(Salle F106)

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Nevile, Maurice University of Canberra, Canberra

Pointing in the airline cockpit : witnessing, and making space

This paper examines pointing in the routine work of airline pilots, and uses transcriptions and video recordings of pilots interacting on actual passenger fl ights. First, to direct attention and establish shared sites of reference, the timing of pointing can make maximally visible the non-talk activity for some task or the evidence of its completion, or occurrence of a fl ight event. So pointing realizes accountability for seeing : activities and events should be jointly witnessed. Second, the manner and location of pointing shows how pilots interpret and treat as signifi cant relevant spaces in the cockpit, and the positioning of their bodies within it, relative to the activities required for different tasks. Pilots enact a professional orientation to task-sensitive particularities of the cockpit’s layout, including seating arrangements and placement of instruments (e.g. displays) : pointing is a means for making space. The paper furthers research drawing on ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to consider pointing as situated in social action and collaborative work. It considers the role of pointing as pilots develop and demonstrate to one another their moment-to-moment understandings of what they are doing and what is going on. Pointing is examined as a local competency for a specific professional group.