Considers issues in interdependence--the micro-macro issue in particular--to be important theoretical matters for future work in language and social interaction. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that language and social-interaction research should pay more attention to practical metadiscourse in general, and in particular to what happens when theorized concepts of language and social interaction are used for practical purposes. An abbreviated empirical example is provided that illustrates one way in which theorized concepts in…

Comembership, an aspect of social identity that involves specific attributes (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender), was investigated in faculty-student advising interviews. Student language indicates that role comembership may increase the complexity of the interaction by increasing the need to mark participant status. (Contains 18 references.) (LB)

Ways are suggested for language researchers to understand the relationship between language and social identity. It is argued that speakers attempt to establish the social identities of themselves and others through verbally performing certain social acts and verbally displaying certain stances. (Contains 53 references.) (LB)

Provides pieces of an interaction sequence enacted on an academic hotline, and a fairly casual analytic pass at them, as framing for some issues that deserve attention in the language and social interaction field. (Author/VWL)

Drummond and Hopper's article in this issue, "Back Channels Revisited," is discussed in terms of its ability to elicit contrary responses from different scholars because it incorporates elements of two incommensurate approaches to the study of conversation. Weider sets the stage for subsequent articles in this issue. (11 references) (LB)

Free-standing acknowledgement tokens are contrasted with tokens that begin full turns. Jefferson's theory is tested and supported that "yeah" displays greater speakership incipiency than "mm hm." Two research traditions that guide the present inquiry are reviewed. (17 references) (LB)

The authors respond to comments on their article, "Back Channels Revisited." The current state of the art in acknowledgement token research is outlined with particular reference to the turn-initial token "yeah." Contrastive uses of acknowledgement tokens are described. (20 references) (LB)

Selected results from an ethnographic study of communication in an American Pacific Northwest church community are presented. The case illustrates patterns in the selection of linguistic options of personal address and that personal address choice is influenced by such factors as context, public/private meanings, and interlocutor beliefs.…

Drummond and Hopper's article in this issue, "Back Channels Revisited," is argued to have decontextualized Jefferson's acknowledgement token phenomenon. The need for careful coding protocols for research on conversational practices is discussed. (eight references) (LB)

It is argued that the combination of research methods used in Drummond and Hopper's article in this issue, "Back Channels Revisited," is appropriate. Factors that make for good social science research are discussed. (eight references) (LB)

It is suggested that the conventional coding procedures of experimental social psychology miss critical (identifying, defining, or constitutive) features of conversation analysis' phenomena because the procedures present the analyst with two different sets of entities; i.e., they are incommensurable. (20 references) (LB)

Examined two series of fantasy play interactions, one in which a young child succeeded in directing the play of her peers and one in which a child was less successful at similar influence attempts. A theory of double-voiced discourse illustrates how dual-orientated talk facilitates children's efforts to influence peers during fantasy play. (54…

Applies communication accommodation theory (CAT) to a study of the utility of selected discourse indices of adaptability that compared conversations involving native speaker-native speaker and native speaker-nonnative speaker dyads. Subjects were 132 student volunteers from a large midwestern university. Results are analyzed in terms of their…