Organization of the Course
Week 1: Teaches how to use ELAN software for analyzing video clips of face-to-face dialogues. Individuals read about and download ELAN (free on the internet), as well as learn its basic functions, which include how to select and annotate specific events. The exercise involves annotating a video in ELAN.
Week 2: Devoted to exploring the differences between the autonomous and collaborative views of face-to-face dialogue. The readings review relevant experiments from the psycholinguistics literature. The exercise is to create an annotated ELAN file that contrasts these two views of face-to-face communication in the same video excerpt.
Week 3: Focuses on debunking frequently taught myths about nonverbal communication (e.g., “body language”) and replacing them with a contemporary understanding of audible and visible co-speech acts. The readings are an introduction with examples and also a published research article about the function of gaze in dialogue. The exercise involves seeing and annotating specific co-speech acts in ELAN.
Week 4: With the above background and practice, the course begins in-depth analysis of what therapists do. This is the first of two weeks devoted to how therapists from different approaches make different (positive vs. negative) topic choices. The reading compares the topic choices by CBT and SFBT experts. The exercise is an ELAN replication of the method described in the article.
Week 5: The second week on topic choice explores clients’ responses to therapists’ topic choices. The reading is the latter part of the article assigned for Week 4. The exercise involves analyzing (in ELAN) how clients' topic choices are affected by the choices of topic that therapists made using the same video from Week 4.
Week 6: Formulation is a technical term for therapists’ paraphrases and summaries of what their clients say. The readings describe how formulations function in a therapeutic dialogue. The exercise involves identifying and annotating the exact words in a therapist’s formulations in ELAN.
Week 7: In the second week devoted to formulations, the readings describe an analysis of the specific ways in which therapists’ formulations transform what clients have said. The exercise involves annotating the exact works in a therapist’s formulations in ELAN.
Week 8: This is the first of two weeks devoted to questions and how they contribute to co-construction of the dialogue. The readings include the first part of an article on how questions function in therapeutic dialogues plus, a choice of one of three research articles, each showing the effects of embedded presuppositions in questions. The exercise involves, first, identifying "not-knowing" questions by the therapist in the assigned video, then distinguishing between the explicit request and the embedded presuppositions implied by each question.
Week 9: Continues the analysis of questions by reading the rest of the article describing a ten-step model of the co-construction sequence initiated by a therapist's question. The exercise involves using ELAN to identify and annotate all ten steps in a therapist’s question and the ensuing dialogue.
Week 10: This is the first of two weeks devoted to co-constructing sequences, that is, the observable process by which participants in a face-to-face dialogue negotiate and build shared understandings or meanings. The readings introduce a three-step co-constructing sequence, and the ELAN exercise involves identifying and annotating these sequences in a therapy video.
Week 11: This week is devoted to extending the analysis of co-constructing sequences to sequences that overlap, which often occur as therapist and client accumulate shared meaning in the dialogue. One of the readings provides examples, and one provides instructions on how to analyze these variations, which are the topic of this week's exercise.
Week 12: This week is devoted to integrating the material from Weeks 4 to 11, that is, reviewing and practicing how questions, formulations, and topic choice work within co-constructing sequences. Individuals will annotate each of these therapist tools and client responses in a video they worked on earlier in the course.
Week 13: This week addresses how to set up and make your own video recordings in a format that is optimal for microanalysis. Topics include the necessary equipment, camera angles, and file format for the video as well as basic editing and obtaining appropriate releases from the individuals being recorded. The exercise requires each person to make a video (suitable for microanalysis) of her or his own therapy or supervision session that would be useful for that individual to microanalyze. (The video can also be a role play rather than a real session.)
Week 14: This week focuses on inductive observation as a process for discovering new things in face-to-face dialogue. The readings explain the inductive approach and its advantages. Using his or her recording from the previous week, each individual finds something new and different--not covered in the course-- that she or he would be interested in investigating using microanalysis.
Week 15: This week is devoted to applying microanalysis to practice and supervision. The reading for the week describes how to use microanalysis of video to enhance these skills. The exercise requires individuals to create two excerpts of approximately three minutes each from their own video (recorded two weeks earlier). One excerpt is part of the session where he or she thinks things were going well and one excerpt where things were not going as well. Then each will analyze these excerpts in ELAN, identifying and discussing their topic choices, formulations, questions, and/or anything else they found of interest in Week 14’s exercise.
Week 16: The final week is devoted to helping individuals articulate their next steps in applying microanalysis to their own professional work. Their next steps could involve using microanalysis to improve their own professional skills, to conduct peer or other forms of supervision or consultation, or to begin a formal research project. Early in the week, individuals describe what they envision so they can be matched with an individual instructor who will ask questions and offer possibilities aimed at encouraging and refining the application of microanalysis in each individual’s chosen context.
If you would like to register for this course fill out the contact form at the bottom of the Online Course page.
Week 1: Teaches how to use ELAN software for analyzing video clips of face-to-face dialogues. Individuals read about and download ELAN (free on the internet), as well as learn its basic functions, which include how to select and annotate specific events. The exercise involves annotating a video in ELAN.
Week 2: Devoted to exploring the differences between the autonomous and collaborative views of face-to-face dialogue. The readings review relevant experiments from the psycholinguistics literature. The exercise is to create an annotated ELAN file that contrasts these two views of face-to-face communication in the same video excerpt.
Week 3: Focuses on debunking frequently taught myths about nonverbal communication (e.g., “body language”) and replacing them with a contemporary understanding of audible and visible co-speech acts. The readings are an introduction with examples and also a published research article about the function of gaze in dialogue. The exercise involves seeing and annotating specific co-speech acts in ELAN.
Week 4: With the above background and practice, the course begins in-depth analysis of what therapists do. This is the first of two weeks devoted to how therapists from different approaches make different (positive vs. negative) topic choices. The reading compares the topic choices by CBT and SFBT experts. The exercise is an ELAN replication of the method described in the article.
Week 5: The second week on topic choice explores clients’ responses to therapists’ topic choices. The reading is the latter part of the article assigned for Week 4. The exercise involves analyzing (in ELAN) how clients' topic choices are affected by the choices of topic that therapists made using the same video from Week 4.
Week 6: Formulation is a technical term for therapists’ paraphrases and summaries of what their clients say. The readings describe how formulations function in a therapeutic dialogue. The exercise involves identifying and annotating the exact words in a therapist’s formulations in ELAN.
Week 7: In the second week devoted to formulations, the readings describe an analysis of the specific ways in which therapists’ formulations transform what clients have said. The exercise involves annotating the exact works in a therapist’s formulations in ELAN.
Week 8: This is the first of two weeks devoted to questions and how they contribute to co-construction of the dialogue. The readings include the first part of an article on how questions function in therapeutic dialogues plus, a choice of one of three research articles, each showing the effects of embedded presuppositions in questions. The exercise involves, first, identifying "not-knowing" questions by the therapist in the assigned video, then distinguishing between the explicit request and the embedded presuppositions implied by each question.
Week 9: Continues the analysis of questions by reading the rest of the article describing a ten-step model of the co-construction sequence initiated by a therapist's question. The exercise involves using ELAN to identify and annotate all ten steps in a therapist’s question and the ensuing dialogue.
Week 10: This is the first of two weeks devoted to co-constructing sequences, that is, the observable process by which participants in a face-to-face dialogue negotiate and build shared understandings or meanings. The readings introduce a three-step co-constructing sequence, and the ELAN exercise involves identifying and annotating these sequences in a therapy video.
Week 11: This week is devoted to extending the analysis of co-constructing sequences to sequences that overlap, which often occur as therapist and client accumulate shared meaning in the dialogue. One of the readings provides examples, and one provides instructions on how to analyze these variations, which are the topic of this week's exercise.
Week 12: This week is devoted to integrating the material from Weeks 4 to 11, that is, reviewing and practicing how questions, formulations, and topic choice work within co-constructing sequences. Individuals will annotate each of these therapist tools and client responses in a video they worked on earlier in the course.
Week 13: This week addresses how to set up and make your own video recordings in a format that is optimal for microanalysis. Topics include the necessary equipment, camera angles, and file format for the video as well as basic editing and obtaining appropriate releases from the individuals being recorded. The exercise requires each person to make a video (suitable for microanalysis) of her or his own therapy or supervision session that would be useful for that individual to microanalyze. (The video can also be a role play rather than a real session.)
Week 14: This week focuses on inductive observation as a process for discovering new things in face-to-face dialogue. The readings explain the inductive approach and its advantages. Using his or her recording from the previous week, each individual finds something new and different--not covered in the course-- that she or he would be interested in investigating using microanalysis.
Week 15: This week is devoted to applying microanalysis to practice and supervision. The reading for the week describes how to use microanalysis of video to enhance these skills. The exercise requires individuals to create two excerpts of approximately three minutes each from their own video (recorded two weeks earlier). One excerpt is part of the session where he or she thinks things were going well and one excerpt where things were not going as well. Then each will analyze these excerpts in ELAN, identifying and discussing their topic choices, formulations, questions, and/or anything else they found of interest in Week 14’s exercise.
Week 16: The final week is devoted to helping individuals articulate their next steps in applying microanalysis to their own professional work. Their next steps could involve using microanalysis to improve their own professional skills, to conduct peer or other forms of supervision or consultation, or to begin a formal research project. Early in the week, individuals describe what they envision so they can be matched with an individual instructor who will ask questions and offer possibilities aimed at encouraging and refining the application of microanalysis in each individual’s chosen context.
If you would like to register for this course fill out the contact form at the bottom of the Online Course page.