Some preliminary findings on Indigenous student and non-Indigenous tutor interaction within a university setting

This exploratory work examines interaction between Indigenous students and non-Indigenous tutors within a university setting in Brisbane, Australia. The data consists of an audio recording and transcriptions of a group discussion that focused on the participants' experiences at university. The data were analysed using conversation analysis (CA). The study found a sequential ordering of the speakers that made relevant race, gender and age. It also found that the different groups of speakers held different views on what constitutes interactional norms. These preliminary findings have implications for inclusion and equity issues for Indigenous students in higher education. The study as a whole has relevance to understanding Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples' talk-in-interaction.