Conversation Analysis & Discourse Analysis A Comparative and Critical Introduction Robin Wooffitt eBook covers_pj orange.indd 97 26/4/08 16:04:36 Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page i Conversation Analysis and Discourse Analysis Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page ii Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page iii Conversation Analysis and Discourse Analysis A Comparative and Critical Introduction Robin Wooffitt SAGE Publications London ●●Thousand Oaks New Delhi Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page iv © Robin Wooffitt 2005 First published 2005 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. 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SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B-42, Panchsheel Enclave Post Box 4109 New Delhi 110 017 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7619 7425 3 ISBN 0 7619 7426 1 (pbk) Library of Congress Control Number 2004099541 Typeset by C&M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India Printed on paper from sustainable resources Printed in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page v For Wendy Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page vi Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Origins and Orientations 5 2 Two Key Studies 25 3 Method and Critique 46 4 Similarities and Differences 71 5 Persuasion and Authority: CA and the Rhetorical Turn in Discourse Studies 92 6 Discursive Psychology 113 7 Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis 137 8 Methodological Disputes: How Should We Analyse Talk? 158 9 Conversation Analysis and Power 186 Appendix: Transcription Symbols 211 References 213 Index 229 Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page viii Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page ix Acknowledgements I would like to thank my commissioning editor at Sage, Michael Carmichael. Throughout the period of writing this book, he has been extremely helpful and supportive; we had numerous meetings at which we discussed the (occasion- ally slow) progress of the manuscript, and he always exuded a quiet confidence in the project, which invariably fired my enthusiasm. He’s an excellent editor, and it has been a pleasure working with him. (He is also largely responsible for this book, probably much more so than most editors, for it was he who adroitly sidestepped my initial proposal to write a book on an entirely different topic, and gently suggested that I might like to consider writing something about the relationship between CA and DA. So it's his fault, really.) There is a community of scholars whose work has had an important influ- ence on my own, and their research figures prominently in the pages which follow; and whose company at various conferences around the world has been great fun. You know who you are. To all of you, for providing such a supportive intellectual and (extended) social environment, I thank you. Derek Edwards and Jonathan Potter deserve a special mention. They read an earlier version of the manuscript and made numerous suggestions, all of which have made this a better piece of work. Finally, my debt to Wendy Tunnicliffe is enormous. For too long, I’ve been a peripheral presence at weekends and in the evenings, and she has put up with that without complaint. The dedication of this book to her in no way settles the debt, but it’s a start. Woofitt-Prelims.qxd 2/16/2005 5:09 PM Page x Woofit-Introduction.qxd 2/15/2005 10:44 AM Page 1 Introduction This book has three objectives. First, it sets out to introduce conversation analysis (CA) and discourse analysis (DA) as methodological approaches to the study of talk, both of which have far-reaching implications for our under- standing of social interaction and the role of discourse and communication in everyday life. Conversation analysis is one of the key methodological approaches to the study of verbal interaction, and this is one of the reasons that it is given so much prominence in this book. But there are other approaches to the study of discourse and communication which can be applied to face-to-face or telephone interaction: of course there is discourse analysis; but there is also discursive psychology, rhetorical psychology, speech act theory, critical dis- course analysis and Foucauldian forms of discourse analysis, or the analysis of discourses. This burgeoning range of empirical methodologies, not unsurpris- ingly, can be confusing to the student new to the field: In what ways do discourse analysis and conversation analysis differ? Is critical discourse analysis the same as Foucauldian discourse analysis? Do these varied approaches simply study the same things, but in different ways? Or do their theoretical assumptions ensure that the substantive topics of their enquiries are formu- lated in radically different ways? The second objective of the book, then, is to outline the distinctive characteristics of each approach – to explain for each, what is studied, why it is studied and how it is studied – and chart some of the complex relationships between them. The third and final objective of the book is to make a case for the power and scope of conversation analysis. There are now a number of texts which either focus on or contain intro- ductions to discourse analysis (in its broadest sense) which offer an account of the various ways in which social scientists analyse talk and texts, or which illustrate specific methodological approaches (for example, Antaki, 1988; Banister et al, 1994; Burman and Parker, 1993a; Hayes, 1997; Phillips and Jørgensen, 2002; Richardson, 1996; Schiffrin, 1994; Smith, 2003; Willig, 1999, 2001a, 2001b; Wood and Kroeger, 2000), or which illustrate traditions of work in discourse and interaction (Jaworski and Coupland, 1999; Wetherell et al, 2001a, 2001b). These texts are extremely helpful and practical guides to issues in studies of discourse. However, while many of them acknowledge the empirical Woofit-Introduction.qxd 2/15/2005 10:44 AM Page 2 2 CONVERSATION ANALYSIS AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS and theoretical variations in approaches to the study of discourse, few systematically focus on the tensions in the field, or argue for the value of one approach over others. And it is in this sense that this book departs from more conventional introductions. As will become apparent in later chapters, the argu- ment is not impartial, but increasingly makes a case for the greater value of conversation analysis over alternative methodological approaches (a value which is reflected by its increasing influence in forms of discourse analysis). This is not because I believe other approaches have little or no value; on the contrary, a cursory examination of the literature in critical discourse analysis or Foucauldian discourse reveals committed, creative and thought-provoking research. And I am convinced that a researcher’s conceptual sophistication and analytic skills can be increased by serious and sustained engagement with alter- native positions and methods. But what remains as the fundamental issue – for me at least – is this question: analytically, what is the best way to understand everyday communicative activities? And for reasons which will become clear, I believe conversation analysis offers the most sophisticated and robust account of language in action. There are tensions in writing a book which tries to outline in an objective and impartial way the similarities and differences between different method- ologies, while at the same time crafting an argument which reflects a method- ological preference. Throughout, I have tried to make the argument for conversation analysis by showing that it offers extremely valuable accounts of the organisation of verbal interaction, but also that it can make a significant contribution to research issues which are associated with scholars in other traditions. Only in one chapter (Chapter 8) is the argument for conversation analysis forged out of a direct engagement with the writings and empirical practices of other perspectives. But even here, I believe the argument is primarily responsive, in that it attempts to interrogate the adequacy of those methodological practices by comparison to which CA’s own empirical stances are often held to be deficient. Here, as in the rest of the book, I have tried to be fair in my accounts of those perspectives about which I have some reser- vations; and at least the reader knows where I stand as they read what follows. But I sincerely hope that colleagues who work in other traditions, and who will no doubt disagree with me, find that my accounts fairly convey their research practices and objectives. Overview of the book The book is organised into three parts. Assuming no prior knowledge, the first four chapters introduce students to the way in which conversation analysis has transformed our understanding of how people interact together when they are talking. There will be a historical account of how Sacks’ first came to study conversational interaction and a brief description of the key developments Woofit-Introduction.qxd 2/15/2005 10:44 AM Page 3 INTRODUCTION 3 within the field since then, focusing on the distinctive character of CA’s methodological orientations.