Conversation Analysis (LING6511) is important for anyone who wants to understand how conversation is organized. It is a very ‘hands on' course with many authentic examples of people interacting in everyday situations. Students are given every opportunity to hear and analyse ordinary everyday conversations and to collect their own conversations for analysis. Students whose first language is not English will be able to collect and analyse data from their own language. There is a strong CA research culture at ANU. Students will be given every opportunity to learn from these more experienced CA researchers through seminars, data analysis sessions, and the fortnightly Discourse Analysis Group.

Conversation Analysis (LING6511) can be undertaken either as a single course or towards the Graduate Diploma in Applied Linguistics, Master of Applied Linguistics, Graduate Diploma of Linguistics, Master of Arts (Linguistics), Graduate Diploma in Translation Studies, Master of Translation Studies, Graduate Certificate in Applied Japanese Linguistics.

This course is compulsory for graduate students who wish to undertake further research (thesis or sub-thesis) in the area of discourse analysis, conversation analysis or applied conversation analysis. It is also recommended for graduate students who wish to undertake further research in critical discourse analysis. Students should consult with the Convenor of Applied Linguistics or their potential supervisor as to whether or not they should take the course.

On satisfying the expectations of the course, students will have the knowledge and skills (1) to collect and transcribe instances of ordinary everyday conversation; (2) to analyse the structural ‘rules' of everyday conversation, including rules for ensuring that only one person talks at a time, rules for opening and closing conversations, rules for determining what is a ‘turn at talk' and rules for determining the structural organisation of these turns at talk; (3) to evaluate whether all instances of conversation adhere to the ‘rules' of interaction (4) to critique other methods of analyzing discourse.

In addition to attending lectures and tutorials, students should attend the Discourse Analysis Group (2 hours, fortnightly). As part of this group, they will have the opportunity to be part of the vibrant CA research community at ANU. Graduate students will also be expected to attend seminars within the linguistics and applied linguistics program.

Students will be assessed according to whether they can collect, transcribe and analyse conversational data, as per the learning outcomes. The final decision concerning assessment will be made in conjunction with the students in the second week of semester.

Assignment 1 (10%) requiring students to transcribe a given piece of data, is due in Week 5. Assignment 2 (20%) requiring students to analyse short instances of data, is due in Week 8. Assignment 3 (30%) requiring students to analyse a complete conversation, is due in Week 11. The final data essay (40%) requiring students to transcribe and analyse some of their own collected data, is due during the exam period.

Passing of the course is conditional on students passing all assessment items.

In addition to the required contact hours (lectures, tutorials and Discourse Analysis Group), it is expected that students will spend an additional 8-10 hours per week on this course.