Chapter 2. Question-prefaced advice in feedback sequences of Finnish academic supervisions

In the paper, I explore advice giving in the context of academic supervision, using conversation analytic method on videotaped data. The analysis adds to the body of empirical knowledge of institutional interaction, and in particular, professional advice-giving. I analyze advice in feedback situations of master’s thesis supervision in a Finnish university, where teachers provide their prepared comments on the student’s thesis manuscript. I examine teachers’ strategic use of questions in advice sequences, showing what consequences they gain by using this particular advice-delivery format. The results show that questions are used to topicalize problematic or “advisable” issues, to design fitted advice and avoid redundant advice, to explore the student’s knowledge and to circumvent resistance to corrective feedback.