Sequence organization as local and longitudinal achievement

Abstract

In this article, I take the view that it is through local management of talk that knowledge and competence can be modified, and it is through longitudinal participation in the same speech exchange system that further efficiency can be achieved in the next local management of talk. Thus, a longitudinal understanding needs to be situated in local moments, and the interpretation of local moments is inadequate as an account of the participants' perspectives without taking into consideration their longitudinal experience. Given that this line of research has not been much explored within conversation analysis (CA), the current study attempts to look at sequence organization as both a local and longitudinal interactional accomplishment. The data come from a larger long-term study of interactional competence development among novice pharmacists in the United States, and include 21 naturally occurring patient consultations performed by one pharmacy intern. Conversation analysis of her interaction with patients over the course of two months reveals how she changed with respect to (a) the ordering of actions, (b) the organization of openings and advice sequences, and (c) the transitioning from one action to the next. The article concludes with implications for CA and research on workplace socialization.