Module manager: Dr Leendert Plug
Email: l.plug@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
| MODL1060 | Language: Structure and Sound |
| LING2420 | Interactional Linguistics |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module introduces students to the study of language use in verbal interaction. It takes its cues from the sociological discipline of conversation analysis in viewing interactions as sequences of utterances that are highly organised and subject to implicit rules. The module covers how such sequences are constructed and how linguistic features play a role in this construction. Students encounter data from English and other languages, and do original interactional linguistic research on language material that they record themselves. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module
This module aims to:
1. acquaint students with the main issues that interactional linguistic research seeks to address, the principal methods that it employs, and a range of conversation-analytic concepts
2. develop students' skills in recording, transcribing and analysing interactional language data
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Apply a comprehensive range of concepts of interactional linguistics in the analysis of spoken language data.
2. Identify and closely examine examples of common interactional linguistic practices in unfamiliar data.
3. Undertake interactional linguistic research in accordance with the fundamental principles of the discipline.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Conduct research involving the recording, transcription and qualitative analysis of real-world data using appropriate digital tools.
5. Communicate analytical findings effectively.
6. Evaluate own analysis findings in relation to those reported in published research studies.
This module comprises a lecture programme and a practical programme, running in parallel. The first half of the lecture programme covers core conversation-analytic concepts and discusses how they relate to traditional linguistic categories. The second half discusses a number of case studies in detail, based on published research literature, and explores implications of interactional linguistic research for our understanding of how language processing and development work. The first half of the practical programme provides students with an opportunity to practice applying the concepts introduced in the lectures to selected data fragments, in guided exercises. One early practical session is also devoted to guidance about the independent research project that students undertake. The second half of the practical programme revolves around the collective analysis of fragments of data provided by students themselves; these ‘data sessions’ allow students to practice making observations on interactional data, and begin to formulate analyses in a supported environment.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Practical | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Seminar | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Private study hours | 180 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 20 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students are given informal feedback and individual help during seminar and workshop sessions where relevant. They receive written feedback on a formative transcription exercise and on a formative analysis task, if they complete these. The instructions for the research project are disseminated and discussed at the start of the module and students are encouraged to contribute their own data to the seminars; to a large extent the module syllabus is arranged around the students’ work on their projects, if they choose to engage from early on. Students are given informal feedback on their seminar contributions and guidance on how to develop their analysis for the purpose of the assessed report.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Independent research report | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 02/05/2025
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