PekarekDoehler2026a
| PekarekDoehler2026a | |
|---|---|
| BibType | INCOLLECTION |
| Key | PekarekDoehler2026a |
| Author(s) | Simona Pekarek Doehler |
| Title | Interactional Competence in Contemporary Institutional Life: A Discussion Paper |
| Editor(s) | Laurent Filliettaz, Evelyne Berger, Anne-Sylvie Horlacher, Anna Claudia Ticca |
| Tag(s) | EMCA, interactional competence |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Year | 2026 |
| Language | English |
| City | Singapore |
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| Pages | 37-49 |
| URL | Link |
| DOI | 10.1007/978-981-92-0026-9_2 |
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| Howpublished | |
| Book title | Developing Interactional Competences at and for Work: Analyzing Talk-in-Interaction in different Professional and Training Contexts |
| Chapter | |
Abstract
Interactional competence—the ability to engage effectively with others—is essential to social and professional life, learning, participation, and integration. This chapter examines how interactional competence has been conceptualised and studied across various lines of research, and identifies how the contributions in this volume advance our understanding of its nature and development in the context of education and training. Focusing on institutional contexts such as the workplace or school, I outline the significance of interactional competence for social coordination, knowledge construction, relationship building, identity formation, and accomplishing professional tasks. I then discuss the epistemological grounding of current perspectives that view interactional competence as shared procedures for interaction—what Ethnomethodology calls “members’ methods”—and review institutional initiatives designed to cultivate such competence for specific professional purposes. Throughout, I emphasise that interactional competence is fundamental to institutional participation. It shapes access to opportunities, influences identity, and determines how individuals are integrated into social and professional communities. Far from a peripheral skill, it is a form of expertise embedded in the everyday practices that sustain institutions. A key institutional responsibility is therefore to recognise individuals’ interactional competences and provide opportunities to develop them in line with organisational expectations.
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