The relation
between conversation and practical activity
in educational and work settings
Annalisa Sannino
University of Salerno, Italy
16º InPLA - Intercâmbio de Pesquisas em Lingüística Aplicada
Minicourse 2nd-5th of May 2007, São Paulo
1
Research aim
Facilitating and empowering efforts in
individuals and collectives through an in-dept
understanding of the relation between
conversation and activity
2
Hypotheses
Conversations leading to material and durable
changes in activities
Potential uses of discourse as an emancipatory
resource
3
Empirical studies
Two traditional discursive analytical studies
One analysis of conversations in DWR interventions
Two methodological inquiries on autobiographical
ethnography of conversations
4
Study 1
Conversations
and processes of learning a trade
within alternance vocational training
5
Objective
To introduce a methodology in order to identify
knowledge and processes of learning a trade that
emerge from on-the-job conversations between
master craftsmen and apprentices
6
The context
Two years training period
Apprentices acquire knowledge and know-how relevant
to the chosen profession and develop social skills to face
concrete work situations
The professional training domain examined here:
insulation of the outer walls of a structure
7
Data collection
Unsolicited conversations for avoiding distortion of the
naturally occurring interactions
Selected pairs that had recently begun working together
and couldn’t interact yet according to an implicit mutual
knowledge
Participants wore tape-recorders during two days of work
Reconstructions of the dialogues by combining the
recordings of the master craftsman and the apprentice
8
The analytical approach
Interlocutionary logic (IL)
concept of speech act
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Characteristics of the speech acts
Illocutionary force (F): the pragmatic function of an
utterance (representative, directive, commissive,
expressive, and declarative)
Propositional content (p): the representation on which a
given force is applied
10
Among the properties of the speech acts:
Preparatory conditions: what is presupposed or
assumed to be true by the speaker who performs
the act
11
Satisfaction and success of speech acts
A speech act is …
…satisfied if its p is true in the context of the utterance,
and because of this utterance
…successful if the speaker manages to get the listener to
understand which act s/he is performing
12
Four organization levels of the interlocutions
Interventions: complex speech acts
Exchange: two or more interventions
Structure: interventions and exchanges
Transactions: interventions and structures
13
Characteristics of the exchange:
Linear and hierarchical linking between
interventions
Linear linking: components are sequential and
belong to the same speech level
Hierarchical linking: components are bound
by interdependent relations
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Table of Interlocutionary Analysis - Excerpt 1
Structures
Sequential
I C1 The roughcast
shouldn't be tackled
laterally
E
I
A2 (pneum atic drill).
I
C3 That's the way you
do it, that's mu ch bet ter
Conversational
Illocutionary
Cognitive
Directive
(Request for correction)
(p)
To tackle the roughcast
laterally
(Action)
Expressive and positiv e
evaluation of the action in
progress
(p)
To tackle the roughcast
laterally
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Table of Interlocutionary Analysis - Excerpt 2
Structures
Sequential
Conversational
Illocutionary
Cognitive
C
C1 You’re devi ating
I
Evaluation of th e action und er
way
Implicit directive
A2 The d rill is too h eavy
Answer
ExplicationJustification of the action
C3 Did you go out l ast
night ?
Request for confirmation of an
implicit hypoth esis
A4 I d idn't s leep much
Answer
deviation
Too heavy
weight 
deviation of the
drill
I
E
.
.
E
C5 Ah it's better not t o
party when you hav e
to remove the roughcast the
next day
Assertion of a principle
Implicit directive
A
party
fatigue
deviation
party
Āsleep
fatigue
deviation
work
Ā party
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A1Ź: Like this.
Excerpt 3
C2Ź: Pull a little toward you (É ).
A3Ź: Yeah, ye ah.
The point is that you donÕt use the tool enough (É ). It
C4Ź: (É)
is no fun right, th atÕs true it is hard.
A5Ź: Yeah.
C6Ź: Yeah, itÕs one of the toughest jobs in the world, you kill
yourself at first but after you get us ed to it, you do it real
fast. (... ) Go on you stil l have the bo ttom part to do.
A7Ź: (drill)
C8Ź: YouÕve had it buddy, right?.
A9Ź: Hum (pneum atic drill).
C10Ź: YouÕve had enough, youÕre gonna g et down, see Rob and
tell him IÕve told you to stop. I tÕs no use, youÕre not
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getting anywh ere.
Conclusive remark
Issue of lack of discursive
evidence and discontinuities in
conversations
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Study 2
Analyzing an extreme example of
discontinuous speech in EU
conversations
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Objectives
Demonstrate that discontinuities, more than general
impressions, are analyzable and foundational
features of conversation
Gaining insights into an empirical procedure that
allows further analyses of this kind of
conversational discontinuities.
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"People talking together, ‘conversation’, is one
of the most mundane of all topics. It has been
available for ages, but only (…) in the early
1960s, has it gained the serious and sustained
attention of scientific investigation. (…) The
general impression was that ordinary
conversation is chaotic and disorderly. It was
only with the advent of recording devices, and
the willingness and ability to study such a
mundane phenomenon in depth, that ‘the order
of conversation’ (…) was discovered" (Ten
Have, 1999: 4).
21
Sequential organization …
…based on continuity as a fundamental
assumption for analyses of conversations,
and largely used in CA and other
approaches
22
The context
A consultative institution of the European Union, the Social and
Economical Committee (CES), responsible for the development
of a common opinion.
A collective entity which evolved step-by-step in four meetings
of twelve, ten, 65, and 212 participants respectively.
Participants had different competencies and statuses, spoke
different languages and interacted through interpreters.
The opinion materialized progressively as a text written and
modified by a reporter.
23
The opinion discussed in the meetings
The CES had to reach a conclusion about a report
drawn up by European Commission concerning the
decisions adopted within the framework of the
Cohesion Funds
The 'Funds' was an instrument aimed at reinforcing
economic and social cohesion between the EU
Member States.
24
Data collection
Video-recordings and transcriptions of each
meeting and audio-recordings of the
simultaneous French interpretations.
25
The analytical approach
Interlocutionary logic (IL)
26
Advantages of using IL for analyzing
the CES data over the other theories
and methodologies available
1) it conceptualizes also discontinuities (Trognon,
1992),
2) it allows analyses of multi-speaker discourse
(Trognon and Kostulski, 1996),
3) it can be applied also to long conversations and
extensive corpora (in Batt et al., 2004)
27
IL and speech act theory
Basic elements of IL are not individual
speech acts, but rather logical relations they
maintain in the interlocution
28
"in conversation the function of the illocutionary act
accomplished first is unspecified. This function can be
determined only later, looking at what goes on in the
interaction. (…) That’s why the conversation is less the
prototypical space of the use of linguistic expressions.
Admittedly it is that. But it is especially the prototypical space
of the communicability of this use" (Trognon and Brassac,
1992: 85-86).
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Constitutional discontinuities of CES
conversations
When participants can intervene, they tend to 'pack
in' into the same speaking turn all that they have to
say concerning the text and/or the interventions
carried out before by the others
30
Types of discontinuities
intra-intervention: detected in synchronic observations
related to each speaking turn
inter-intervention: detected in diachronic observations
related to the whole transcript and potentially reciprocal
behaviors evolving over time
31
Intra-intervention discontinuities
(topical and actional diversity of speaking turns)
B17 : I would like to re-examine some remarks and some questions
which were formulated. First of all, the report {...}. Here we are with
regard to the delay. Then, the implementation {...}. Now, let us
procede to the selection of projects {... }.
G13 : ... it's an indirect question through you, Chairman, to the
Commission, when they mention the potential new states, using
Cohesion Fund principles, there is no mention of Cyprus ... .
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Inter-intervention discontinuities
(when reactive interventions are linked with distal interventions)
H153: ... Well, in a telegraphic way, I will make some suggestions, which could be taken into account in
this document. First, take the synergies established between the cohesion funds and the other structural funds.
... .  Another thing: item 3.3 of this document is about the reduction of the investment in natural
protection and the improvement of the urban environment. I do not agree ... I do not know, for example for
Portugal which has a rather important wooded zone and which is not reforested simply because the
questions of financing. ...
...
B17: ... Now as to synergy, we have many cases. ... we will try to do our better by integrating more the
action planning ...
...
E204: ... I would wish to intervene briefly, starting from a remark made by the expert of group 3, a person I
respect for his good knowledge of the relevant mechanisms. When he speaks about synergy with other funds,
he referred to the wooded areas and I will say that, I will tell the reporter not to make it appear in 3.3 because
synergies already exist. ... The Commission said, these synergies are being considered, this is part of the
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work of the Commission to analyze these synergies. ...
Conversations or puzzles?
Conversations as starting configuration of a puzzle, a pool of
units arranged in a different way than that of a classic
sequential organization usually ascribed to conversations.
34
Pieces of the puzzle or 'intervention sections’
(units bounded on the basis of their topics)
Because the intervention sections fulfilled their
function only in assembling, it is necessary to put
them together, to rebuild the puzzle, in order to find
the sequences beneath the entire corpus
35
Two readings of the transcript
1. horizontal, by traversing the transcriptions
to circumscribe the various intervention
sections,
2. vertical, by cycles, to follow interactional
developments on each section
36
Dissection of the transcript according to topics
What is being talked about? What does the speaker do or put
forward in his or her talk?
Categorization and representation of the discursive flow
Interventions aimed at developing the form and content of the
opinion (T), and interventions dealing with meeting management
and task achievement (T’)
37
Flow of the topics directly (T) and indirectly (T')
concerned with the collective task during the first
meeting
38
Conclusive remarks
First step for identifying and representing conversational
discontinuities
Challenge: understanding what are the resources the
participants employ and mobilize to deal with
discontinuous conversations, and what are the
consequences of these discontinuities for the subject.
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For contacts:
Annalisa Sannino
University of Salerno
Department of Education
Via Ponte Don Melillo
84084 Fisciano (SA) Italy
E-mail: ansannin@unisa.it
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