As a conversation analyst, my research focuses on tracking the fundamental role of language in human activities including how it can be used to perpetuate but also to reduce social inequalities. In this short piece, I will describe two ongoing research projects in which I’m using conversation analysis to address inequalities and promote social justice.

The first project focuses on language use in nuisance calls such as marketing, sales, and scam calls. Among these, the latter, which have multiplied during the Covid pandemic, are by far the most dangerous, as scammers sometimes manage to siphon thousands of euros from unwitting victims. To protect ourselves, and our loved ones from being scammed, the first thing we need to do is learn how to identify scam calls.

In my research, I use conversation analysis to examine recordings of authentic scam calls to uncover linguistic clues that we can reliably use to confidently recognise scammers. While this project is still in an incipient stage, its end goal is to provide research-grounded knowledge that would constitute the basis for public information campaigns aimed at combatting scams. Meanwhile, you can read preliminary advice on how to spot and deal with scam callers here.

The second project focuses on gender inequalities, specifically on everyday subtle acts of sexism and how these can be exposed, and dealt with using language. To that end, my colleagues and I have examined accusations of “mansplaining” in order to assess the effectiveness of calling out this gender transgression. We found that men are accused of mansplaining not only when they wrongly treat women interlocutors as less knowledgeable than they actually are, but also when they attempt to impose their views on gendered matters such as female reproductive health. Read more about the research here.

Bogdana Huma