Talking simultaneously and Layering joint activity within a community of practice: Analysing schism in activity-oriented role-playing games

This paper aims to shed light on what is taking place in conversations when members of a community of practice (Wenger, 1998) partake in a community activity. Three sets of audio and video data have been collected from groups of 4/5 participants playing a role-playing game (Dungeons and Dragons). The main focus of this paper concerns the interaction between the participants and how they use ‘schisming’ (Sacks et al 1974) to move the activity along. Schisming is when, in a group of participants with four or more people, two conversations take place at the same time. This paper investigates how schism impacts the interactions between the participants: how do all participants orient to the split, and how does that split re-form once the schism is over? A second theme relates to power and who takes/holds/yields the floor during these interactions. A third concern considers how the language used by the participants shifts between imaginary (game-relevant) situations and real life. In other words, how is Clark’s notion of ‘layering’ (Clark 1996) at play in these activities? Conversation Analysis and within that, Turn-Taking (Sacks et al 1974), will be the theoretical framework used for transcription and data analysis in order to consider how turn construction might offer insights into the inner workings of these Community of Practices’ shared repertoires for talk. Initial findings suggest that schisming is clearly implicated in developing conversations. In addition, the role of the DM varies in authority; while they may control the imagined situations in relation to the activity taking place, others in the group can take/hold the floor for other (real life) reasons, such as being more experienced players. Ultimately, this paper offers insightful findings into what is at play when simultaneous talk takes place, how a figure of authority can hold the power in an informal situation, and, finally, it offers a wider understanding as to what is happening in a community partaking in a community-relevant practice. Clark, H. (1996) Using Language. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Sacks, H. Schegloff, E. and Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn- taking for conversation. Language, 50(4), pp.696- 735. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.