Body Talk: Moving beyond speech when analysing literature discussions

Abstract

The intent of this article is to promote a methodological approach to the analysis of literature discussions by adopting a conversational analytic approach that views embodied actions (including talk) as multimodal. It is argued that this analytic approach moves beyond previous studies that focus on talk only, when analysing literature discussions, and further, that such an approach contributes to an increase in our understanding of the complex meaning-making processes that are set into play when students interact on literary texts in school.

Keywords

• literature discussion
• embodiment
• conversation analysis
• multimodality
• interaction