Applying CA Institutional talk Institutional talk Institutional talk

Applying CA: Institutional talk

Institutional talk • Institutional talk relates to talk that constitutes particular work- or task-oriented settings. – The setting itself does not characterise talk as institutional: it is the identities that people adopt in settings. – The setting imposes constraints on what can be done and how. – In institutional settings institutional identities are created and carried out through talk.

Institutional talk • Institutional talk is characterised in a number of ways. – In institutional talk there is an orientation to some core task, goal or identity which is associated with the institutional setting in question. – Institutional talk involves special and particular constraints on what participants consider to be allowable contributions to the interaction. – Institutional talk may be associated with inferential procedures particular to the institution.

Turn-taking in institutional settings • In institutional contexts, differences can be observed in the way in which the turn-taking systems operate. • These differences are consequential for the functioning of the institution as an institution. • The main differences in turn-taking are: – Turn-type pre-allocation – Turn allocation mechanisms

Turn-type pre-allocation • Turn-type pre-allocation: what participants are able to say is determined by the institutional setting rather than being locally managed by participants. – in courtrooms, witnesses and suspects are restricted to answering questions; – in interviews, interviewees are restricted to answering questions; – in school classrooms, at least at some points in a lesson, students are restricted to answering teachers’ questions.

Turn-type pre-allocation

Turn-type pre-allocation • The pre-allocation of turn types restricts who can speak and what can be said. • The restrictions of participation found in such settings: – give institutional members control over the ways in which the interaction can proceed; – allow institutional members to determine the ways in which non-members can participate; – allow institutional members to determine how nonmembers contributions are to be understood.

Turn-type pre-allocation and control • Determining how a non-members contribution will be understood.

Turn-type pre-allocation • Determining what non-members can say

Turn-type pre-allocation • The restriction of the turn-types used by institutional members can be seen as a consequence of their institutional roles and identities: • E. g. – News interviewers do not produce certain actions: making statements, producing evaluations or making routine acknowledgements. – The removal of such turns positions the interviewer as an institutional elicitor of information not an individual engaged in interaction with another.

Turn allocation mechanisms • Turn-talking may be mediated: one participant determines the operation of speaker change. • Such turn-taking systems are found in – Meetings: the chair controls who speaks and when – Classrooms: the teacher determines who speaks and when. • The control of the interaction – allows the interaction to be a jointly attended production of a single sequence of talk; – allows for orderly speaker change.

• Turn allocation mechanisms: meetings In large, formal meetings a designated chair may control the turn- taking structure. • The ordering of speakers may be done by: – having possible next speakers bid for a next turn during the current turn. – having the chair declare the order of speakers.

Turn allocation mechanisms: classrooms • In large group work in classrooms, teachers control the turntaking structure. – By allocating turns – By selecting bidders for the floor

Turn allocation mechanisms: classrooms • In large group work in classrooms, teachers control the turntaking structure. – If the teacher does not select a next speaker, then the teacher normally continues to be the current speaker. – Students who wish to become the next speaker must bid for a turn.

Structure of institutional interactions • Structure is a feature of all interactions, but in institutional talk particular formats are found which relate to the institutional nature of the talk. • E. g. , in police interviews: – There are three main sections: • opening, • information gathering • and closing – Each of these parts of the interview orients to particular institutional needs.

Structure of institutional interactions • Opening police interviews: – Openings begin by collecting information about the suspect/witness

Structure of institutional interactions • Opening police interviews: – Openings move to the purpose of the interview. – This is followed by a statement of rights and confirmation of these.

Structure of institutional interactions • Opening police interviews: – The opening then moves to information gathering by detailing events of a crime.