Description
In our investigation of how institutions are themselves created by the language we use, we focus in the first instance on how adaptations to the conversational turntaking system give a stretch of institutional talk its distinctive character. We then examine a fundamental feature of institutional talk: its asymmetries of participation, knowhow, knowledge and rights to knowledge which reflect the imbalance of power in such interactions. We compare types of broadcast interview in an exploration of power, accountability, footing and neutrality: the political interview and the more informal, 'chat show' encounter. By examining how identities are constructed in a variety of institutional contexts – therapy, radio phone-ins, calls from schools to the parents of absentee students, and in emergency calls – we see how CA constitutes a major analytic analytic resource for the study of identity. Across two weeks we look at different aspects of medical interaction, not only in the general practice consultation but also in other healthcare settings, and attend not only to to talk but also body movement and orientation in such contexts. In an exploration of courtroom talk we shall be looking not only at actual courtroom data but also how other exchanges can take on the character of courtroom cross-examination. We then investigate how political rhetoric is designed for audience response. Finally we look at the most concise type of institutional talk: calls to the emergency services, which are, when successful, a matter of seconds long. We look at a deviant case to establish how it could have gone so wrong.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, you will:
* Be familiar with the theories, concerns and methods of the mainstream conversation analytic tradition as it is applied to institutional talk
* Be able to bring to bear a range of conceptual and analytical tools on the data of naturally-occurring institutional talk
* Be able to transcribe naturally occurring talk to the appropriate level of analytical detail
* Be familiar with the means by which participants construct identities through talk
* Be familiar with the means by which gaze and body movement interact with the production of language
* Be able to undertake your own investigation of an aspect of institutional talk, using appropriate methods for the collection, transcription and analysis of data
In our investigation of how institutions are themselves created by the language we use, we focus in the first instance on how adaptations to the conversational turntaking system give a stretch of institutional talk its distinctive character. We then examine a fundamental feature of institutional talk: its asymmetries of participation, knowhow, knowledge and rights to knowledge which reflect the imbalance of power in such interactions. We compare types of broadcast interview in an exploration of power, accountability, footing and neutrality: the political interview and the more informal, 'chat show' encounter. By examining how identities are constructed in a variety of institutional contexts – therapy, radio phone-ins, calls from schools to the parents of absentee students, and in emergency calls – we see how CA constitutes a major analytic analytic resource for the study of identity. Across two weeks we look at different aspects of medical interaction, not only in the general practice consultation but also in other healthcare settings, and attend not only to to talk but also body movement and orientation in such contexts. In an exploration of courtroom talk we shall be looking not only at actual courtroom data but also how other exchanges can take on the character of courtroom cross-examination. We then investigate how political rhetoric is designed for audience response. Finally we look at the most concise type of institutional talk: calls to the emergency services, which are, when successful, a matter of seconds long. We look at a deviant case to establish how it could have gone so wrong.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, you will:
* Be familiar with the theories, concerns and methods of the mainstream conversation analytic tradition as it is applied to institutional talk
* Be able to bring to bear a range of conceptual and analytical tools on the data of naturally-occurring institutional talk
* Be able to transcribe naturally occurring talk to the appropriate level of analytical detail
* Be familiar with the means by which participants construct identities through talk
* Be familiar with the means by which gaze and body movement interact with the production of language
* Be able to undertake your own investigation of an aspect of institutional talk, using appropriate methods for the collection, transcription and analysis of data