CA as research method (Sidnell, 2015)

Sidnell, J. (2015) A conversation analytic approach to research on early childhood. In A. Farrell, S.L. Kagan & K.M. Tisdall (Eds.) The SAGE handbook of early childhood research (pp.255-276). London: Sage.  

In this chapter, Jack Sidnell provides an introduction to the history and purpose of conversation analysis as a systematic study of social life. Sidnell shows that research using CA documents children’s capacity to engage in the accountability of conversations as they learn to use the structures of engaging with others. They become able to design their contribution to the ongoing talk in both response to and in anticipation of others’ turns. Children demonstrate an understanding of conditional relevance in sequences of interaction, that requests, demands and so on are built on prior actions. This chapter sets out how CA – particularly Anthony Wootton’s work – provides a developmental account based on children’s understanding of the immediately local interactional context.