Learning to communicate: Managing multiple strands of participation in driving lessons

Abstract

This article examines how trainee drivers and instructors engage in interaction with each other and with other entities partaking in traffic. Drawing on Goffman's notion of participation, the article argues that three strands of participation are at stake, i.e. intra-unit participation (taking place within the car), inter-unit participation (between traffic participants) and cross-unit participation (e.g. between drivers of different cars). The analysis of how trainee drivers and instructors deal with unexpected traffic events shows that these multiple strands of participation are intertwined in a way that is sensitive to the temporal, spatial and praxeological contingences at hand.