This presentation outlines an initiative to specify the generic orders of organization for actions that are visually and materially grounded in, and occasioned by, real-world settings.
Social interaction encompasses not only talk but also a rich array of embodied practices intricately tied to the material environment in which people interact. While the organization of talk-in-interaction has been systematically explored and conceptualized, the same cannot be said for embodied and environmentally occasioned actions. Research on talk-in-interaction within conversation analysis and related fields has yielded well-established conceptualizations of generic orders of organization, such as sequence organization, action formation, turn-taking, and repair (Schegloff, 2007). Although a substantial and expanding body of research has examined embodied actions within their material environments (Haddington et al., 2014; Lynch & Lindwall, 2024; Mondada, 2021; Streeck, Goodwin, & LeBaron, 2011), it still lacks the same systematic focus on the generic orders that organize interaction. Investigating this systematicity is essential to uncovering the fundamental characteristics of human action, which are inherently grounded in embodied practices and interactions with the material world.
This presentation outlines an initiative to specify the generic orders of organization for actions that are visually and materially grounded in, and occasioned by, real-world settings. A central insight concerns the distinction between prospectively organized sequences and retrospectively oriented actions (Schegloff, 2007). Prospectively oriented sequences are foundational to focused conversations, where the first action projects and makes relevant a specific range of possible next actions. For instance, a question anticipates an answer, and an offer creates the relevance of either acceptance or declination. In contrast, retrospectively oriented actions and sequences derive their organization from responses to, or emphasis on, preceding events or specific features of the surrounding environment. These sequences emerge from participants’ interaction with their material environment, where perceptual realizations or embodied actions bring attention to relevant aspects of the setting. For example, a noticing might involve commenting on an environmental feature, drawing attention to something previously overlooked in the interaction, or correcting the actions of others.
The timeliness of this research is underscored by recent advancements in AI, particularly the emergence of chatbots capable of conversational and visual scene analysis. While AI systems have made significant strides in generating contextually relevant responses, they fundamentally lack the capacity to engage with the world as humans do – perceiving environmental affordances, anticipating action progressions, or adaptively responding to visual contextures. This gap not only underscores the limitations of current AI technologies but also raises pressing questions about the extent to which social interaction can be meaningfully understood without addressing the deeply embodied, material, and context-dependent nature of action.
References
Goodwin, C., Streeck, J., & LeBaron, C. (2011). Embodied interaction: Language and body in the material world. Cambridge University Press.
Haddington, P., Keisanen, T., Mondada, L., & Nevile, M. (Eds.). (2014). Beyond Multitasking: Multiactivity in Social Interaction:. John Benjamins Publishing Company
Lynch, M., & Lindwall, O. (Eds.). (2024). Instructed and instructive actions: The situated production, reproduction, and subversion of social order. Routledge.
Mondada, L. (2021). Sensing in social interaction: The taste for cheese in gourmet shops. Cambridge University Press.
Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence organization in interaction. Cambridge University Press.