Browsing by Subject "conversation analysis"

Aims. The purpose of this study was to show in what ways a school task is carried out in interaction. The task in question was giving a presentation in an upper secondary school Finnish lesson on an elective topic. The theoretical framework used was learning as changes in participation. Previous research has tracked various changes in participation longitudinally, i.e. across several conversations. In such studies, learning is indicated by changes in repair type, in use of learning objects, and in epistemic stance and topicalization of epistemic stance. Although these by themselves cannot be considered evidence of learning, they show what kind of contingent practices of understanding are used to accomplish the task. This is known as doing learning. Previous research has often focused on second language learning, but rarely on first language learning. Neither has the accomplishment of one task across several days been much researched. For these reasons, the accomplishment of one school task longitudinally in the context of first language learning was chosen as the focus of the current study. The research question is: How is a school task accomplished in interaction? Methods. The data were a set of videos originally recorded for the Språkmöten project. One sixth-form student is followed by a video camera for three days during both classes and recess. From the videos, I chose the parts in which the presentation for the Finnish lesson is discussed. I analyzed them using conversation analysis. Results and conclusions. I demonstrated empirically how the different phases of the presentation task fit together. I showed that doing the task involves a lot of intertwined telling and negotiation. "Doing learning" could be seen in the explicit, longitudinal orientation towards change: in this way, the presentation task was taken forward and accomplished. The data showed how the understanding of the presentation task developed. They also showed how the requirements of the school on the one hand, and the students' own ideas on the other, were integrated into the process. The showing of affect (i.e. emotions) was demonstrated to be part of "doing learning". The results help us to understand learning outside the classroom and school enjoyment. In further studies, the same methods may be applied to explore tasks in interaction in other contexts, e.g. universities and workplaces.

This study focuses on code-switching in a Dungeons and Dragons tabletop role-playing group. The study focuses on the reasons for code-switching, how code-switching is used as a resource in tabletop role-playing games as well as the participants’ perceived attitudes towards it. The position of English as a lingua franca has changed during past decades and the language has grown to be much more than a traditional lingua franca. In addition to being spoken between non-native speakers of English who do not share a language, it is also used in interactions between non-native speakers who share a native tongue. One of the contexts where this happens is tabletop role-playing games. The tabletop role-playing community has seen a large growth in members during recent years and the popularity of the hobby is continuously on the rise. The gaming community is widely international, and a lot of content is only available in English. This research discusses the code-switching habits of a six-person role-playing group where all the participants’ native language is Finnish. The groups language of play is English. This study is an ethnographic qualitative study that uses four different data collection methods: audio recordings, observation and fieldnotes, interviews and a questionnaire. The materials for the study are 10.5 hours of audio recordings (6.5h + 3.5h), fieldnotes, a four-question structured interview, and an online language background questionnaire. The audio data was analysed using applied conversation analysis and Goffman’s participant framework while the interviews were analysed using applied thematic analysis. During the analysis of the audio the data was divided into four sub-sections: word searches, cultural references, asymmetry of knowledge, and out of game talk. The findings show that code-switching was used in a multitude of situations and for a variety of reasons. The most prominent ones being word search and shifting the participant framework. In cases of word search, code-switching was utilised to sustain the flow of the narrative as well as to maintain immersion in the world of the game. In cases where code-switching was used to shift the participant framework, it broke the immersion and signalled that the conversation was no longer happening inside the game world. Code-switching and shifting the participant framework made the conversation move to the foreground and take over the existing mainline. In this context, code-switching was also used as a tool of authority. In addition, in the data code-switching was used as a tool of emphasis and creativity. Different cases of code-switching pointed towards English being the language of the world of fantasy while Finnish was the language of the outside world. It was also found that code-switching was always accompanied by a change in style, tempo or volume. To get more in-depth knowledge about the indexes of code-switching in the contexts of tabletop role-playing games, further study is needed.

This master’s thesis focuses on any potential differences in how people with a high number of narcissistic personality traits present themselves and their self-image by using conversation analytic methods and utilizing Goffman’s theory on facework. Narcissistic personality traits are considered in this thesis as potentially atypical in interactional practices. The concept of face is used in demonstrating the public self-image that people create in social interaction. Every interaction is a possibility to work against the threats to the face by conducting facework. The research suggests that persons with a high number of narcissistic personality traits seem to be particularly sensitive to the presentation of self in social interaction. According to studies, narcissism appears to differ in social interaction from ordinary facework in the utilization of recognition. Conversation analysis qualitatively analyzes social interaction. The focus is on rules, patterns, and sequential actions. Conversation analysis is considered a technical method, however focusing on a very detailed level to the intersubjective meaning of the actions in the specific interaction. The research question is, how are the differences in the facework of narcissistic and non-narcissistic personalities characterized in face-to-face interaction? The empirical research in this thesis is based on research project called Facing Narcissism which explores narcissistic personality features in face-to-face social interaction. The data was collected from conversations between persons with a high number of narcissistic personality traits and persons with a low number of narcissistic personality traits. The data was analyzed by using conversation analytical methods. According to the research, narcissistic personalities might not benefit from the facework provided by the respondent and might be unable to benefit from the reciprocal facework. The empirical study of the thesis shows possible atypical facework by reversing the valence of the story. The extracts analyzed in the empirical research present that the persons with a high number of narcissistic personality traits might present themselves in a favorable light throughout the story by using the reverse of the valence in the story and self-sufficient face-saving actions. The discussion shows that more research is needed on the relationship between personality traits and interactional processes.