LG489-6-SP-CO:
Institutional Talk
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Language and Linguistics
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 6
Inactive
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
22 April 2022
Requisites for this module
LG211
LG484
(none)
(none)
(none)
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 shall be investigating a number of types of institutional talk, showing how context is created and identities constructed in the talk itself.
The module aims to cover the following topics:
1. What is institutional talk?
2. Power in language: The asymmetry of institutional talk
3. Identities in institutional contexts
4. The call for help: the organisation of emergency calls
5. The best medicine: accountability and doctorability in the general practice consultation
6. Good news or bad news? Diagnosis in healthcare interaction
7. Emotion and delicacy in institutional talk
8. CA and psychotherapy
9. Order in court: cross-examinations in the courtroom
10. Institutional exchanges under stress
By the end of this module, students will:
1. Be familiar with the theories, concerns and methods of the mainstream conversation analytic tradition as it is applied to institutional talk
2. Be able to bring to bear a range of conceptual and analytical tools on the data of naturally-occurring institutional talk
3. Be able to transcribe naturally occurring talk to the appropriate level of analytical detail
4. Be familiar with the means by which participants construct identities through talk
5. Be able to show how asymmetries are manifested in talk
6. Be able to undertake their own investigation of an aspect of institutional talk, using appropriate methods for the collection, transcription and analysis of data
Students will be expected to have a very comfortable knowledge of conversational idiomatic English because the data will consist predominantly of naturally-occurring English interaction
Two-hour lecture/seminar per week, with audio and video data to analyse
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Rebecca Clift, email: rclift@essex.ac.uk.
Dr. Rebecca Clift
Dr. R. Clift, Office: 4.317, Tel: 01206 872204, email rclift@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
No
Dr Sam Christian D'Elia
Available via Moodle
Of 20 hours, 20 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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