Leave-taking as multiactivity:coordinating conversational closings with driving in cars

Abstract This paper uses conversation analysis and video-based methods to study how the driver and passengers interact in order to coordinate multiple activities in cars. The video data have been recorded in naturally occurring driving situations in Britain and Finland. The analysis focuses on leave-taking during drop-offs, i.e. situations where the driver is pulling over for a momentary stop to let a passenger out of the car. It shows how in-car participants time and coordinate the conversation’s closing step by step with respect to the car’s movement and the eventual stop; i.e. they coordinate leave-taking as multiactivity. The paper suggests that some of the ways in which leave-taking is managed as multiactivity contributes to the construction of safety in traffic

Interactional spaces in stationary, mobile, video-mediated and virtual encounters

Abstract In any focused social interaction, people come together, move, and position their bodies with respect to each other, and maintain and change such formations while they interact. Establishing and sustaining such formations makes it possible for them to see and hear others, to show and share objects, and to orient to same features in the environment. Forming copresence and a shared space is core and a precondition to any social interaction. Since the influential work by Adam Kendon (F-formations) and Erving Goffman (participation frameworks, focused encounters, withs) an accumulating body of research has explored — in different interactional settings — the pragmatics of how humans organize themselves spatially for interacting with each other. More recently, Lorenza Mondada (2009) has introduced the term “interactional space” to refer to the dynamic ways in which people not only initiate and establish copresent formations but also continuously (re)organize them with respect to each other, the unfolding activity and material environment. In this chapter, we offer an overview of pragmatics research on spatial arrangements in interaction. We illustrate how people organize their copresence in order to interact with each other in stable, mobile, video-mediated (i.e., distributed) and virtual settings. We explore “interactional space” as a visual phenomenon and thereby focus on situations where participants can (at least partly) see each other

Object transfers:an embodied resource to progress joint activities and build relative agency

Abstract This article builds on ethnomethodological, conversation analytic research on object transfers: how participants hand over objects to one another. By analyzing video recordings of mundane (cars) and institutional interactions (laboratories), we focus on situations where an object is central to and talked about in the joint course of action. We focus on different organizations of object transfer and show that one embodied move is decisive, either a sequentially implicative ‘give’ or an arm extension designed as a stand-alone ‘take’. We examine the interrelationship between the organization of the object transfer and the broader course of action (e.g. request or offer sequence), which is either overlapping or intersecting. We demonstrate that by making the decisive move, either the participant initially holding the object or her recipient critically influences the progression and trajectory of the activity, and displays agency

Vuorovaikutuksen näkökulma vieraskielisiin etäopetustilanteisiin:haasteita ja käytänteitä

Millaista vuorovaikutus on tilanteissa, joissa opettaja ja oppijat ovat fyysisesti eri paikoissa? Millaiset käytänteet ovat toimivia? Miten oppijoiden osallistumista ja sitoutumista voidaan parhaiten tukea? Muun muassa näihin etäopetukseen liittyviin kysymyksiin on etsitty kuluneen koronapandemian aikana vastauksia. Vuorovaikutuksen tutkimus on yksi alue, joka voi auttaa ymmärtämään ja kehittämään nykyisiä ja tulevia käytännön ratkaisuja paremmin.nonPeerReviewe

“It seems to be some kind of an accident”:perception and team decision-making in time critical situations

Abstract This study examines the decision-making processes of military observer trainee teams as they encounter a simulated, ‘life-threatening’ incident during a car-patrolling exercise. The study takes place in the context of a course which trains military officers to serve in UN peacekeeping operations as unarmed military observers. The data consist of audio-video recordings of eight trainee teams inside and around their patrol cars during a patrolling exercise, as well as of ethnographic field notes and observations. We use conversation analysis to examine what happens between the first noticing of the incident and the decision regarding the next action, and how the trainees work together to form a diagnosis of the situation and choose the appropriate action. The results show how the trainees make a first general interpretation on the situation immediately after its initial noticing and make visible their assessment of the incident site as either safe or unsafe to approach. These interpretations are crucial, as an incorrect interpretation often leads to action that puts the team in danger. The results also show how earlier shared events can affect the decision-making process, as they are indicated as points of comparison on which a team may base their interpretation of the current situation

Local participation framework as a resource among military observer trainees:interactional episodes between repair initiation and repair solution in critical radio communication

Abstract In critical radio-mediated communication, fixed expressions clarify and expedite interaction and provide a shared vocabulary for lingua franca interlocutors. Sometimes, communication via radio encounters trouble that needs to be clarified. This article examines interactional episodes following fixed other-initiations of self-repair “say again” in radiotelephony, as part of patrolling exercises in military observer (MO) training. The episodes occur between the repair initiation and the repair solution. Radiotelephony is inherently dyadic, but the parties may consist of more than one person. During patrolling, interaction via radio takes place within two overlapping participation frameworks. The article focuses on practices of identifying and repairing trouble in the patrol vehicle. The data come from multinational MO training, where English as lingua franca is the working language. The analysis of talk and embodied actions, drawing on conversation analysis and ethnomethodologically informed ethnography, shows that trainees use their local participation framework as a resource to make sense of the trouble in situ. The article introduces a novel set of language data and broadens our understanding of formulaic repair practices and their uptake and handling repair within overlapping participation frameworks. The findings can be utilised in developing training practices and in settings where radio serves a pivotal role

Noticing, monitoring and observing:interactional grounds for joint and emergent seeing in UN military observer training

Abstract UN military observers patrol crisis areas in small teams. Their task is to determine whether seen military activity constitutes a violation to ceasefire agreements. Failing to see or establish a shared understanding of the activity can be damaging to the mission or put the teams in danger. We use ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to analyse how military observers verbalise and categorise military activity in ‘noticings’. The data are video recordings collected in car patrols in a training course. The analysis is based on fifty-three episodes of the patrols encountering unexpected military activity. The analysis focuses on the design features of and categorisation practices in noticing actions. It also shows how the noticings invite seeing the noticed feature from a particular perspective and in this way build a context for the joint and emergent activities of ‘monitoring’ and ‘observing’. The findings showcase how noticing actions and monitoring and observing are accomplished in interaction. They highlight the role of talk and embodiment as part of military observers’ professional competence and for maintaining situational awareness. The findings are relevant for and can be integrated in UN military observer training

Children seeking the driver’s attention in cars:position and composition of children’s summons turns and children’s rights to engage

Abstract This paper explores the topic of children having restricted rights to engage in conversation with adults in multiparty interactions. Drawing on the principles of conversation analysis, and 7 h of video-recorded Finnish and English naturally occurring in-car family interactions, our focus is on moments when a child summons the driver while the driver is driving and having a conversation with another passenger. We suggest that the composition and position of the child’s summons relative to other ongoing conversations play a crucial role in whether the child receives a response, or whether the summons will be ignored or suspended by the driver. Positioning and designing summonses in different ways is a resource for the child to exert agency and mobilize a response from the driver to different degrees, which affects the child’s likelihood of entering in interaction with the driver at that moment. The analysis suggests that children cannot be a priori determined to have (or not to have) certain kinds of speaking rights; instead, the “right” to engage in a conversation is contingent and situated, (re)negotiated and accomplished in situ. Finally, summons-answer sequences provide adults a resource for socializing children into the regularities of turn allocation and turn distribution

The Oulu way of strengthening social impact of SSH sciences:from linear models of impact to productive interactions and beyond

Abstract In the recent years, the University of Oulu has taken an active role in supporting its research in social sciences and humanities (SSH). The support has manifested itself in the introduction of new structures such as the “Eudaimonia Institute”, established in the early 2010s to promote and coordinate multi- and cross-disciplinary research in human sciences. “Eudaimonia” constitutes a community in which researchers are provided a collegial and supportive environment for carrying out research. It also serves as a platform in the new service concept called “Rapid Research Radicals” (3R), which aims to develop collaborative excellence and new openings in research. Connected to this, “Tellus Innovation Arena” offers methods and facilitation expertise to support various forms of collaboration. In addition to this, “Oulu Think Tank of Science and Society”, which operates under the auspices of the “Eudaimonia Institute”, was established to facilitate the interaction between scientists in SSH and the broader society. The “Oulu Think Tank” aims to produce policy-relevant research of internationally high standard, and to offer its expertise to different parties, such as companies and science policy makers. The SSH community has also been successfully included in the development of the university’s strategy4 and profiling measures.Abstract In den letzten Jahren hat die Universität von Oulu eine aktive Rolle bei der Unterstützung ihrer Forschung in den Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften (SSH) übernommen. Die Unterstützung manifestierte sich in der Einführung neuer Strukturen wie dem „Eudaimonia Institute“, das Anfang der 2010er Jahre gegründet wurde, um die multi- und interdisziplinäre Forschung am Menschen zu fördern und diese Wissenschaften zu koordinieren. „Eudaimonia“ ist eine Gemeinschaft, in der Forschern ein kollegiales und unterstützendes Umfeld für die Durchführung von Forschungen geboten wird. Es dient auch als Plattform für das neue Servicekonzept „Rapid Research Radicals“ (3R), das auf die Entwicklung kooperativer Spitzenleistungen und neuer Forschungsmöglichkeiten abzielt. In diesem Zusammenhang bietet die „Tellus Innovation Arena“ Methoden und Moderationsexpertise zur Unterstützung verschiedener Formen der Zusammenarbeit. Darüber hinaus wurde die „Oulu Think Tank von Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft“ Gesellschaft gegründet, die unter der Schirmherrschaft des „Eudaimonia-Instituts“ operiert, um die Interaktion zwischen Wissenschaftlern in SSH und der Gesellschaft im weiteren Sinne zu erleichtern. Der „Oulu Think Tank“ zielt darauf ab, politikrelevante Forschung auf international hohem Niveau zu produzieren und sein Know-how verschiedenen Parteien wie Unternehmen und Wissenschaftspolitikern zur Verfügung zu stellen. Die SSH-Community wurde auch erfolgreich in die Entwicklung der Universitätsstrategie und der Profilierungsmaßnahmen einbezogen

Parsing tasks for the mobile novice in real time:orientation to the learner's actions and to spatial and temporal constraints in instructing-on-the-move

Abstract This paper studies parsing as a practice used in mobile instruction. The findings build on ethnomethodological conversation analysis and on observations made on video data that have been collected from three settings: skiing, driving a car and flying a plane. In the data, novice learners are instructed by more experienced instructors to accomplish various mobile tasks. The paper shows how instructors use parsing to guide learners to carry out, step-by-step, the sub-actions that the ongoing mobile task (e.g. turning, landing) is composed of. The paper argues that parsing is a practice employed by instructors to highlight the sub-actions of a mobile task. Instructors may also use parsing to orient learners to emergent problems to do with the timing, quality and order of the sub-actions in the performance of a complex mobile task. Finally, the paper shows that sometimes there is not enough time to parse an ongoing task, in which case the parsing can be carried out afterwards