prof. dr. A.J. (Tom) Koole

My research at the moment looks at how participants in interactional talk achieve intersubjectivity (mutual understanding). I am concerned with the question in what interactional positions we can display understanding; what means can be used to do this, including both verbal and bodily means; and what kinds of understanding we can display, such as understanding what is talked about (topic), or what is said about it (comment).  For this research  I use recorded mundane telephone conversations, video-recorded face-to-face conversations, and institutional talk between teachers and students, and between financial advisers and their clients.

Since 2003 I have collaborated with researchers of the Health Communication Research Unit in Johannesburg, South Africa in an investigation of oral health communication. The ultimate goal of the research is to prepare health professionals for a communication practice in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual context.