How do we get things done in our everyday lives? How do we get others to do things with us, help us, or do things we want them to do? What exactly is 'social action' and what are we really up to when we talk and use language in everyday interaction?

 

This course explores the relationship between 'grammar', especially morphology and syntax, and social actions in interaction. Students will learn to use the theory and methods of Conversation Analysis (CA) and Interactional Linguistics (IL) to investigate grammatical formats for various action types (e.g. requests, proposals, complaints) in conversational interaction. Students will develop skills and knowedge in collecting and analysing video data and doing both linguistic and interactional analysis.


This course is fulfills requirements for the M(S)K2 course in the M(S)K module, which includes also M(S)K1 and M(S)K3.

In order to participate in the course, students should have previously completed M(S)K1. If students are currently enrolled in M(S)K1 in parallel, they should consult the instructor before enrolling in this course. Students from MA KoVaMe, MA FSL, and MA LINK are all welcome and encouraged to take the course.

Otherwise, some previous experience with conversation analysis and/or interactional linguistics would be helpful.

Students should be able to read English-language research literature and should have an willingness and interest in collecting and analyzing their own data (video-recorded interaction).

Students who take this course as M(S)K2 will complete a pilot research project in pairs or groups with research questions defined by the instructor. Students who take this course as M(S)K3 will develop their own independent research project in interactional linguistics/conversation analysis.