Anna Vatanen
PhD
Biography
I work as a postdoctoral researcher in the iTask project within the COACT research community. I investigate multiactivity situations in the everyday life of families with small children. I am a linguist and use conversation analytic and interactional linguistic methods in my research. I am interested in the linguistic and bodily practices that people use when interacting with each other, and in the structures of social interaction. The phenomena I have worked on include silent moments in interaction, units of language, turn taking in conversation and the timing of turns, and epistemics in interaction.
Research interests
- Talk, grammar and embodied behavior in social interaction
- Finnish language, Estonian language
- Conversation analysis, interactional linguistics, multimodal interaction analysis
- Video-based research methods
- Comparative research of talk-in-interaction between different languages
Publications
Endo, T., Vatanen, A. & Yokomori, D. 2018. Agreeing in Overlap: A Comparison of Response Practices and Resources for Projection in Finnish, Japanese and Mandarin Talk-in-Interaction. Special issue “Contrastive linguistic research for understanding human culture and society”. The Japanese Journal of Language in Society 21(1), 160-174.
Vatanen, A. 2018. Responding in early overlap: Recognitional onsets in assertion sequences. Research on Language and Social Interaction 51(2), 107-126. (https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2018.1413894)
Vatanen, A. 2018. Resisting an action in conversation by pointing out epistemic incongruence: Mä tiedän ‘I know’ responses in Finnish. Special issue “Units in responsive turns”, edited by Marja-Liisa Helasvuo, Tomoko Endo & Elise Kärkkäinen. Journal of Pragmatics 123, 192-208.
Vatanen, A. 2017. Delayed completions of unfinished turns. On the phenomenon and its boundaries. In Laury, R., Etelämäki, M. & Couper-Kuhlen, E. (eds.), Linking Clauses and Actions in Social Interaction. Studia Fennica Linguistica 20, pp. 153-174. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (Finnish Literature Society).
Vatanen, A. 2016. Keskustelunanalyyttinen tutkimusprosessi [Conversation Analytic Research Process]. In Lindholm, C. & Stevanovic, M. (eds.), Keskustelunanalyysi. Kuinka tutkia sosiaalista toimintaa ja vuorovaikutusta [Conversation Analysis. How to study social action and interaction], pp. 312–330. Tampere: Vastapaino.
Vatanen, A. 2014. Responding in overlap. Agency, epistemicity and social action in conversation. Doctoral dissertation. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. (Available in an electronic form via http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-51-0280-5.)
Vatanen, A. 2014. Vastausvuoro päällekkäispuhuntana. Toimijuus, tieto ja sosiaalinen toiminta keskustelussa [Responding in overlap. Agency, epistemicity and social action in conversation]. Lectio praecursoria. Virittäjä, 118 (4).
Härmävaara, H-I., Vatanen, A. & Frick, M. 2013. Keskusteluntutkimus ja kieltenvälinen vertailu yhteistyössä [Combining Research on Conversation and Cross-Linguistic Comparison]. In Kolehmainen, L., Miestamo, M. & Nordlund, T. (eds.), Kielten vertailun metodiikka [The Methodology of Cross-Linguistic Comparison], pp. 135–167. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seuran Toimituksia 1387. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (Finnish Literature Society).
Vatanen, A. 2010. Yhteistyöhakuinen päällekkäispuhunta suomalaisessa ja virolaisessa arkikeskustelussa [Cooperative overlapping talk in Finnish and Estonian everyday conversation]. – Lähivõrdlusi. Lähivertailuja [Close comparisons] 19, 76–94. Tallinn: Eesti rakenduslingvistika ühing.
Previous research projects and communities
Research project "Lapses in interaction and the stereotype of the Silent Finn" (PI, Finnish Cultural Foundation, 2016-2017)
Research project "The question of units in language and interaction" (Postdoctoral researcher, 2014-2016)
Finnish Centre of Excellence in Research on Intersubjectivity in Interaction, Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, University of Helsinki
In the media
Lapses in interaction and the stereotype of the Silent Finn:
BBC travel: How the Finnish survive without small talk (17 Oct 2018)
HS Nyt: BBC:n toimittaja perehtyi suomalaiseen small talkin puutteeseen (18 Oct 2018)
Finnish Cultural Foundation Blog: Hiljaiset suomalaiset – totta vai stereotypiaa? (11 Oct 2016)
Responding in overlap:
Yle: Alkoiko joku puhua päälle, vaikket vielä lopettanut? Tutkimus: siihen on syynsä (31 Oct 2014)
Yle Radio 1, Tiedeykkönen: Me puhumme joskus toistemme päälle, miksi? (7 Nov 2014)
Databases
Professional and community activities
- University of Helsinki (2009-2017): https://tuhat.helsinki.fi/portal/en/person/avatanen
Research groups
- iTask: Linguistic and embodied features of interactional multitasking
- COACT (Complexity of (inter)action and multimodal participation)
Thesis supervisions
Doctoral theses
Co-supervisor of MA Antti Kamunen, "Embodied practices in interactional multitasking"
Co-supervisor of MA Tiina Eilittä, "Multiactivity and attention seeking in adult-child interaction"
Master's theses
Primary supervisor of two MA students
Research visits
-
Visiting Research Fellow, University of Sydney
– 30.1.2017 to 30.4.2017
