Drilling the mirror routine: From non‐situated looking to mobile practice in driver training

Abstract

This paper uses ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to trace the instructed development of a practical skill (the ‘mirror routine’) in a driving school in Sweden. Focusing the interaction between instructor and student, it applies a micro longitudinal perspective by examining five video excerpts from a total of ≈15 minutes of one driving lesson with a single constellation of student/instructor. Detailed analyses show how, by deploying different instructional resources, instructions are adapted to operate under a range of mobile and infrastructural contingencies, distinguishing between stationary and mobile instructions while considering the reflexive relation between the two. By and large, learning the mirror routine is a complex task in which the participants must deal with issues of instructions, temporality and practical multi‐activity at the same time.

Humorous or occasioned instructions: Learning the “shoulder check” in theoretical and practical driving lessons

“…2017, Deppermann, 2016, 2018b, 2018c; De Stefani, 2018; De Stefani & Gazin, 2014, 2019; Mondada, 2018). Sometimes (theoretical) knowledge about practical skills is dealt with in the form of pre‐instructions in mobile settings (e.g., Arnold, 2012; Björklund, 2018; Deppermann, 2018c; Helmer & Reineke, in press; Melander & Sahlström, 2009).…”

“…Another kind of practical skills are required in activities, in which the body moves a vehicle, such as in aviation lessons (Melander & Sahlström, 2009) and -being the focus of the present study -driving lessons (e.g., Björklund, 2018;Broth et al 2017, Deppermann, 2016, 2018b, 2018cDe Stefani, 2018;De Stefani & Gazin, 2014Mondada, 2018). Sometimes (theoretical) knowledge about practical skills is dealt with in the form of pre-instructions in mobile settings (e.g., Arnold, 2012;Björklund, 2018;Deppermann, 2018c;Helmer & Reineke, in press;Melander & Sahlström, 2009).…”

“…The shoulder check is always embedded into a larger trajectory of action, both globally (occasions of checking) and locally (the shoulder check as one link in a chain of tasks). In the practical lessons, as Extract 7 illustrates, the instructor anchors the shoulder check in the "mirror routine" (Björklund, 2018). The instructor decomposes the holistic tasks (in this case turning the car to the right) into several subtasks (lines 02, 04, 05)-the student learns to perform the check as one part in a process.…”

Learning to communicate: Managing multiple strands of participation in driving lessons

“…TCAR has just entered a narrow road, and INST has just instructed TDVR to turn right at the end of that road. At l. 01 INST is inviting TDVR to perform a routine required whenever TCAR changes direction, which consists of four successive steps: checking the rear-view mirror (uno, 'one'), the side-view mirror (due, 'two'), the blind spot (tre, 'three') and setting the indicator (freccia, 'indicator'); see Björklund, 2018. While INST and TDVR are engaged in carrying out this routine, a vehicle turns into the road from the opposite direction ( Fig. 13): Fig.…”

Formulating direction: Navigational instructions in driving lessons

“…indicator (l. 02–03) . In doing so, INS solicits TDR to check first the rear mirror (“uno”), then the side mirror (“due”), and then the blind spot (“tre”), before activating the indicator (“freccia”); see Björklund (this issue). Further (corrective) car control instructions follow on the subsequent lines (l. 05–08) and INS eventually acknowledges the execution of the instructed direction change with an “o:kay” at l. 10.…”