Conversation analysis

Conversation Analysis (CA) originated within sociology as an alternative way to understand social action. New, more accessible recording technologies of the 1960s, alongside fine-grained transcription of these recordings, allowed attention to the social order as it unfolded, sequentially, in interactions. Studies showed that mundane talk was actually a complex ongoing system that could be analysed by speaker turns. The patterning of phenomena such as pauses provided insights into interactants’ deep understanding of social organisation, attunement to others and the hidden orderliness of conversation. Studies of naturally occurring institutional talk have allowed comparisons to conversation, to understand talk in a range of contexts. Recently, CA has been more widely applied in research to provide a disciplined approach to understanding participants’ viewpoints within interactions, as directly evidenced in transcriptions. Its methods offer rich insights into facets of education for those interested in issues of how actions and practices are achieved in interactions.