Abstract
In this paper we offer a longitudinal Conversation Analysis of talk lasting 18 months between a father and son, which reveals changes in the child’s level of Interactional Competence (IC). We propose an index of developing IC based upon Sacks’ distinction between “invited” and “volunteered” stories. While stories have a “socialization function” we suggest stories may be tracked in terms of IC also. What has been called “today narrative” routines (“What did you do at school today”, etc.), initiated by the father, predominate in a series of conversations. The analysis reveals how the child is encouraged to take extended turns through the father’s questions and comments, which are developed into a storytelling sequence. We observe that the child’s responses to the initial inquiries become more elaborate over time. Furthermore, there is a gradual resistance to the invited story format because it inhibits how the child organizes his stories. Volunteered stories obtain a more personal ‘voice’. The paper showcases the nexus between socialization and interactional competence.
Funding source: Universidade de Macau
Award Identifier / Grant number: SRG2018-00135-FAH
Award Identifier / Grant number: MYRG2020-00068-FAH
About the authors
Younhee Kim received her PhD in Second Language Acquisition from University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and is currently an assistant professor at the University of Macau. Her research interests include Second Language Acquisition/Learning, Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis, interaction with and among children, and Teacher Education. She has published various book chapters and articles in journals such as Applied Linguistics, East Asian Pragmatics, Journal of Pragmatics, and Journal of Teacher Education.
Andrew P. Carlin received his PhD in Sociology from the University of Stirling and lectures at Ulster University. His research interests include the Social Organization of Scholarly Communication, Disciplinarity and Interdisciplinarity, Disciplinary contexts for Teaching, Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis, Sociology of Information, and conceptual analysis. He is co-editor of the book series Directions in Ethnomethodology & Conversation Analysis (Routledge) and co-editor of the International Handbook of Ethnomethodology (in press, Routledge).
Acknowledgment
We thank three anonymous reviewers and Srikant Sarangi for their engagement with our paper, and the families who agreed to participate in our project.
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Research funding: This study was funded by the University of Macau via grants SRG2018-00135-FAH and MYRG2020-00068-FAH.
. terminal contour: falling
, continuative contour: slight rise
: within talk, colons indicate prolongation
[ ] overlapping talk
= latching
(.) micropause (less than 0.2 s)
(2.0) length of pause in approximate seconds
> < words within angle brackets are delivered faster than surrounding talk
ye- truncated word
school emphasis on part of word
hhh audible breath
ye(hh)s within-speech aspiration, laughter
(yes) uncertain hearing, transcriber’s best guess
((sniff)) describing paralinguistic features of talk
⁞ within line numbering, colons indicate turns have been omitted
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