Book excerpt: An engaging introduction to the study of spoken interaction, this book provides a thorough grounding in the theory and methodology of conversation analysis. It covers data collection, techniques for analysis and practical applications, and guides students through foundational and new research findings on everyday conversations and talk in institutional contexts, from media, business, and education to healthcare and law. Now thoroughly updated to showcase contemporary developments in the field, this second edition includes: · New chapters on interaction in psychotherapy, educational settings and language learning and teaching · Expanded coverage of doctor-patient communications, customer service and business meetings workplace interviews and online interactions, including social media, video gaming and livestreams · A wider variety of research on other languages, including French, German, Italian, Finnish, Swedish, Arabic, Korean, Chinese and Japanese · Multimodal analyses of interaction, focusing on the integration of embodied action and talk Complete with student activities, recommended reading sections and a companion website featuring slides, quiz questions, and links to further transcripts, this book is an essential guide for doing conversation analysis and offers fresh insight into how we understand talk.