BAAL’s UK Linguistic Ethnography Forum is concerned with research that studies social and cultural practices through detailed analysis of situated language and communication, using a combination of discourse-analytic and ethnographic research tools (Maybin & Tusting, 2011). A key strand in this research is focused on health care institutions (cf. Sarangi & Roberts, 1999; Iedema, 2007).

The proposed colloquium brings together current linguistic-ethnographic work in a GP surgery, a hospital, a health policy organization and patient homes in the UK. Looking across consultations, research interviews, surgical operations and policy debates the aims of the colloquium are twofold.

First, we explore clinical and non-clinical practice in terms of the complex dynamics of social interaction in health-related institutions, through close analysis of texts and audio and video recorded interactions involving patients, health professionals, and policy makers, combined with ethnographic analysis of institutions and local ecologies.

Second, we explore the potentials and constraints of a linguistic-ethnographic approach to doing health research. The papers take up the theme of this year’s Annual Meeting, adopting a linguistic ethnographic perspective on contemporary health care and addressing questions such as, How does the introduction of the Electronic Patient Record re-shape the consultation? How does medical teaching affect patient-safety? How is talk about health shaped by its setting? How do health policies evolve and change? The significance of these questions for the various stakeholders –clinicians, patients, health policy makers and managers, linguistic ethnographers- will also be discussed.

A common backdrop for the papers was provided by the ESRC-funded Researcher Development Initiative on Ethnography, Language and Communication (2007-2010) and related Explorations in Ethnography, Language and Communication conferences (2008-2010), in which the presenters were closely involved.