Conversation Analysis Research Articles

An interactional linguistics study of Shi ba in Mandarin conversation

From the perspective of interactional linguistics and adopting the methodology of conversation analysis, this study explores some fine-grained interactional uses of shi ba in Mandarin conversation. It first classifies shi ba into unmarked and marked forms generally in terms of their prosodic manifestations with the assistance of Praat, the speech analysis tool. Then it demonstrates that the unmarked shi ba fulfills three interactional functions: requesting confirmation, seeking affiliation and maintaining floor; the marked shi ba registers dissatisfaction and displays affiliation. However, shi ba is basically a tag question, and serves to invite the recipient to proffer certain interactional response. The specific function that shi ba performs in conversation is tied to three decisive factors – its prosodic manifestations, position in specific turns and sequences as well as the relative epistemic status of interlocutors. The study also suggests that there lies a common motivation for the emergence of various interactional functions of shi ba, that is – the demand for an on-line alignment, which reflects the cross-fertilization between language and interaction.

Dialogues as an Involvement Strategy in Kadare’s novel "The Fall of the Stone City"

Discourse is not just a form of language use, but also a cognitive and social accomplishment within a communicative context. This article aims to interpret dialogues in Kadare’s novel The Fall of the Stone City through a combination of methods of discourse analysis and conversation analysis. The object of this analysis are the direct dialogues, in which characters are represented through their own voice, and where the narrator evades his/her own intervention during the transmission of the character’s sensory experience and does not give to the reader an indication of any sort of privileged information regarding the condition of the character. The central focus of this analysis is involvement strategies, as the basic principle in both conversational and literary discourse. The spoken genre is characterized by fragmentation and involvement, whereas the written genre is characterized by integration and detachment. The comparison of spoken and written narratives suggests that normal conversation and literary discourse have many similarities between them. The examination of the dialogues in Kadare’s novel The Fall of the Stone City clearly shows that the author combines involvement with integration in building scenes and triggering emotions. He uses familiar strategies, like repair and repetition in creating coherence and involvement, which are intentional in creating meaning.

Educating Dora: Teaching a conversational agent to talk

Many organisations are witnessing the introduction of automated systems to mediate between them and their clients, often designed as dialogic user interfaces which are conversational in nature. Despite calls for the design of AI-powered conversational agents to draw on Ethnomethodological Conversation Analysis (EMCA), how an EMCA-informed conversation design can improve interactions between humans and conversational agents is yet to be empirically examined. This paper reports on a collaboration between EMCA researchers and AI conversation designers at digital health company Ufonia to develop Dora, a pre-existing ‘automated clinical assistant’ that provides telephone consultations for patients of the UK’s National Health Service. Our analysis identified differences between the conversation design of the product and conversational practices found in equivalent activities involving human clinicians, relevant to implementing changes to improve user experience. We demonstrate that users are prompted to recalibrate their practices (such as for turn-taking) in situ as they engage with a system which does not match their prior experiences of this activity type. Such insights can be leveraged to adapt system design so that it more closely approximates users’ prior experiences of such engagements.

Use of Offensive Animal Metaphor as an Interactional Activity in Online Forum Discussions

ABSTRACT This paper investigates offensive animal metaphors in blog comments about the management of donations of money and medical relief during the coronavirus pandemic in China. Rather than understanding the metaphorical usage of language as a cognitive process, we consider its situational usage as a social action and invoke insights from Conversation Analysis. Based on data retrieved from Sina Weibo, we show how discussants use animal metaphors to accomplish varying actions and construct intelligibility between themselves and others about the relationship between actions, moral accountability, and description of social events. We therefore argue that CA with its focus on topicality, action and societal membership can complement the cognitive understanding of the proximity between the source and the target domains.

Nostalgia on Twitter: Detection and Analysis of a Large‐Scale Dataset

ABSTRACTNostalgia is a self‐conscious social emotion that arises from reminiscence of past memories. Collective nostalgia on social media such as Twitter has been seen as a method to comfort individuals in the status of isolation, fear, and a loss of freedom. In recent years, many studies have focused on offering analysis of nostalgic conversations to understand their impact on various domains including marketing and mental health, but little attention has been given to how to detect such conversations in the first place. This paper offers a novel large‐scale nostalgic tweets dataset. We describe our extensive methodology to create and validate this dataset using natural language processing models and Large Language Models to detect nostalgic conversations on Twitter. We demonstrate the properties of this dataset alongside analysis revealing insight into context and patterns of what/how people reminiscence about. We finish the paper by describing other research studies that our dataset enables.

Disease Burden of IgA Nephropathy (IgAN): A Linguistic Analysis of Global Social Media Conversations over Time: A Comparison of Results, 2019-2023

Disease Burden of IgA Nephropathy (IgAN): A Linguistic Analysis of Global Social Media Conversations over Time: A Comparison of Results, 2019-2023

National trends in using revisional surgeries post-sleeve gastrectomy due to reflux and weight recurrence: a matched case-control analysis

BackgroundSeveral options exist for surgical conversion after sleeve gastrectomy (SG), but a definitive safety profile for each option by indication for conversion remains unclear. ObjectivesTo determine and compare 30-day risk profiles of SG conversion to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD-DS), and single-anastomosis duodenoileostomy (SADI). MethodsMetabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program national database entries from 2020 to 2022 were used to identify 25,760 adult patients who underwent SG conversion to RYGB, BPD-DS, or SADI. Subgroup analyses were performed among 6106 conversions completed for weight-related complications (RYGB: 3053 patients; BPD-DS: 1826 patients; SADI: 1227 patients). Multivariable analysis and 1:1 nearest-neighbor matching were used to further characterize the 30-day risk profile of each conversion. ResultsPatients with RYGB conversions had a lower preoperative body mass index compared with those with BPD-DS + SADI conversions (39.8 versus 46.1, P < .001) and significantly lower rates of medical comorbidities. The distribution of conversion indication for each MBS configuration varied, where most RYGB conversions were for reflux (56.1%) whereas most BPD-DS + SADI conversions were for weight-related complications (87.3%; P < .001). On 1:1 matched analysis of conversions for weight recurrence, odds of 30-day complications (odds ratio .73, P = .019) and readmission (odds ratio .77, P = .031) were lower in BPD-DS + SADI conversions compared with RYGB. There were no significant differences in odds of 30-day reintervention or reoperation between conversion to RYGB and BPD-DS + SADI. Major differing drivers of complications between conversion types included hemorrhage (RYGB 1.98% versus BPD-DS + SADI .87%; P = .001). ConclusionsFor weight recurrence after SG, conversion to BPD-DS + SADI does not have greater 30-day complications than RYGB and may be a safe conversion option.

“Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach a definitive diagnosis”: the interactional management of uncertainty in genetic counseling

This paper examines how participants in genetic counseling sessions interactionally manage situations where the results of tests to investigate the causes of identified fetal malformations are inconclusive or missing. The dataset consists of 54 audio-recorded interactions at a unit specialized in moderate- and high-risk pregnancies at a Brazilian public hospital. Conversation analysis was used to examine the data, revealing that the participants deployed interactional actions that exhibited highly negative valence toward diagnostic inconclusiveness, demonstrating that when there is a motivation for a medical examination, insofar as its results will serve as a basis for subsequent decision-making (in this case about future pregnancies), there is a preference for bad diagnostic news over absent or inconclusive diagnostic news. These findings are consistent with prior interactional studies.

A Conversational Analysis of Hausa Business and Social Interaction

A Conversational Analysis of Hausa Business and Social Interaction

Categories in Social Interaction: Unlocking the Resources of Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorization for Psychological Science.

This article reviews two related approaches-conversation analysis (CA) and membership categorization analysis (MCA)-to sketch a systematic framework for exposing how categories and categorial phenomena are (re)produced in naturally occurring social interaction. In so doing, we argue that CA and MCA address recent concerns about psychological methods and approaches. After summarizing how categories are typically theorized and studied, we describe the main features of a CA approach to categories, including how this differs from conventional psychology. We review the core domains of research in CA and how categories can be studied systematically in relation to the basic machinery of talk and other conduct in interaction. We illustrate these domains through examples from different settings of recorded naturally occurring social interaction. After considering the applications that have arisen from CA and MCA, we conclude by drawing together the implications of this work for psychological science.

A Conversational Analysis of Hausa Business and Social Interaction

A Conversational Analysis of Hausa Business and Social Interaction

Women's Language in Bargaining: A Sociolinguistic Study of Seller-Buyer Interactions in Dinoyo Market

This study investigates the characteristics of women’s language in market bargaining, revealing how specific communicative features affect buying and selling interactions. These features include the use of polite and non-confrontational language forms, such as hedges and tag questions, which reflect a desire to maintain harmonious social relations. Drawing on Robin Lakoff’s (1975) theory, the study examines how features like hedges, tag questions, and super polite forms are employed by female sellers and buyers during market interactions. The research methods include direct observation and conversation analysis to identify the frequency and context of these language features. The findings indicate that the use of female language traits not only influences the nature of bargaining but also contributes to establishing and maintaining positive social relationships between sellers and buyers. These insights enhance our understanding of communication strategies in economic contexts and underscore the importance of recognizing gender-specific linguistic features in everyday social interactions. Furthermore, the research suggests that a deeper understanding of women’s language traits can provide practical benefits for market participants, aiding in the improvement of their negotiation and marketing skills

Invoking time limits for managing responses in US Senate Judiciary Committee lower court nomination hearings

This study uses Conversation Analysis to investigate an interactional practice in US Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) lower court nomination hearings. Drawing from 13 hr and 36 min of data from Q&amp;A rounds across 12 SJC hearings during 2020 and 2022, I document how senators’ invocations of the hearing’s time limits function as a resource for managing judicial nominees’ responses to their questions. I examine senators’ time invocations (TIs) in two main sequential areas: (1) When designing questions, and (2) when pursuing or challenging nominees’ responses. As a feature of question design, TIs help senators ‘move things along’ during their brief questioning time, as well as pin nominees to respond in ways preferable to the question. As a feature of pursuits or challenges, TIs help senators manage nominees’ off-topic, evasive, or unsound responses, thus ascribing different levels of accountability onto both nominees (for their inadequate responses to senators’ initial questions) and senators themselves (for the sequential and affiliative consequences associated with doing pursuing/challenging). Seven extracts are presented from a collection of 82 cases. Findings reveal how time limits can be leveraged by senators to advance various goals in this highly constrained and institutionalized context, including exhibiting and implicitly legitimizing partisan bias.

Mitigating ethnic minority students’ Foreign language anxiety through Co-learning in Chinese as an additional language classrooms: A transpositioning perspective

Recent studies on ethnic minority students in Hong Kong have highlighted the difficulties they face when learning Chinese-as-an-Additional-Language (CAL). These linguistic challenges can cause anxiety and hinder their integration into Hong Kong society. Transpositioning is an emerging notion in the field of Applied Linguistics and involves individuals stepping out of their assigned roles and adopting different perspectives through translanguaging. It has been argued that engaging in transpositioning can potentially engage students’ learning and participation in classroom interaction. However, there is limited research on how multilingual classroom teachers can suspend their social roles to alleviate students' anxiety while learning a second language in classrooms. This paper seeks to fill this research gap by examining how a Chinese teacher creates a safe translanguaging space for co-learning, which allows him to move beyond his predefined social roles and alleviate ethnic minority students' anxiety in learning CAL. The study uses Multimodal Conversation Analysis to analyse classroom interaction data. The fine-grained classroom analysis is triangulated with the video-stimulated-recall-interviews with the teacher and students which are analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The paper argues for a Transpositioning-Translanguaging-Co-Learning approach to reduce students' anxiety related to CAL learning. By positioning both the teacher and students as equal contributors to knowledge, this can foster student engagement and active participation in classroom interactions.

When and how patients' self-claims are challenged in psychotherapy

Abstract The article describes the practices through which patients’ self-presentations are challenged in psychotherapy. Based on the analysis of thirty-eight instances from psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, analyzed with methods of conversation analysis, narrative analysis, and coding, this article reports on how therapists challenge patients’ self-conceptualizations in response to patients’ self-presentations. Challenges mostly follow patients’ descriptive, narrative, or evaluative accounts that include a strong claim about their self. Challenges to the self pertain to core issues of the therapeutic projects. They are mostly built in ways that show its sensitivity to probable rejection by the patient. Overwhelmingly, the challenge is accounted for by reference to shared knowledge built in the participants’ shared interactional history. Arguably, psychotherapy is a particular setting where the organization of face-work is modified, as occasional challenging of the co-interactant's self-presentation is part of the institutional task of the professional participant. Data are in Finnish and German. (Self, psychotherapy, Goffman, conversation analysis)*

Analisis Nilai Tambah untuk Meningkatkan Keberlanjutan Rantai Pasok Agroindustri Kopi di Kabupaten Kerinci

The purpose of the research is to analyze the amount of added value obtained by the actors and design a proposed strategy to increase the sustainability index in the coffee agro-industry supply chain. The analysis of added value was carried out using Hayami. The stages carried out were conversion analysis, identification of actors involved in the supply chain and calculating the profits of each actor. The amount of profit obtained by the actors in the existing supply chain is quite diverse, where the largest profit is obtained by KUB (80.42%), while the smallest profit is obtained by farmers, namely 56.96%.

Code-Switching in a Legal English Class for Egyptian Learners: A Conversation Analysis Case Study

This article addresses how code-switching facilitates language acquisition in an online legal English classroom for Arabic-speaking learners. The study aims to describe and analyze the use of code-switching as a facilitative resource for second language acquisition, particularly within the context of the online classroom. The article holds significance in two key areas: first, it contributes to the existing literature on code-switching between Arabic and English in language learning contexts. Second, it addresses a gap in research by focusing on an underexplored context: online legal English classes for Arabic-speaking learners, a topic which has not been widely researched. Applying Conversation Analysis to fragments from the online class, the findings reveal that code-switching serves as a vital resource for learners in comprehending complex legal concepts by drawing on their first language (L1) knowledge (in this case, Arabic). It also facilitates word searching, collaborative learning, and effective negotiation of meaning, aiding in the overall second language (L2) acquisition process.

"Oh my Dave, your face says it all!": Exploring the Multimodal Practices of Tasting in Live Streaming

Research on the activity of tasting, examined through the lens of conversation analysis, reveals that in face-to-face contexts, tasting is an interactive and sequential process that combines individual sensory experience with a public, witnessable, accountable, and intersubjective dimension. This perspective can be extended to the realm of live-streamed tasting, where streamers demonstrate and communicate the taste of food products to online audiences in real time. By adopting multimodal conversation analysis to scrutinize the unfolding sequence moment by moment, my study aims to demonstrate 1) Three practices to achieve the configuration of "tasting heads," wherein the current taster's face is displayed on-screen. 2) Patterns of gaze withdrawal from the screen and subsequent gaze back to the screen during the tasting process. 3) The performative and animated facial expressions. 4) The structure of responses from both streamers and viewers after the tasting.

Positive assessments, monitoring of activities, and dementia

This article studies the use of positive assessments in interaction in Swedish residential care in Finland. The data consisted of four video recordings of baking activities involving professional caregivers and residents with dementia. The method used was conversation analysis. In these activities, caregivers used positive assessments to facilitate the residents’ performance of the task, either by providing them with the resources needed to perform the task or by performing things for the residents. Assessments were used to encourage the residents in attempting to perform the task, making progress in the task, and achieving autonomous activity in the task. The study demonstrated how residents’ reduced functional capacity makes also minor success worth praising, without an undertone of infantilization.

Translanguaging for the construction of instructional immediacy in a Mandarin–Japanese crosslinguistic class

Abstract Accumulating studies on teachers’ instructional immediacy consistently show a strong positive correlation with teaching effectiveness. To expand the research in a bilingual and cross-cultural context, the current study investigates the construction of instructional immediacy in a natural classroom setting by theoretically anchoring on translanguaging, which refers to the idea of promoting the integration of all linguistic and nonlinguistic resources to achieve effective pedagogy with multilingual speakers. We quantified the nonverbal facial expressions to compare the teacher’s endeavours in different language modes when constructing instructional immediacy, and we used Multimodal Conversation Analysis (MCA) to examine his endeavours. The results revealed language-specific facial expressions which are attributed to varied teaching purposes. We conclude that translanguaging can serve as an effective tool for fostering instructional immediacy in multilingual classrooms.