Extract 2
1 Eamonn: and here’s- here- hh from the headmistress’s
2 point of view <uhhh .hh whe::n does that
3 become an issue for you> as to the amount
4 of makeup and how its worn↑
5 (0.4)
6 Chris: .hhhh to start with i- i completely empathise
7 with young people and what they ha:ve (.) to
8 go through- (0.2) i’ve got three children
9 >twenty-one nineteenfifteen < we’ve had ac ne
10 .hh we’ve had other skin conditions .hh
11 we’ve had the teasing and we’ve >had to
12 deal with it as a family as well as a
13 school< .hhh
In extract 2, Eamon requests that Christine provide “the headmistress’s point of view” (lines 1-4), but it is not until line 13 that Christine moves to do so. Instead, after hesitation (line 5) Christine undertakes to establish her own identity as a mother. Christine explicitly marks her motherhood by referring to her “three children” (lines 6- 8). She then offers alignment with her co-incumbent Jenna, via a three-part list (Jefferson, 1990) referring to “acne”, “other skin conditions” and “the teasing” (lines 9 - 11), all of which are direct reference to concerns Jenna has previously introduced. Christine’s use of the definite article in “the teasing”, strengthens the sense of collective experience, suggesting a phenomenon familiar to those listening (Du Bois, 1980). In asserting “we’ve had to deal with it as a family as well a school” (lines 12-13), first-person plural pronouns invoke both Family and School MCDs, enabling Christine to speak as a mother and as a headteacher. This then becomes the springboard from which Christine subsequently moves to disagree with Jenna’s stance.