24.4., 14.15-15.45, University of Helsinki Main Building, room U4072 (Fabianinkatu 33)
Becoming a member: Longitudinal research on social interaction
Simona Pekarek Doehler (University of Neuchâtel)
Conversation Analysis uses sequential analysis to unveiled in fine detail members’ methods for accomplishing actions in social interaction. But how do participants’ methods change over time? How do participants adapt their practices across (shared) interactional experiences? How do they move from acting as “not yet competent members” (Schegloff 1989) to “competent members” (Goodwin 2018)? Despite earlier calls for analyses of larger conversational histories beyond the sequence and comparison across time (Bilmes 1985; Zimmermann 1999), it is only recently (but see Wootton 1997, Clayman & Heritage 2002) that we see emerge an increasing number of longitudinal CA research (Pekarek Doehler et al. 2018; ROLSI, 2021, 54:2).
In this paper I first outline the historical development of longitudinal CA and identify four strands of current research in the field. I then discuss its methodological challenges, such as warranting comparability or maintaining a participants’ perspective on change over time. I conclude by sketching avenues for future research.
Simona Pekarek Doehler is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland). Her research focusses on the development of interactional competence in a second language, grammar-in-interaction, and multimodality. She is co-editor of two recent collections of longitudinal CA studies, including the special issue of ROLSI 54:2 (2021). She is founding co-editor of the journal Interactional Linguistics.