Squawk in interaction: a primer of conversation analysis for students of animal communication

Conversation Analysis is a method and theory of the organization of communicative social interaction among humans that emerged from Sociology in the 1960s. In spite of the similarities between human conversation and communicatory interactions in non-human animals, the evolutionary science of Animal Communication and Conversation Analysis have never engaged in interdisciplinary discourse. The objective of this manuscript is to introduce students of Animal Communication to the field of Conversation Analysis. We begin with a historical overview of the field, and go on to describe its theory, methodology, major discoveries, and current directions. We then discuss the similarities and differences between Conversation Analysis and Animal Communication, concluding that both fields could benefit from cross fertilization.