Guest blog: A philosopher looks at Conversation Analysis

Coming across an interview with Susan Notess on the excellent Generous Questions philosophy podcast, I was intrigued by her perspective, as an ethicist, on the dangers of language – and delighted that she used the work of conversation analysts Liz Stokoe and Nick Enfield, among others, to illustrate her argument. She very kindly agreed to write a guest blog,  introducing us to a wider horizon of scholarship about the human conversational contract.

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Susan Notess, Durham University

There’s something about language which resembles conductivity. Through it we connect with each other and transmit not just stories, but also fears; not just kindness, but also power. To be able to speak and say what one means is a kind of power, and to be robbed of this power is a kind of injustice. Continue reading →

Guest blog: Walking in the time of COVID-19

Lockdown has been socially, professionally and personally challenging for lots if us; but it has also stimulated a great deal of new work in response to the very different landscape we currently live in. I’m delighted to host a guest blog by four wonderful analysts, Eric Laurier, Magnus Hamann, Saul Albert & Liz Stokoe, who’ve used some of their time for a fascinating analysis of just what  “social distancing” means in public spaces. It’s a longer than usual blog, but there’s a lot to pack in… Continue reading →

Guest blog: Why didn’t people follow the government’s advice on COVID-19?  

March 25th, 2020: governments around the world require citizens to take increasingly stringent measures to combat COVID-19. In a rapid response to  how Governments are communicating with us about how to limit the spread of the virus, Saul Albert and Charlotte Albury have compiled a report, based on a systematic review by a team led Albury, by on what CA can tell us about how medical advice is given and received.  Continue reading →

Guest blog: Elliott Hoey on sniffing

Issue 1 of volume 53 of the journal (the fist issue of 2020) is devoted to non-lexical things we do in interaction – whistling, clicking, moaning: things which are not language, but are deployed in language-like ways. From a wealth of fascinating articles, I’m delighted that Elliott Hoey has agreed to send in lively report of his investigation into the uses of the sniff. Continue reading →

Guest blog: Who uses transcriptions of conversations as formal evidence?

Emma Richardson

Emma Richardson, Aston University

It’s not just researchers who go out with their taperecorders and bring back data to transcribe: formal transcripts are part and parcel of the work of Parliaments, law courts, the police, and many others. Emma Richardson has been looking into the reach and scope of official recordings, and asks us to compare officials’ practical interests with our more academic ones. Continue reading →

Guest blog: Sharing CA with the public at a research festival

CA is blessed with some exceptionally able communicators, and there is a growing appetite to reach out to members of the public with a show of what CA can do (see the other blogs in this “CA Teaching” section). One now well-established tradition is for members of York’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Language and Communication (CASLC) to engage in York’s research festival (“Yornight“), and I’m delighted that Rose Rickford has sent in a report of what happened this year. Continue reading →

Guest Blog: How does a market trader get customers?

In a recent paper in ROLSI, Kenan Hochuli reported a remarkable study of the complex world of the street market. I’m delighted that he’s prepared a guest blog on the subject, concentrating on the crucial step in the selling process: getting the passer-by to stop.

Kenan Hochuli

Kenan Hochuli, Neuchâtel and Zurich

Market stalls are unique service institutions. They are located in public spaces and approachable from different directions. There are no material or technical devices that determine the sequence of sales. Sometimes it is not clear whether a person is just passing by a stall or if they intend to buy something. And this often happens in the course of already ongoing sales interactions. In view of these conditions, my article deals with seller’s efforts in transforming passers-by into customers and, more generally, participants negotiation of co-presence in the course of emerging multi-party-encounters. Continue reading →

Guest Blog: PeaceTalk – Talk and Interaction in Multinational Crisis Management Training

Conversation Analysis is finding application in all sorts of fields, and perhaps none so sensitive as military manouevres… but as Antti Kamunen explains, it can all be in the service of defusing a crisis and working towards peaceful resolution.

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Antti Kamunen, Oulu

What happens inside a patrol car when you notice you are about drive into a minefield? How do you act when you suddenly come across a life-threating situation and have to make decisions quickly? What happens when you get lost on your patrol route in a potentially hostile territory? Continue reading →

Guest Blog: the Danish DanTIN group and The Grammar of Everyday Life

Denmark has a thriving EM/CA community, with faculty and students contributing to world-class initiatives across the range of interaction research. Here Magnus Hamann tells us how Danish Interaction Linguistics grew from a simple idea to an project that has generated activity and funding for generations of postgraduate students.

MagnusHamann

Magnus Hamann

DanTIN project has its 10-year anniversary. in November 2019. Happy students from different stages of life (some still students, some already accomplished contributors to the work force) have met to celebrate something that has probably had a bigger influence on their linguistic studies and identity than they had initially realised. Continue reading →