How Shared Interactional Histories Shape Local Practices: Mutual Adaptation of Participants’ Stance and Affect Displays in Assessment Activities

We set out to uncover how processes of mutual adaptation over iterative encounters inform the ways in which participants design their turns and actions. Analyzing assessment practices between an au pair and her host mother during mealtime interactions over nine months, we document both local, in situ adaptations in the course of single assessment activities and longitudinal change across repeated interactions over time. As their relationship evolves, participants move toward increased affect displays, stronger epistemic claims, and enhanced sharing of personal experiences. The findings show how local interactional practices are reflexively related to evolving social rapports between participants in regard not only to shared knowledge but also to the affective dimension of sociality. They also offer a methodological contribution to longitudinal CA by documenting how interactional histories shape the very opportunities for accomplishing precise actions in precise ways, which raises critical questions for comparability over time. Data are in French.