ASI Assignment ideas

Assignment ideas | Mary Lynn Hughes | May 24th, 2000

[Note: This is an off-list discussion posted with permission]

Dear John and Simon,

I gather (from messages to the MSc email group earlier this month) that you're both working on IIC. So am I, and feeling a bit isolated. Wonder if we could try exchanging info/ideas as we go along? I know it's often difficult if people are working on quite different topics, so this is just an exploratory 'hello'.

This is where I'm at with the module. I've decided to do my project on non-verbal communication, using as my data two videotaped episodes (broadcasts?) of the TV interview show 'Parkinson' (UK). It's quite fascinating, hope I can make sense of it! Now I'm trying to do some reading to find out what's been said in the general field. Haven't got too far into that yet, but (like everything in IIC?) it seems to be very specialised, focusing on one element, eg gesture, gaze direction, etc. I will of course have to transcribe parts of what I have on video, but am avoiding that task for the moment! As for the module itself, I'm following my usual boring linear path and have just finished reading Unit 4.

Any comments? What are you doing, or have you decided yet?

John, thanks for your website ref for the McElhearn dissertation ('Writing Conversation') that you mentioned vis-a-vis email discussion groups. I've just read it and found it really interesting. Esp the bit on silence that you mentioned. (Now I know why noone responded to my occasional forays onto the list - not relevant!- Hope that won't be the case here, as I stick my neck out once again.)

Hoping to hear from you,

Mary Lynn
Ireland

Re: Assignment ideas | John |May 25th, 2000

Hi Mary Lynn,

Thanks for the message. The non-verbal communication topic sounds fascinating especially with Parkinson. Recently I saw an old clip of when the emu attacked him! For me to say that I'm doing IIC is a bit of an exaggeration as I haven't actually got the files in front of me. However, I have been doing some reading from the list, sociolinguistics mainly and some things about turn taking. I've also tried taping some conversations, specifically between me and two other members of staff so I think I'll go for a subject related to interaction in the staff room. From looking at the study companion this seems to figure in the module. Perhaps you could confirm that for me! Yes, I enjoyed reading the McElhearn dissertation. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself though, thinking that if people don't reply then they don't find your comments relevant. I noticed that Tom Bloor's detailed analysis of the minority English question was followed by complete silence.

By for now,

John

Re: Assignment ideas | Simon | May 26th, 2000

Dear Mary,

John mentioned to me that there are at least two others in Greece starting the IIC soon, so yes, let's make a little list in our address books and circulate messages.

I've just finished Unit 1, but I'm pretty sure of my assignment topic- although it doesn't seem very specific compared to what's in the module and the example assignments Keith described, all of which seem to in some way 'check' the language that ES/FL materials teach and claim to be the target language learners will need. I think you know what my topic is from messages I've posted. My inspiration is Jennifer Jenkins and a few others who are looking more specifically at pronunciation among non-native speakers.

Transcribing non-verbal language will be an interesting challenge for you!

I've told Keith that the module is very dense- small font - but he reassured me that I was right not to get bogged down. Just select what interests you.

Like you, I'm reading in a linear fashion, until I get to the section (Unit 5).

Regards,

Simon

Re: Assignment ideas | Mary Lynn | May 26th, 2000

Dear John & Simon,

First of all, below are your individual responses to my introductory message, so you both know what's been said so far (just ignore your own message).

I've now made a 'group' in my address book. If you agree, could we post all future messages to the group? That way we're free to respond (or not) according to what's relevant/interesting to us and, in the first instance, whatever we post about our work, ideas, etc will be available to all. (If there are any 'off topic' messages, they could be sent privately to individuals, e.g. Simon, I want to ask you about your book on writing- just broke my own rule! But not meant as a 'rule', more a practical guideline?).

In response to your messages, although we each have quite a different focus (very broadly staffroom interaction, NNS interaction and non-verbal communication), I think we might find some common ground. In any case, we'll all have to deal with the basic 'units' of interaction (turns and all that) and issues/problems in transcription, for example. Where we might diverge substantially is in which research 'approach' or 'tradition' (Unit 2) we decide to follow, resulting in different methods, emphases, etc. Although my initial reaction to Keith's 'belief' that we ought to work within a particular research paradigm, tradition, etc (Unit 2, p9) was 'Why limit oneself in this way?', I now see that my analysis is going to fall within Conversation Analysis and that that seems to best fit the needs of my research (at least I think so!). This approach will be quite different to, say, someone working in Ethnography of Communication. Any comments?

Also, for me, both of your topics are interesting and I'd like to know more about them.

I know this is a long message!- I don't want participation in this discussion to add to my already considerable time management problems, but I'm prepared to make an investment in it, in the hope that it will pay off in terms of valuable input and also help ease the sense of isolation. (I'd like to respond in more detail to both of your topics, but enough is enough, no?).

Cheers,

Mary Lynn

Re: Assignment ideas | Simon | May 29th, 2000

Hi Mary and John,

Thanks for your last message, Mary. As you can see, I've made an IIC list in my address book (you're the only members, presently). I haven't used this function in Outlook Express before - it works well. I agree with you totally, Mary about keeping messages to the point. Hence: I'm about to start Unit 2, but from my reading of Schriffin's overview (pp 6-13), I think I'll be using the pragmatics approach for my analysis. I just attended an MSc workshop in Tokyo on IIC and CSD with Sue Garton. She is strong in the IIC area and made it very clear that we don't have to stick to one approach and that, indeed, it is more likely we'll use a "natural inquiry", or mixed approach. She suggested that studies where only one approach is appropriate are very long, lasting a year or more. You could even use your own approach so long as it is well informed and explained.

Finally, shall we 'advertise' our group on the main MSc list for others doing IIC?

Regards,

Simon

Re: Assignment ideas | Mary Lynn | June 9th, 2000

Hello again.

Only got my computer back today after a week away being repaired. Hate computers sometimes!

Thanks for yours, Simon. What you reported about using a mixed/natural approach was reassuring. I just did a quick re-read of the pages you mentioned in Schiffrin and see that there's lots of overlap. The Gricean maxims she relates to Pragmatics are also evident in the CA approach, eg how participants co-operate in maintaining relevance and social cohesion. A lot of the reading I've been doing on the non-verbal emphasizes things like the way non-verbal cues allow participants to anticipate and prepare for smooth transitions of speaker, topic, etc. Goodwin has a whole oeuvre on gaze and the ways the speaker obtains recipient gaze/attention, including deliberate hesitations, re-phrasings, self-corrections, etc. Struck me this might have something to say about learners and their desire for unnaturally - and dysfunctionally - perfect speech. (For fun, I tried not to look at a friend during his turn the other day and found it impossible.) If anyone's interested in a 'quick dip' into non-verbal stuff, I strongly recommend Kendon, A 1993, The negotiation of context in face-to-face interaction, in Duranti & Goodwin (Eds) 'Rethinking Context', pp323-334, CUP - a wonderfully clear account of how spatial and postural behaviors that are not 'officially' attended to are essential to successful interaction.

My main problem is trying to decide what type(s) of non-verbal behaviour or particular categories of interaction to focus on (apart from the fact that transcribing ALL the non-verbal elements would be impossible). And why it's a justifiable and relevant (esp pedagogically) area of investigation. I've roughly worked through my two videos making notes of things I've noticed (weird stuff like one participant consistently 'marking' the beginning and end of a story and each segment within it by touching his nose/mouth/eyebrow), but don't seem to be any further ahead in knowing precisely what to do and why. Awaiting inspiration doesn't seem to be working! I've just read Units 5 & 6 on methodology, but think I'll leave the module aside and work on my project now. I want to submit my assignment for July 15th, which seems more and more unlikely. (In case you think I'm whizzing along, I've had the module open on my desk since January!).

So, how are ye all getting along? Any postings from the battlefield? John, I couldn't tell from your earlier comment whether you had the module yet or not, but it's Unit 8 that deals with staffroom interaction. Have you got any volunteers for recordings from your appeal, Simon?

About advertising our group on the main list, that's OK with me. If we're going to, I think we should do it soon and 'serious applicants only need apply', ie people who're actually working on IIC.

However, I'm not volunteering to write the invitation!

Well, that's my tuppence worth. Hope things are gliding along smoothly in your respective spheres of interaction.

Best,

Mary Lynn

Re: Assignment ideas | Simon | July 1st, 2000

Hi Mary,

Thanks for the note. I put in my IIC assignment outline yesterday. I've got lots more to do, though, before the deadline this month.

Regards,

Simon

Re: Assignment ideas | Mary Lynn | July 1st, 2000

Thanks for your note Simon.

Ah, so you're in assignment mode now. I take it you got your telephone data then?- How are you analysing it?

I finally decided to focus on conversational storytelling, which my data (TV talk show) largely consists of. How stories are cued, negotiated, performed, evaluated, etc. Am now working on detailed transcription. Finding a reasonably concise way to represent the NV and identifying its exact relation to speech is quite difficult. So far, it's taken me about 8 hours to transcribe around one minute of interaction! Obviously I'm going to have to go for a cruder level of analysis, or I'll never finish. It's really brought home to me how much decision-making is involved in transcription.

Our topics seem miles apart in terms of what we're looking at, so all I can probably do is wish you luck. (The absence of visually available NV in telephone calls is rather interesting - whether speakers compensate for it with more verbal clarification and what problems might this throw up for NNS, etc. Recently, I was amused to see a young man talking on the public phone in a restaurant and gesturing animatedly the whole time).

Anyway, on with it!

Best,

Mary Lynn

Re: Assignment ideas | John | July 2nd, 2000

Dear fellow IIC participants!

Sorry I've been out of the game for the last month and haven't been in touch. Believe it or not I'm still waiting for the files to come through the post, but I have been busy with Aston related work. There was a Steve Mann led workshop in Athens last week, in which we discussed, among other things, transcription techniques. At the same time I've read enough photocopies from the module to know that I will be concentrating on the area known as "face-work" as described by Goffman. As usual what might seem like one small area actually crosses over into many fields, but the data I will use is taken from staffroom interaction and looks at the strategies employed to maintain the face of self and other.

Speak to you soon,

John

Re: Assignment ideas | Mary Lynn | July 2nd, 2000

Thanks for your update, John. What a drag about the postal delay, must be frustrating.

Don't know if what you've already seen of the module includes this, but in the Unit 8 appendices there's a transcription of staffroom interaction called 'Dealing with Criticism' that relates to the issue of face- in this case, seemingly that of the whole school in the person of head teacher 'Jenny'- and how criticism is forestalled BEFORE IT'S OVERTLY EXPRESSED by being deflected onto another target or targets. The interaction (about a student who may not have been satisfied with the course he got) is one that's familiar to me, and I presume to most teachers in private schools. When you've done all you can with student X and still haven't achieved a satisfactory solution, labeling him/her 'difficult' is one way of effecting closure on the situation. And it's probably a reasonable solution, pragmatically, unless one wants to research 'what happened'.

Which Goffman book are you reading? I'm slowly working my way through 'Frame Analysis' as recreational (!) reading in between bouts of transcription, etc.

Best,

Mary Lynn

Re: Assignment ideas | Simon| July 10th, 2000

Hi Mary,

Thanks for you note. Yes I'm into the assignment but I didn't get telephone transcriptions. I've had to settle (life is all about lowering your expectations, I'm been finding out recently) for some live interactions that might not show as much as I would like, but better than nothing. Anyway, it's all supposed to be a learning experience, isn't it?

Regards,

Simon

Re: Assignment ideas | John | July 15th, 2000

Mary Lynn and Simon,

My diary shows the 15th July and I think to myself, " Have my fellow IIC participants submitted for the deadline?" , if so good luck, I'm looking at October now, although I think the marking is quite flexible and assignments will be marked at points in between. I'm sorry I haven't been as supportive as I might have been with IIC. I haven't been concentrating 100% on the assignment, as this is a very busy time of the year for me.

As I mentioned before I'll be looking at the question of "face", especially as it relates to the concept of Politeness (Brown and Levinson). Yes Mary the section you mentioned from the module is very relevant. The data I have though, of 3 teachers talking quite casually, features more small-scale face saving and threatening moves. It makes you feel quite worn out when you realize all the work we're doing behind the scenes to keep the simplest of conversations going!

Good luck, good reading!

John

Re: Assignment ideas | Mary Lynn | July 15th, 2000

Dear John & Simon,

Thanks for yours John. 'Fraid I'm still burning the midnight (and pre- and post-midnight) oil, trying to finish my assignment. Maybe by the end of next week, with a bit of luck. One thing for sure, I'm never gonna transcribe NV again! What a nightmare.

Loved your taxi anecdote! Of course, you're in a heat wave at the moment. Like your Arabs, my Italian & Spanish students are going around Dublin in heavy jumpers and even down jackets this week, sniffling with head colds, in shock at our 'summer' weather (14-20 degrees). Everything is relative.

Best of luck with your work.

Cheers,

Mary Lynn

Re: Assignment ideas | Simon | July 16th, 2000

Hi IIC compatriots and John,

Yes, I have almost finished my assignment and am putting it in for the deadline, albeit a little late thanks to a bit of flexibility from Keith. It's my first assignment and a bit rushed, I must admit, without the data I would have liked, but I after all I am on a learning curve and I want to meet the two-year deadline. We haven't collaborated much, have we? But the anecdote you put on the discussion list was very interesting, John, and I expect that with very different focuses it was to be expected. One impression I have of the module is that the "approaches" are so numerous and ill defined that it is difficult to make use of them. I read Schifrin's very good summary of them all, only to find out that there were more later in the module that were not mentioned by her! What is your impression? Can you make sense of all these 'approaches'?

Regards,

Simon

 

Archive Categories