Monitoring the swimzone while finding south: sustained orientation in multiactivity among beach lifeguards

Abstract

Abstract Lifeguards stationed opposite their swimzone on a beach in southwest France huddle around a diagram in the sand; the Head Lifeguard points to the sun then looks at the swimzone. What is going on here? Our paper examines two excerpts from this interaction to explore how lifeguards manage an instruction activity that arises in addition to the task of monitoring the swimzone. Building on frame analysis and multiactivity in social interaction, we focus on the role of gaze behavior in maintaining a sustained orientation to the swimzone as a distinct activity in this setting. Multimodal, sequential analyses of extracts from the video data show that orientation to the lifeguarding task is sustained primarily by body orientation and gaze patterns that routinely return to the swimzone. This is supported when sustained orientation away from the swimzone leads to the momentary suspension of the instruction activity and consequent re-organization of the interaction, illustrating the normative and visible nature of managing multiactivity. These gaze behaviors and interactive patterns constitute practices of professional vision among beach lifeguards.