Blog
Summer Update
02/08/2024
After an incredibly rainy beginning of June, summer has finally arrived here in the UK. The last semester has been busy, in particular with conferences and presentations of all kinds...
I took part in the York Festival of Ideas, presenting to a general audience with some other PhD students in the Languages and Linguistics Department. For the event, Mind Your Language, we briefly presented ideas around our research and then had a question-and-answer session. It was great fun, and you can watch the event here.
I also made my way to Spain, to present at the European Association of Social Anthropologists conference. It was strange, being in a room full of anthropologists who mainly do ethnographic work, but I always like putting myself in rooms where I feel slightly out of place. One can always gain so much from going across the disciplines, and I got some great feedback on my research.
Finally, we've had our very own first York Conference on Conversation Analysis, which I was lucky to chair. It was a fantastic success and we're already looking ahead to our next conference!
Image: snippet from the YorCCA group photo.
29/03/2024
Today I'm looking ahead, rather than behind. What's coming up:
Wrapping up my first paper. That's right – it has now taken form, complete with a working title and promising potential. I'll be working on it in the background as I begin to develop...
The second study! This will be a quantitative, yet still CA-focused, comparative analysis of recruitment practices (specifically, how students solicit assistance) across online and face-to-face workshops. It's particularly exciting because I'm learning a lot about statistics, and that's definitely not my area of expertise.
As always, taking any and every opportunity for training. I'm currently enrolled in a PhD course titled Perspectives on Institutional Interaction, which will help me think more deeply about one of the main aims of my research: exploring institutionally through interaction.
In May, I'm off to Helsinki for the Technologized Seminar where I'll be discussing aspects of my comparative study on workshop settings. The exact focus is still under consideration – it’s very much a work in progress!
However, as it's Easter, I'll be taking the next few days to rest, eat chocolate and enjoy time with Buster, a dog we're currently fostering and hope to adopt.
Image by Uschi Leonhartsberger-Schrott from Pixabay
CA Day, Loughborough
05/01/2024
At the recent CA Day in Loughborough, I had the opportunity to present a digital poster, a format I hadn't tried before. Rather than sticking to a traditional poster, I opted for a mini-presentation style. This involved creating a video with pre-set transitions, requiring careful timing between my speech and the visuals.
My presentation focused on a phenomenon observed in my data: instructors responding to student troubles without being addressed by the students. I argue that this phenomenon, central to my PhD research, is part of the institutional fingerprint of these crafting classrooms.
However, the presentation hit a snag when a video clip played without sound, disrupting the flow and catching me off-guard.
Presenting has always been a nerve-wracking experience for me, and this occasion was no exception. I managed to continue with the presentation eventually, but I did have to cut quite a few things out. However, the feedback from the audience was generally positive, which was reassuring. Looking back, I wish I had engaged more with the audience afterwards to gain more detailed feedback and insights.
This experience taught me a lot about being prepared and the importance of adaptability in the face of technical issues. It's made me cautious about formats where I can't control the pacing, something I'll be mindful of in future presentations.
Reflections on the PhD journey so far
01/11/2023
Embarking on a PhD means lifestyle changes. Gone are the days of clocking out mentally at 5 p.m. Instead, the boundaries between work and life can blur, and it becomes a constant tug-of-war for balance. Being deep into the PhD journey, there’s a mix of excitement and self-imposed pressure. The seeming expectation to produce something groundbreaking can weigh heavily, even though it's not a requirement for impactful research. Truth is, most research contributes incrementally, not revolutionarily, to its field. This is both a grounding and liberating realisation. It lets us focus on the quality of the work, rather than some imagined earth-shattering impact. The PhD is a marathon, not a sprint. Pacing is essential. I need to remind myself to not let the weight of self-imposed expectations derail or slow me down.
Photo by Beth Macdonald
Let's talk addressing
31/07/2023
What does it mean to address somebody? Addressing (at least in conversation analysis) means to direct a turn-at-talk (i.e., some speech) to another participant. When someone is addressed, that means they have rights and obligations to respond to turns. So that's what the focus of my current research is all about.
In the realm of conversation analysis, addressing refers to directing a segment of speech, or a turn-at-talk, to another participant. I've been studying this phenomenon in the context of classrooms, particularly focusing on how instructors manage turns that aren't specifically or clearly directed at them.
There's a gap in research when it comes to addressing in institutional settings like classrooms. Most recent studies have focused on regular conversations, while older studies have described formal turn-taking in traditional classrooms. My research focuses on a relaxed environment where rules of who has rights to speak are more relaxed.
The roles of the instructor and students are pivotal in these interactions. I'm examining the strategies they both use when the interaction of conversation becomes complex, for example when more than one student requires assistance, or when turns are ambiguously addressed.
In lighter news, it's holiday time! Aside from the well-deserved relaxation, it's also an opportunity for informal data sessions with peers. This keeps the spark of conversation analysis alive, and allows us to share and discuss our findings.
We have a phenomenon!
06/07/2023
I've been immersed in the data over the last couple of months, and have stumbled upon a common but non-yet-described practice: instructors responding to a turn not addressed to them. This sparked a pertinent question: how do we know when a turn isn't being addressed to the instructor? This has led me to a dual exploration of addressing practices and the strategies that instructors employ to respond to turns that aren't addressed to them.
One of my recent accomplishments was presenting my findings at the EMCA Doctoral Network. Despite the nerves, the talk was a success, and I received lots of great feedback from colleagues. A reminder to myself for future presentations: avoid rushing through my speech!
As I gear up for my progression meeting marking the start of Year 3 of my PhD, I look back at an exciting year, which included winning third place at the PhD Spotlight competition for presenting my research (see picture).
It's been an enthralling journey into the intricacies of interaction, sometimes fraught with complexity, but I'm nonetheless eager to continue exploring. Stay tuned!
Research update
24/11/2022 As promised
Last week I ran out of space to share a proper update on my research, so here goes.
I finished data collection last week, so I am now no longer actively looking for participants (but if more come along, I might consider it). With a total of 48 h 20 min, I think this should suffice, however. It is an interesting question of "how much data is enough"; be it for a PhD project or otherwise. My instinct is that the more data, the better. On the other hand, too much data is definitely overwhelming so I'm happy to be where I am! Even as I type that last sentence I am still anxious that it isn't sufficient - surely I could've done something to get more data?
Anyway, beyond my constant wondering if I could've done better, I have also been analysing some extracts, and here's what (roughly) my phenomenon looks like:
The instructor is helping a student (either assisting with a craft-related problem or general advice-giving);
Something occasions the instructor to put on hold one helping sequence in favour of another (for example, being summoned directly);
The instructor may or may not then return to the first student.
So - what's the point? Well, this research could help show how instructors manage classroom interactions when they have multiple demands on their attention. There are also a lot of interesting things going on in the data, especially around the role of the instructor, which can be seen in the ways that the instructor and students orient to trouble alerts.
Photo by LubosHouska on Pixaba: An homage to my pottery studio data.
Term comes and goes
17/11/2022 You blink and it's gone
All of a sudden, I find myself in November and it's probably due to the extremely busy term I've just had! Now that term is winding down, I feel I can start to breathe again. Two more weeks before I can focus more exclusively on my research.
So, what have I been up to?
First, lots of training. I went to Denmark for the EMCA Bootcamp, where I met some fantastic people, learnt a lot about case analysis and got some first feedback on my data. I also attended the virtual Digital Meeting for Conversation Analysis, the first in what I hope will be many. Being virtual (and affordable!) meant the conference was accessible to many.
Second, lots of data sessions. As well as organising the Interactional Linguistics Lab Data Sessions at York, I've attended data sessions virtually at Loughborough (DARG) and Southampton (CADSS), and joined a new Technologized Data Session group. Data sessions (I think I mentioned before?) are some of my favourite parts of doing Conversation Analysis. You get to look at data together and discuss your ideas, making it a really collaborative environment.
Teaching. Currently teaching Understanding English Grammar, a first-year module in my department. Alongside this, I'm also undertaking the York Learning and Teaching Award (YLTA), which, upon completion, will give me Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy status. A bit of a mouthful, but in short, the YLTA is helping me reflect on my teaching and (hopefully) become a better teacher.
Reading! Super important for any researcher. I have to admit that I'm not as good as I should be with my reading. To help with this, I've set up a "Classic CA" reading group. We meet every three weeks or so and discuss a classic piece in the literature.
Finally... but definitely not the least important, it's research. Things have moved on from the ideas a couple of months ago and now I'm looking at how providers manage multiple demands on their attention. It's not fully a departure from before, maybe more of a development.
What's next?
CA day in Loughborough (attending).
Continuing with developing my research ideas (and I'll post more about this in the coming weeks).
Thinking about presenting a poster / talk at a conference. This is quite scary at the moment so I'll definitely be seeking support... keep you posted.
As summer winds down...
13/09/2022 Data collection and phenomena
As August has progressed, I have continued recordings of both in-person and online workshops. I now have a fantastic 23 hours, and I hope to have another 23 hours by the end of November. I'm now in a lucky position that I no longer need to recruit more participants, but as online workshops are shorter than in-person ones, I'm still doing a bit of scouting for those. While 23 hours is more than enough for a PhD project, the more data I collect, the more robust my findings will be.
I'm now starting to narrow down to some possible phenomena to focus on:
The moment that workshop providers (or even other students) walk away or disengage after an instructional moment.
The workshop provider gazing and holding at a student as they evaluate whether to interject.
The workshop provider being intersected by a student, while on their way to helping another student.
A showing that is prompted by a question (but not a request for a showing).
The art of tea-making.
OK, that last one is a bit of a joke. But in a lot of my recordings, there is tea being made. It seems like such a British thing, maybe I should start a collection for my own amusement.
Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash
A summer of getting things done
09/08/2022 Three recordings and counting
Over the last couple of months, I've been doing a lot of legwork, travelling to lots of workshop spaces in the North of England. All that travelling can get a bit exhausting, but I've been really enjoying speaking to and working with lots of artists who have been really positive about the research.
I've now done three in-person recordings (two pottery studio recordings and one embroidery class), and it has been a learning curve! The recording devices do not have a good enough battery life, so I've been having to make do with space batteries and power banks. Then there's the struggle of multiple cameras. To record these spaces, I'm using between two and four cameras, so I've had to learn to sync up multiple recordings and be able to show them concurrently. I've still got a ways to go, but I am getting better!
I've been speaking to providers who make bath bombs, who do embroidery, dyeing, jewellery-making, and even a local blacksmith. Fingers crossed!
I've also been collecting little momentoes as I do my recordings, for example, this fantastic ceramics-inspired recipe book!
A week with a little bit of everything.
21/05/2022 Up and Away
Today was a surprisingly productive day. Got a start on marking, so it's now not too daunting a task, and I played through the other piece of data I have, Watercolour Bridge. I'll keep it short as I want to head out to the garden to help my partner with the weeding and the patio re-laying. He has been a saint working on it all by himself today.
20/05/2022 It's Friday!
I did it! I made it to Friday. Somehow this week it feels like a feat. Today there isn't much to report. Fridays are a bit tricky because they're taken up by a 4-hour chunk in the middle of PT (non-uni) work. Working pretty much two jobs is probably the reason I'm so exhausted all the time, though.
Anyway, today I finally got through all my Lucky Frogs data, extracting clips. It's my second watch-through, but I'm sure there'll be many more. It definitely feels like a win. My usual Friday afternoon is spent watching one of the Schegloff lectures. Once I'm done with his course, I'm not sure what I'll do. I struggle with creating new routines.
I'm also getting mentally prepared for marking next week. I was going to get started today, but other things took precedence. I do find marking both tricky and draining. On the one hand, I know this is a skill I'm still learning, but on the other hand, I also know that I strongly feel the pressure to do right by every student.
19/05/2022 Today was a good day
Part of what I love about my research is that it's on a topic that I absolutely love. Being able to work with artists who are also educators makes me one of the luckiest people around, I think. So even in the weeks where there are some significant lows (mainly due to self-imposed stress), there are moments of respite when I get to do something I love.
Today I was very lucky to attend a watercolour workshop by a wonderful local artist and to connect on a human level with people outside my degree. What a wonderful way to spend a Thursday morning. The outcome is at the end of this week's post.
I then had our weekly departmental data session. We've been working through Virginia, which is a very classical piece of CA data, collected in the 70s (I think?), and which is used a lot for teaching. While the audio and video quality are extremely poor compared to today's standard, it's amazing how much can be discovered by going through data in a very systematic way. Even academics who have been teaching for years have been surprised about the new things they can discover from rewatches.
Reading take-home message: saying you understand something isn't the same thing as understanding. And actually, we can be quite good at telling when someone actually doesn't understand, even when they're seemingly saying the right things (Hindmarsh, Reynolds and Dunne 2011).
17/05/2022 A little bit of everything all of the time
Today has definitely felt very reminiscent of the Bo Burnham song 'Welcome to the Internet' from Inside. Except that it's not so much the Internet that has pulled me in all sorts of directions, but rather the demands of a PhD.
Today was the second day of the HCI course. I really enjoyed today's session because we got to work with real data and discuss them with other researchers, which is one of my favourite aspects of CA. Not everyone in the session was a conversation analyst, so it was great to get perspectives from people outside the field too!
Then, I had an interview for YorJourney, which runs a short course for Year 13 students who hold a York offer, to introduce them to University work. The role would be either running a seminar around a specific topic and/or mentoring students as they produce an essay. Very much up my street, in terms of teaching and mentoring.
In the afternoon, I've been reading an analysis a colleague has written on news interviews (see entry for 13/05/2022). I'm using the present perfect continuous tense because I'm *not* a fast reader, so it's taken longer than I'd hoped. I do want to give good feedback though, so I think it's going to take as long as it needs to take.
But in all this, I have unfortunately underprepared for my supervision meeting tomorrow. I quickly shot an email to my supervisors with the (less than sufficient) work I've done since our last meeting. A caveat on "sufficiency" of work though: I always feel like I haven't done enough, but often they think I have, so it may be my anxiety taking the reigns on this.
As you've probably noted, I haven't done much reading this week yet. I do most of my reading first thing in the morning when my mind's the sharpest. So, with the HCI course, I haven't read new papers these past couple of days, but I will get right back on it soon.
16/05/2022 We're surrounded by technology...
Part of the reason I love Conversation Analysis is because it can look at all aspects of interaction, which means that it can be applied to all sorts of fields. Today was spent attending an online course about Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), organised by the University of Liverpool and run by Stuart Reeves. Understanding HCI is something which not only is very relevant to my research right now, but which I also consider to be key for any future research. After all, we're never too far away from our phones, smartwatches or home devices. The afternoon was spent transcribing an interaction which was great for stretching the transcription muscles but also tricky as I'm definitely out of practice! (And all this in the day that the paper about GailBot is released...).
Let's try this blogging thing, properly.
13/05/2022 A Paper a Day Keeps the Cobwebs Away
Today I travelled to the University (it's quite a commute for me so I try and go in no more than three times a week), to attend a GTA (Graduate Teaching Assistant) presentation for applications in the Sociology Department. The wonderful thing about my degree is that I am both in the Linguistics and the Sociology Departments, which allows me to take advantage of the opportunities in both departments. I was also able to catch up with a colleague and we had a very interesting discussion about alluding-to in news interviews.
As always, I read a paper (after all, a paper a day keeps the cobwebs away), and looked through some of my data. It's taking a bit longer than I'd hoped to go through the Lucky Frogs data, but I am getting a lot of interesting clips out of it. The paper I read (Keevalik 2018) argued that we should consider embodied action as part of the grammar system, as it is possible (for example) to complete a turn with an embodied action. This is something I've believed in for quite a while, and it's great to see other researchers investigating this very matter.
Reading key take-home message: We shouldn't underestimate the communicative power of embodied action, especially in turn construction and sequence organization.
12/05/2022 Professional Vision
Today was a very exciting day because I presented Kobin Kendrick at the CASLC talk he gave on new findings on the interplay between gaze direction, gesture and turn transition, using data collected in a very innovative way: in a lab and using eye-tracking glasses. While it was quite nerve-wracking (as the talk was very well attended), it was great to be able to support him in this way.
Today I'm also going through my Lucky Frogs data and collecting all sorts of interesting phenomena. My favourite thing at the moment is finding instances where the provider works to have a shared professional vision with the learners, through hand gestures, use of a pen and paper diagram and straightforward showing sequences.
Reading key take-home message: Professional vision is developed from years of experience, and an instructor needs to communicate a particular 'way of seeing' to novices in order to correct mistakes (e.g., Evans and Reynolds 2016) or even just to achieve intersubjectivity (e.g., Svensson, Luff and Heath 2009). It's exciting that I'm seeing similar phenomena in my own data.
28/03/2022
Data collection has begun on the project and I'm very excited. I have been meeting with lots of wonderful artists and workshop providers who have kindly given up their time to talk with me, and have been extremely positive about the project. I am looking forward to working with them and to begin gathering insights into the language and gestures used in online interactions.
I've also submitted an ethics amendment for the project, so I'll be able to record in-person workshops too. This will widen the scope of my study to make it more reflective of what is happening in the world of workshops.