Non-lexical vocalizations help novices learn joint embodied actions

Abstract

Non-lexical vocalizations are key interactional resources for novices learning joint embodied actions. We use ethnomethodological video analysis of a beginners’ partner dance workshop to explore how novices use non-lexical vocalizations to navigate unfamiliar dance movements together. These vocalizations often accompany apologies, accounts, and bodily actions that mark moments of trouble with coordination. We show how these non-lexical vocalizations can provide reference points for novices who lack expert terminology to account for, evaluate, and re-animate their experiences of otherwise inchoate sequences of joint embodied action.