University of Essex

LG484-6-AU-CO:
Conversation and Social Interaction

The details

Year: 2023/24

Department: Language and Linguistics

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Autumn

Level: Undergraduate: Level 6

Status: Current

Start date: Thursday 05 October 2023

End date: Friday 15 December 2023

Credits: 15

Last updated: 23 March 2022

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

BA QP10 English Language with Media Communication,
BA QP11 English Language with Media Communication (Including Year Abroad),
BA QP12 English Language with Media Communication (Including Placement Year),
BA QP13 English Language with Media Communication (Including Foundation Year)

Module description

Starting with a consideration of a wide range of interactional conduct, we explore how it is nevertheless possible, in the face of such variety, to make systematic interpretations based on our knowledge of conversational structure and standard assumptions of moral accountability in social life. The normative structures of the mainstream conversation analytic tradition will be examined. By looking ordinary conversation in a range of contexts, we shall investigate how actions are performed, identities constructed and context achieved through talk. We shall then consider how conduct which transcends the verbal (such as gaze and gesture) contributes to our presentation of ourselves in interaction with others; and finally we explore the relationship between grammar and interaction

Module aims

The module aims to cover the following topics:
• accountability in conversation
• the conversational sequence
• generic structures of conversation
• grammar and interaction
• constructing identity
• formulations in conversation
• the audience as co-author
• gaze and gesture in interaction

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module, students will:
• Be familiar with the theories, concerns and methods of the mainstream conversation analytic tradition in its approach to spoken interaction
• Be able to bring to bear a range of conceptual and analytical tools on the data of naturally-occurring 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 their own investigation of an aspect of conversational organisation, using appropriate methods for the collection, transcription and analysis of data

Module information

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

Learning and teaching methods

Two-hour lecture/seminar per week, with audio and video data to analyse

Bibliography

Clift, R. (2016b) Conversation analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/338989.
Robinson, J.D. (ed.) (2016) Accountability in social interaction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190210557.001.0001.
Emanuel A. Schegloff (1996) ‘Confirming Allusions: Toward an Empirical Account of Action’, American Journal of Sociology, 102(1), pp. 161–216. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2782190?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
Clift, R. (2005b) ‘Discovering order’, Lingua, 115(11), pp. 1641–1665. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0024384104001093.
John Heritage and Geoffrey Raymond (2005) ‘The Terms of Agreement: Indexing Epistemic Authority and Subordination in Talk-in-Interaction’, Social Psychology Quarterly, 68(1), pp. 15–38. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/019027250506800103.
Schegloff, E.A. (1997) ‘Whose Text? Whose Context?’, Discourse & Society, 8(2), pp. 165–187. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0957926597008002002.
Clift, R., Drew, P. and Hutchby, I. (2009b) ‘Conversation Analysis’, in The pragmatics of interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Company, pp. 40–54. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=284015&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_40.

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
Coursework	Quiz		20%
Coursework	Essay		80%

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

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Clift, email: rclift@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff: Dr. Rebecca Clift

Contact details: Dr. R. Clift, Office: 4.332, email: rclift@essex.ac.uk

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: Yes

Available to Outside Option: Yes

Available to Audit: No

External examiner

Name: Mr Conrad Hechter Heyns

Institution: Goldsmiths, University of London

Academic role: Director - Centre for Academic Language and Literacies

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording: Of 18 hours, 18 (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), module, or event type.

Further information

Department website: Language and Linguistics

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Module Directory

LG484-6-AU-CO:Conversation and Social Interaction