Epistemics in post‐match interviews: A focus on questioning turn design

Abstract

AbstractThis contribution reports on a study of questioning turns in German and English football post‐match interviews (PMIs). Previous research on PMIs suggests that their main aim is to provide room for a delivery of the player's perspective of the match, thereby foregrounding his expertise and experience. The study uses a conversation analytic approach to focus on how interviewers design their turns in order to achieve this foregrounding. It is shown that participants employ means to systematically maintain an epistemic balance that reflects the player's epistemic access to the match as more authoritative. Furthermore, while both German and English interviewers perform similar actions in their turns, there are significant differences in the use of overtly marked questions, revealing different overall strategies of foregrounding.