This book is a collection of conversation analytic (CA) studies. It has its roots in the International Conference on Conversation Analysis in Helsinki in 2006, whose theme was comparative analysis. A central aim of the book, published by the Finnish Literature Society, is to promote Finnish research to an international audience, and it succeeds in doing so. The volume consists of twelve chapters, nine of which report on interactions conducted in languages spoken in Finland. As the chapters are not organized thematically, the introduction provides a useful discussion of some of the comparative dimensions on which CA studies may vary, and specifies those relevant to the volume's contributions: namely, comparisons across different types of interactions, identities and competencies, and cross-linguistic and cross-cultural contexts. Ilkka Arminen's chapter is the only explicitly methodological one, demonstrating the utility of different approaches to studying social interaction (e.g. single case analysis, quantitative approaches).
Some of the chapters focus on phenomena not previously explored in Finnish, but where previous findings from English talk-in-interaction exist. For example, Auli Hakulinen & Marja-Leena Sorjonen examine linguistic formats of verbal repeat responses to assessments, and Markku Haakana & Salla Kurhila describe the linguistic design of other-correction in ordinary conversation. In drawing comparisons with English, the chapters exemplify how the typological features of the two languages affect the interactional nuances that can be conveyed through divergent linguistic formats. Other chapters compare interactional practices across different settings: in particular, Johanna Ruusuvuori & Liisa Voutilainen contrast patients' trouble-tellings in three institutional contexts (general practice, homeopathy, and cognitive psychotherapy); Helena Kangasharju investigates aggravated disputes at home, in an institutional meeting, and on reality TV; and Sara Routarinne examines student uptake of instructors' evaluations in the classroom and during an educational game. By locating and specifying participants' context-specific roles and goals, these chapters illustrate how distinct participation frameworks shape interactional practices.
The remaining chapters, mostly based on data from other languages, address the relationship between the composition, position, and function of various interactional phenomena. Offering a concise summary of Gail Jefferson's work on overlap in English, Paul Drew contends that its orderly occurrence indicates that such talk is neither chaotic nor interruptive. Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen argues that affective displays in English and German are accomplished by a combination of language-specific lexical and prosodic features in specific sequential contexts. And Jan Lindström & Camilla Lindholm outline some of the contingencies addressed via syntactic features of question frames in Swedish medical consultations and call centers.The final two chapters offer somewhat distinctive comparative perspectives from the others. Minna Laakso & Tuula Tykklainen illustrate how girls and boys negotiate and make proposals, which problematizes the stereotypes that girls are more collaborative and boys argumentative. Finally, Steven Clayman & John Heritage synthesize their previous work on question design, demonstrating a model for combining CA with quantitative analysis in order to track how the social meaning associated with specific interactional practices (like questioning) changes over time. Taken together, this book offers an informative introduction to an array of perspectives to be investigated within CA from a comparative point of view.
