by which human beings affect coordinated interaction and maintain that interaction in Alignment and Embodiment in a Play Script Writing Process: A Sociocognitive… JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 8(2), 2023 335 dynamically adaptive ways. It can be seen that the integrated of mind-body- world is really clear to see how they work with language and engage with their language competence including the ability to understand the literary works and fiction. The study also demonstrates the importance of alignment and interaction for the development of fiction writing and the language proficiency of EFL students. Finally, the process of making the storyline of the play project viewed that the three students revealed a similar answer in responding to the question as seen in Excerpt 5. They combine the two stories between Robin Hood and Red Riding Hood and add King Midas as another character. Finally, they found the new story adaptation entitled "Prince of Thief". Based on the above analysis, it can be seen that the integrated mind-body world is really clear in how the participants worked and engaged with language, including the ability to understand literary works and fiction. This showed that the three script writers performed naturally when creating a storyline and indeed viewed the integration of their mind-body with any kind of tool as the environment affordances. 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She is currently pursuing her doctoral program at the Doctoral Program in Applied English Linguistics, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta. Setiono Sugiharto is a Professor at the Doctoral Program in Applied English Linguistics, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta. His interests are English Education, English Language Teaching and Current Issue of Applied Linguistics.