Even the most sober-sided institutional interaction can be infused with ordinary human concerns, expressed in everyday terms. In this very welcome guest blog trailing her and May MacCreaddie‘s article in the new issue of ROLSI, Bethan Benwell casts a humane yet analytic eye over the talk that goes on in a highly charged medical encounter. Continue reading
Guest blog: Weatherall and Keevallik on claims about others’ mental states
Some forms of words are so completely familiar that we never notice the work they do. In this guest blog, Ann Weatherall and Leelo Keevallik make us look afresh at the formulation I [mental appreciation] that you X, where X is some state of mind – so things like I know that you’re angry, or I thought that you’d like that and so on. Are they as innocent as they seem? Their article is in the latest issue, but to see how they got there, read on….
Ann Weatherall, Victoria University of Wellington
This paper had a long and sometimes fraught gestation. In this blog we describe how the research began, the difficulties we encountered in defining/refining our target phenomenon and the challenges of establishing the interactional matter it was mobilised to address. The research process has been a roller coaster ride of highs from the thrill of discovery to the lows of (at first!) failing to convince reviewers. It is very satisfying to have the end result finally published. Continue reading
Guest blog: Alexandra Kent and Kobin Kendrick on Imperatives
How do you get someone to do something? The range is from making a gentle hint through to barking out a peremptory order (and further on out to issuing an undisguised threat). In the latest issue of ROLSI Alexandra Kent and Kobin Kendrick tease out the subtle elements of actions done and undone in a blow-by-blow analysis of directives in interaction. Here Alexandra and Kobin recruit the British royals into an illustration of their study.
Alexandra Kent, Keele University
During the 2016 Trooping the Colour Parade to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s official birthday, the British Royal Family stood on the Buckingham Palace Balcony together to watch an aircraft fly-past by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Continue reading
Guest blog: Catrin Rhys on strange interview questions
Sometimes a Conversation Analysis study makes you realise that you’d seen an odd bit of talk somewhere, and half-registered it as being strange in some way. So I’m delighted that Catrin Rhys has written a guest blog on her article in the upcoming issue of ROLSI – on the strangeness of interviews in (British) football-land.
Catrin Rhys, University of Ulster
One of the joys of teaching is that students sometimes, usually unwittingly, deliver up golden nuggets of data. That was how I ended up analysing post-match interviewing in football, despite having absolutely no interest in football. Continue reading
Guest blog: Ethically sound video research in healthcare
Interactional analyses have increasingly, and fruitfully, been applied to the communication of healthcare workers and their patients. But there are ethical risks and dangers, given the sensitivity of the issues involved. Marco Pino and Ruth Parry have kindly offered their reflections on how to handle the difficulties, and to come out with data that are as ethically sound as they are analytically useful. Continue reading
Guest blog: What GIFs do in online chat
In the most recent issue of the journal, Jackson Tolins and Patrawat Samermit, both of the University of California, Santa Cruz, have a fascinating article about how people use animated clips (GIFs) in their online chat. They’ve kindly agreed to contribute this guest blog to explain more about their research, and what sorts of issues it uncovered. Continue reading
Guest blog: Uwe Küttner’s report on “Grammar and Social Actions”
The beautiful hill city of Perugia in northern Italy was the site of a small but high-quality meeting in early April. In this guest blog, Uwe Küttner gives his reflections on the event. Continue reading
Guest blog: Stivers and Sidnell on “Let’s …” and “How about …”
In the latest issue of the journal, Tanya Stivers and Jack Sidnell have an exciting and suggestive account of how children collaborate in joint activities, and specifically on how they propose things to each other. In this short guest blog, Tanya Stivers gives a back-stage account of their project. Continue reading
Vol 49(2): Gifs, Empathy, Aphasia, Turn-extension and Proposals
The current issue of ROLSI is just out online (hardcopies will take a little more time to reach subscribers) and I’m delighted to report that we have another excellent set of articles, covering the range from basic elements of face-to-face interaction to the most up-to-date usages of mobile technology. Here are the titles and abstracts, with the authors’ names linked to the article on the publishers’ website. Continue reading
Guest blog: 200 terms for “embodied activity”
In this guest blog, Maurice Nevile tracks the way that articles in ROLSI have coped with the complex task of choosing what terms to use in describing …. well, what to call it? Bodily movement? Embodied activity? Gesture? Each of these (and many more) have pros and cons as descriptors. But with the rise of multi-modal analysis in CA, there may be a growing need for some sort of consensus.
Maurice Nevile, University of Southern Denmark
The body in interaction: terminology for the body in ROLSI papers
In studies of language and social interaction there are many ways to refer to the contribution of the body. I was surprised to discover just how many when preparing a review paper (Nevile 2015) to track the growth of ‘embodiment’ in 400+ ROLSI papers from its first issue right up to 2013. Continue reading
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