The first key to answering this question was to know that "minimal pairs" are a tool for teaching phonology to students. Knowing this, and that "pairs" are sets of two, one simply had to know that the "minimal" aspect of the "pair" for teaching purpose is a phonological DIFFERENCE between the words. One distinct element being different helps to establish that element to students.

This is a simple definition question. "Syntax" refers to the arrangement of grammatical units into a cohesive sentence, this includes words, phrases, clauses, punctuation. The words chosen in a sentence is called "diction."

Second language learners tend to develop the ability to write grammatically correct sentences far before they develop the ability to write sentences that are syntactically varied, using multi-clause sentences, a variety of introductory phrases, and so on.

This question is foundational in nature. In order to teach any of the component elements of language acquisition, you must know the fundamental systems by which languages operate. The fourth fundamental system is discourse, which refers to extended chunks of language that create a unified, cohesive meaning.

Pragmatic competence refers to a learner's ability to communicate effectively in all realms of communication (receptive AND output skills). One key to pragmatic competence is that the learner is able to communicate  and understand the nuances of intended meaning in real-time situations. This involves and understanding of "hedging" ("my foot kind of hurts" vs "my foot hurts").

Social interactionist theory has its roots in the work of Lev Vygotsky, who focused on the role of linguistically fluent adults in the development of language in young children. As it applies to education, social interactionist theory argues for a direct, personally engaged role for primary teachers in the classroom. According to Vygotsky, direct  and involved social interaction with a verbally acute adult lays the groundwork for verbal fluency and intelligence in young children.

While the other answers all named legitimate social theorists, none of their work applied to the social interactionist theory of language development specifically.

The first thing to remember when teaching second language learners is that they are already fluent conversationalists in another language! This is the primary difference between facilitating primary and second language acquisition. Second language learners, in order to progress to the difficult goal of pragmatic competence, will be more stimulated and more apt to acquire language when they engage in natural conversations similar to those they will or would like to have in their real lives. Allowing learners to express themselves naturally and without constant strict supervision is key.

The best way to help students synthesize information about essay structures is to make sure that all aspects of language learning are incorporated into the process. By having students read, write, talk, and listen while composing their essays you will be developing all of their language skills, while also allowing the students to be comfortable, while combining social and solitary work.

This is a simple, but important, definition: semantic meaning refers to the meaning generated by a single word in isolation.

Beginning and early intermediate second language learners are very far away from being able to produce a text that does not require significant correction. To correct every grammatical point in a student's work at this level would be deeply discouraging to a student, and would simply overload them with information, making it impossible for them to actually synthesize the corrections. The best thing to do is to give specific, targeted feedback on a grammar point that the student can take in and learn from. Doing this over a long period of time, as the points are incrementally integrated the student will improve.