The Centre for Advanced Studies in Language and Communication (CASLC) at the University of York is an innovative interdisciplinary research centre for the study of language and communication in interaction.
Members of the Centre – from the Departments of Education, Health Sciences, Language and Linguistic Science, Psychology, Social Policy and Social Work and Sociology – see language, interaction and communication as central to our disciplines. We conduct research into how interactions work in a wide variety of social settings and institutional contexts. These include medical and health-related, educational, political, employment, industrial, legal and other settings in which outcomes depend so much on the effectiveness of communication between clients and professionals, and between professional colleagues.
The Centre draws on the expertise of its members in the study of language use. We bring together a range of methodological and theoretical approaches from our various disciplines. A distinguishing feature of our work is a commitment to investigating the dynamics of interaction and communication, through examining how language is used in sequences of interaction (sequential analysis). Although we draw on a range of methodological perspectives in our research, we work particularly from the methodological standpoint of Conversation Analysis (CA). CA has come in recent years to make a significant contribution to providing a more fully integrated view of language use, one that best accounts for the dynamics of interaction and communication.
The Centre provides a platform for
CASLC is currently co-ordinated by Prof Richard Ogden.
We welcome academic visitors from other institutions. Our policy on visitors is here. Please contact Richard Ogden (richard.ogden@york.ac.uk) if you are interested.
A wide range of activities is conducted through CASLC, including conferences, data sessions, talks by visiting lecturers, and seminars. We run inter-departmental data sessions twice a term and have an active Erasmus agreement with the University of Helsinki at staff and PhD student levels. Follow us on Twitter @CASLC_UoY for the latest updates.
2020
Sounds on the Margins of Language (in progress; edited by Leelo Keevallik and Richard Ogden; Research on Language and Social Interaction)
2018
Conversation analytic studies of language use in interaction (2) (edited by Paul Drew and Elizabeth Holt, and Hiroko Tanaka; East Asian Pragmatics)
2017
Experimental and Laboratory Approaches to Conversation Analysis (edited by Kobin Kendrick; Research on Language and Social Interaction)
Conversation analytic studies of language use in interaction (1) (edited by Paul Drew and Elizabeth Holt, and Hiroko Tanaka; East Asian Pragmatics)
2012
The Phonetics of Talk-in-Interaction (edited by Richard Ogden; Language and Speech)
2018
Beginnings in interaction: cross-cultural and multimodal perspectives (organised by Beatrice Szczepek Reed, Xiaoting Li, and Darren Reed; ICCA, Loughborough)
Between the lab and the wild: new technologies for CA research (organised by Paul McIlvenny, Jacob Davidsen, and Kobin Kendrick; ICCA, Loughborough)
Non-lexical vocalisations (organised by Leelo Keevallik and Richard Ogden; ICCA, Loughborough)
Recruitment and the organization of assistance in interaction (organised by Kobin Kendrick; ICCA, Loughborough)
2017
Recruitment in interaction (organised by Kobin Kendrick and Paul Drew; IPrA, Belfast)
2015
Prosodic constructions (organised by Nigel Ward, Richard Ogden, and Oliver Niebuhr; IPrA, Antwerp)
2018
Medical interaction: evaluating decision-making in practice (led by Merran Toerien; ICCA, Loughborough)
Quantification (led by Kobin Kendrick; ICCA, Loughborough)
Phonetics and prosody (led by Richard Ogden; ICCA, Loughborough)
Video/audio data management (led by Clare Jackson and Daren Reed; ICCA, Loughborough)
2017
Insights from qualitative research: an introduction to the phonetics of talk-in-interaction (led by Richard Ogden; Interspeech, Stockholm)
2016
Lectures on Phonetics and Prosody in Interaction (taught by Richard Ogden and Rasmus Persson; ENS de Lyon, Lyon)
AQUALM: Conversation Analysis Summer School (led by Celia Kitzinger and including Ray Wilkinson, Sue Wilkinson, Merran Toerien, and Richard Ogden; White Rose Social Sciences DTP, York)
2015
MAINLY - MultimodAl (INter)actions LYon: the construction and organisation of social actions (taught by Paul Drew, Richard Ogden, and colleagues; Lyon, France).
AQUALM: Advanced Conversation Analysis (led by Celia Kitzinger and including Ray Wilkinson, Sue Wilkinson, Merran Toerien, Beatrice Szczepek Reed and Richard Ogden; White Rose Social Sciences DTP, York).
2018-19
Julia Moreno (University of Glasgow)
Danielle Pillet-Shore (University of New Hampshire)
2017-18
Mirjam Eiswirth (University of Edinburgh)
Aurora Guxholli (University of Helsinki)
Spencer Hazel (Newcastle University)
Elizabeth Manrique (University College London)
Ana Cristina Ostermann (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos)
Giovanni Rossi (University of Helsinki)
Members of the Centre are currently engaged in a variety of basic and applied projects, and collaborate with individuals and groups elsewhere in the country on projects where our expertise can assist realising the practical aims of projects. Our work focuses on the linguistic organisation of social action; uses of phonetic detail in spoken interaction, especially non-lexical details; recruitment; medical interaction, among other topics.
Enhancing the quality of psychological interventions delivered by telephone (National Institute for Health Research, 2018-present)
Interactional practices of decision-making during childbirth in maternity units. Also known as VIP: Voices in Partnership, Video-Informed Practice (National Institute for Health Research, 2017-present)
Parents and Neonatal Decisions Study: Improving communication during conversations about limiting life-sustaining treatment in neonatal intensive care (SANDS, 2017-present)
Recruitment: offers, requests, and the organisation of assistance in interaction (2014-present)
Non-lexical vocalizations (2009-present)
Evaluating nuanced practices for initiating decision-making in neurology clinics: a mixed-methods study (National Institute for Health Research, 2015-2017)
Delivering patient choice in clinical practice: a conversation analytic study of communication practices used in neurology clinics to involve patients in decision making (National Institute for Health Research, 2012-2015)
Temporal co-ordination in talk-in-interaction (British Academy, 2012-2014)
A pilot study of interactions between speech and language therapists and persons with aphasia (Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders, University of York, 2013-2014)
A study of patient participation in decision making in 5 clinical settings; ENT oncology, diabetes clinics, genetics counselling, family planning and homeopathy (Department of Health, 2001-2014)
Multiple-methods approaches to discourse topic structure (ESRC Post-Doctoral Fellow award to Meg Zellers, held in Language and Linguistic Science, 2012)
Sound to Sense: a collaboration between phoneticians, intonationalists, psycholinguists, computer scientists and others with partners in the UK, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden (Marie Curie Research Training Network, 2007-2011)
The sequential and linguistic-phonetic design of indirectness in talk-in-interaction (AHRC, 2007-2010)
A Study of Language and Communication Between Advisers and Claimants in Work Focused Interviews (Department for Work and Pensions, 2007-2009)
An Exploratory Comparison of the Interactions Between Advisers and Younger and Older Clients during Work Focused Interviews (Department for Work and Pensions, 2007-2009)
Affiliation and Disaffiliation in Interaction: Language and Social Cohesion (ESRC, 2003-2006)
This course is now fully booked. Please check back later for future courses.
Taught by Paul Drew, Kobin Kendrick, Richard Ogden, and Merran Toerien
This online short course will focus on analytic methods used in contemporary Conversation Analysis (CA), including (i) building and working with collections, (ii) transcribing embodied action, (iii) analysing non-lexical vocalizations, and (iv) applying findings in the real world. The course is designed to equip participants with new analytic skills, techniques, and strategies that can be applied in a broad range of research projects on both ordinary and institutional interaction.
The course is intended for those who have some prior experience with Conversation Analysis and who are interested in expanding their methodological toolkit. The course is suitable for graduate and post-doctoral researchers in any relevant discipline, as well as established researchers who wish to acquire new skills in the areas to be covered.
The course will have a limited number of participants so that we can work together intensively to develop the participants’ skills in data analysis. The course will be organised through a series of pre-recorded talks, synchronous online sessions with the course tutors, and practical activities and exercises, with an emphasis on hands-on work with data.
The short course is intended to equip researchers to:
The course will run from 9:00 to 17:00 BST (GMT+1) each day, and the daily synchronous online sessions will take place at 10:00 and 15:00 BST (GMT+1). Details of the programme will be circulated at a later date.
Registration
The cost of the course is £30 per participant. This includes course materials and Certificate of Attendance.
Registration for the course will open soon via this web page. For inquiries and further information, please contact Kobin Kendrick at (kobin.kendrick@york.ac.uk).
Course tutors
Paul Drew (Professor in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science) has considerable experience of teaching CA at introductory and advanced levels, both in conventional courses and through workshops, worldwide. His current research includes projects on recruitment of assistance (with Kobin Kendrick), self-correction and normativity, and on medical interactions e.g. in neonatology critical care.
Kobin Kendrick (Senior Lecturer in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science): His research uses conversation analysis to investigate basic organizations of social interaction such as turn-taking, action-sequencing, and repair. A recent line of research (with Paul Drew) has examined the practices that participants in interaction use to ‘recruit’ others to assist them.
Richard Ogden (Professor in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science) is a phonetician and conversation analyst whose work explores the import of phonetic detail in talk-in-interaction. His current work focuses on click ('tut-tut' or 'tsk') sounds in English.
Merran Toerien (Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology) has expertise in the application of conversation analysis to communication in institutional settings, especially medical, with a particular interest in patient choice. She has extensive experience of teaching CA at undergraduate and graduate levels, and has run workshops in Brazil, South Africa, China, the Netherlands and the UK.
Date: Thursday 19th November 2020
Time: 2.30pm-4.00pm (UK time)
Place: Zoom. To receive joining instructions, please contact Merran.Toerien@york.ac.uk.
Merran can also add you to the CASLC-guests mailing list should you wish to receive information about our future events.
Abstract
The presented research examines the sequential organisation of treatment-related preferences expressed by patients and their co-present romantic partners during clinical consultations for people with low or intermediate risk localised prostate cancer. A conversation analysis of 28 diagnostic and treatment consultations was carried out with data collected from four clinical sites across England. When healthcare professionals challenged, rejected, or dismissed expressions of preference, it caused a sequential pattern of discordance and activity contamination, pivoting the interaction toward an adversarial configuration. This pivot led to patients and partners silencing themselves. Two deviant cases were identified that did not contain this structural pivot. These findings highlight the immediate consequences of expressions of preference being resisted, rejected, and dismissed in a context that should be sensitive to such expressions. The adversarial configuration of these moments contaminated the interactions during a time where cooperation is desirable. The deviant case analysis offers an alternative to the salient pattern observed across the collection.
Biography
Simon is a final-year PhD Candidate at the University of Southampton whose primary research relates to communication during clinical encounters for people with localised prostate cancer who attend with their spouse or romantic partner. Simon graduated with a first-class BSc in Psychology from the Open University before attending the University of Southampton to carry out an ESRC funded 1+3 PhD programme.
We’re delighted to announce that we’re starting a new CASLC tradition: when doctoral members of CASLC are awarded their PhDs, they will be invited to present some of their key findings at a CASLC session. This is intended to celebrate the outstanding work that our PhD members are doing.
The first such talk will be given by Dr Marina Cantarutti, who has set the bar very high by passing her viva with no corrections!
She will present on: Co-animation and association in English Interaction: jointly ‘doing being’ others to interactionally define joint selves. Abstract and biography below.
Date: 22nd October 2020
Time: 2.30pm-4pm UK time.
Place: Zoom.
All welcome!
If you are not a member of the University of York, you can sign up for these events by emailing merran.toerien@york.ac.uk. She will give you access to the Zoom sign-up details.
Abstract
This presentation will review the findings (and many remaining questions) of my doctoral research on the interactional practice I have called co-animation, i.e. the joint voicing, or (re-)enactment of the same figure in adjacent sequential positions (cfr. Niemelä 2011; Guardiola & Bertrand, 2013; Mathis & Yule, 1994). I have found that during the development of particular social activities - namely, troubles-tellings and indirect complaint stories on the one hand, and teasing and mockery episodes on the other- a participant’s first animation is often completed or continued in responsive position by the co-participant.
Drawing on the theoretical and methodological insights of Conversation Analysis (Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson, 1974) and multimodal approaches to Interactional Linguistics (Couper-Kuhlen & Selting, 2001), I will discuss my description of the multimodal and sequential organisation of co-animation based on 89 cases identified in 10 hours of video-recordings of naturalistic English interaction between friends, relatives, and co-workers. I will focus on the defining characteristics of the practice, as well as on some of the relational consequences of the situated deployment of the practice, specifically the display of association (Lerner, 1993).
During the presentation I will address two aspects of co-animation:
Marina Noelia Cantarutti is an interactional linguist currently working as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University. She has recently completed her PhD in Language and Communication at the University of York, UK. She holds over a decade of experience in EFL teacher training and lecturing in Practical Phonetics and Discourse Analysis in various Higher Education institutions in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is particularly interested in the study of phonetics and gesture as resources deployed and oriented to by participants in everyday talk-in-interaction, especially in collaborative practices, and for the creation of collective identities.
Taught by Paul Drew, Kobin Kendrick, Richard Ogden, and Merran Toerien
Conversation Analysis (CA) is increasingly widely used as a research methodology in Sociology, Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Social Psychology, the Health Sciences and other related disciplines. We are offering a short course designed to give an introduction to the basic principles and methods of CA, focusing on three core topics: (i) turn-taking and overlap, (ii) sequence organization and preference and (iii) repair.
The course is intended for those who have had little previous experience with conversation analysis but who are interested in what it might offer them in their own research and are considering whether to use this method in their doctoral or post-doctoral research. It may also serve as a refresher course for those with some previous experience of CA and who now want to teach or conduct research in this area. Ideally participants will already have or have plans to record their own data. Participants may therefore be at an earlier stage in planning their research. The course would suit graduate and post-doc researchers in any relevant discipline.
The course will be limited to no more than 20 participants so that we can work intensively to develop basic skills in data analysis and to understand the three core topics to be covered. While it is not possible to learn CA from scratch in just three days, we will introduce participants to key analytic tools and methodological techniques in analysing data, including reading CA transcripts, making collections of phenomena and analysing interactional patterns and practices. The course will be organised through talks and practical activities and exercises, with an emphasis on hands-on work with data.
The short training course is intended to equip researchers to:
understand and apply the basic concepts of CA;
explore three fundamental organizations of conversation;
identify specific interactional patterns and phenomena in conversational data;
understand the importance of making collections as an essential step towards analysis; and
consider whether CA might be an appropriate methodology for their research.
The cost of the course is £380 for salaried researchers and faculty or £280 for postgraduate students. This includes course materials, a Certificate of Attendance, lunches, tea and coffee for the three days, and one dinner together on the evening before the final day. It does not include accommodation, which can be found on campus or in local hotels.
The University of York offers bed and breakfast accommodation on campus at reasonable rates. This can be booked online at https://yorkconferences.com/. Information about accommodations in York city centre, which is 15 minutes from campus, can be found at https://www.visityork.org/sleep.
The course will commence at 10:00 on Wednesday 11 December and finish at approximately 16:00 on Friday 13 December. Details of the programme will be circulated at a later date.
For inquiries and further information, please contact Paul Drew (paul.drew@york.ac.uk).
Registration for the above course is now closed.
Taught by Merran Toerien, Clare Jackson, Kat Connabeer, and Paul Drew
We are offering a short course in researching medical and healthcare interactions, hosted and organized by the Centre for Advanced Studies in Language and Communication at the University of York. The course is designed to benefit those beginning or in the early stages of research into medical, clinical and healthcare interactions; it will also be relevant for healthcare professionals interested in communication. The programme will include lectures on a range of integrated topics, directed exercises, as well as practical hands-on sessions giving participants experience in analyzing data, using the perspective and methods of Conversation Analysis (CA). Practical sessions will therefore be focused on applying CA’s methodology, not only in the detailed analysis of particular medical/health care interactions but also in working on collections of significant patterns to be found in healthcare interactions, as well as discussion of the analytic challenges involved in coding of these patterns. The data used throughout will be real-life, authentic medical interactions – based on the considerable experience each of us has had working in a range of divers medical settings (these include primary care, oncology, neurology, seizure clinics, memory clinics, maternity units, medical helplines). Our research has focused on aspects of the effectiveness of communication, on patient-centred medicine and patient choice, the role of communication in diagnosis, etc. We will draw on our own datasets and research findings across the practical elements of this workshop.
Our aim is to assist participants in developing research skills, through enhancing their understanding of CA’s methodology, and their ability to apply CA in their investigations of medical interactions. Prior experience of CA will be a real advantage, but is not a prerequisite, for this workshop. While it is not possible to learn CA from scratch in just three days, the workshop is intended to equip participants with practical analytic skills, which should be applicable to their own future work. We hope that the workshop will further inspire participants in their research.
The number of participants will be restricted to 20, in order to ensure that there is ample opportunity for all to participate in the practical sessions. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
The cost of the workshop is £380 for salaried researchers and faculty or £280 for postgraduate students. This includes course materials, a Certificate of Attendance, lunches, tea and coffee for three days, and one dinner together on the evening before the final day. It does not include accommodation, which can be found on campus or in local hotels.
The University of York offers bed and breakfast accommodation on campus at reasonable rates. This can be booked online at https://yorkconferences.com/. Information about accommodations in York city centre, which is 15 minutes from campus, can be found at https://www.visityork.org/sleep.
The course will commence at 10:00 on Monday 6 January and finish at approximately 16:00 on Wednesday 8 January. Details of the programme will be circulated at a later date.
The deadline for registration is the 23 December 2019. Because of the limitation on the number of participants, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis; so early registration is advised. For inquiries and further information, please contact Paul Drew (paul.drew@york.ac.uk).
Registration for the above course is now closed.
The short course has been postponed due to the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Please check back later for further information.
Taught by Paul Drew, Merran Toerien, Clare Jackson, Richard Ogden and Kobin Kendrick
This short course will focus on advanced analytic methods used in contemporary Conversation Analysis (CA), including (i) working with complex collections, (ii) reconceptualizing social action, (iii) multimodality and multimodal transcription, and (iv) phonetic and prosodic design. The course will equip participants with new analytic skills, techniques, and strategies that can be applied in a broad range of research projects on both ordinary and institutional interaction.
The course is intended for those who have some prior experience with Conversation Analysis (e.g., having taken a previous course in our series or elsewhere) and who are interested in expanding their methodological toolkit. The course is suitable for graduate and post-doctoral researchers in any relevant discipline as well as established researchers who wish to acquire new skills in the areas to be covered.
The course will be limited to no more than 20 participants so that we can work intensively to develop the advanced skills in data analysis. The course will be organised through talks and practical activities and exercises, with an emphasis on hands-on work with data.
The short course is intended to equip researches to:
The cost of the course is £380 for salaried researchers and faculty or £280 for postgraduate students. This includes course materials, a Certificate of Attendance, lunches, tea and coffee for three days, and one dinner together on the evening before the final day. It does not include accommodation, which can be found on campus or in local hotels.
The University of York offers bed and breakfast accommodation on campus at reasonable rates. This can be booked online at https://yorkconferences.com/. Information about accommodations in York city centre, which is 15 minutes from campus, can be found at https://www.visityork.org/sleep.
For inquiries and further information, please contact Paul Drew (paul.drew@york.ac.uk).
Registration for this course is now closed.
Kat Connabeer is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Birmingham City University. Her doctoral research focused on medical interactions in primary care consultations, with a particular interest in how health professionals deliver lifestyle recommendations. She is currently involved in a project combining qualitative and quantitative research methods, to examine decision making in neonatal intensive care interactions.
Paul Drew, a Professor in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science, has considerable experience of teaching CA at introductory and advanced levels, both in conventional courses and through workshops, worldwide. His current research includes projects on recruitment of assistance (with Kobin Kendrick), self-correction and normativity, and on medical interactions in neonatology, and telephone delivery of therapy for anxiety and depression (with Annie Irvine).
Clare Jackson is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology. Her research covers both basic CA – particularly practices for referring to persons – and applied CA – particularly feminist issues and healthcare. She is currently working on an NIHR funded project examining decisional practices between women, birth partners and practitioners in midwifery-led intrapartum care.
Kobin Kendrick is a Lecturer in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science. His research uses conversation analysis to investigate basic organizations of social interaction such as turn-taking, action-sequencing, and repair. A recent line of research (with Paul Drew) has examined the practices that participants in interaction use to ‘recruit’ others to assist them.
Richard Ogden, a Professor in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science, is a phonetician and conversation analyst whose work explores the import of phonetic detail in talk-in-interaction. His current work focuses on click ('tut-tut' or 'tsk') sounds in English.
Merran Toerien is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology. She has expertise in the application of conversation analysis to communication in institutional settings, with a particular interest in patient choice. She has extensive experience of teaching CA at undergraduate and graduate levels, and has run workshops in South Africa, China, the Netherlands and the UK.
The PhD in Language and Communication is an interdisciplinary programme involving Education, Language and Linguistic Science, Psychology and Sociology. It focuses on investigating language as it is used in the real world and the processes which underpin it. We conduct highly data-driven research into the communicative structures – linguistic, sequential, gestural – used in everyday life, in workplace settings, in educational settings, and in on-line interaction.
Areas of research in which we would be willing to supervise theses include (but are not limited to):
conversation analysis, especially its relation to linguistics (including phonetics), gesture, and its application to different settings and problems
language in particular settings: new media, the classroom, clinical encounters
developing new methodologies, especially multi-modal, and methodologies that combine insights from qualitative and quantitative research paradigms
cross-linguistic differences in language and communication; bilingual communication; communication in English as a second language
Further information can be found on the PhD in Language and Communication website.
Centre Director: Dr Merran Toerien
Tel: 01904 323061
Email: merran.toerien@york.ac.uk