Reports work on text from extended event of talking among professionals. Discusses problematic communication and implications of nonsuccess in social interaction. Believes failure in explanation or in resolving competing claims implies need for more adequate cognitive and cultural models of participants' knowledge and practices; theoretical…

Drawing upon the philosophical and technical frameworks of discourse analysis, this paper suggests the rules governing linguistic choices in constructing negotiation. First, it clarifies the philosophical assumptions underlying different approaches to analysis, specifying a conceptual focus, particularly with regard to the situation and the…

Containing a methodological and conceptual critique of rules theory, this paper argues that rules theory cannot adequately explain enigmatic episodes because of its reliance on the practical syllogism and the concept of coordination. It proposes structural analysis as an alternative approach to analyzing and conceiving of enigmatic episodes. The…

Outlines some problems that emerged when speech act theory was applied to the analysis of natural discourse, traces these problems to basic flaws or misconceptions in J. R. Searle's theory, and proposes an alternative view of speech acts within the complex organization of discourse processes. (FL)

The theory of the coordinated management of meaning (CMM) describes the structural relationship between a conversation as it appears in a verbatim transcript and as it appears in the meaning-system of the participants. The five essential features of CMM theory are: a set of four propositions about the nature of communication and human behavior, a…

To examine the effects of the contextual variables of relationship intimacy and time on communication satisfaction, a study was undertaken involving 252 college freshmen. The subjects participated in one of two treatments. In the first, they were randomly paired and participated in social conversation for 15 minutes. Following the conversation,…

Probes the nature and extent of public conversations as indicators of community cohesiveness. (MH)

This paper studies meaning as a construct of human interaction. Basic to this approach is the concept of the act of communication, which may be realized verbally or non-verbally. In order to integrate non-verbal behaviors into descriptions of discourse and interaction, a series of functional, not anatomic, categories is needed. For the kinesic…

The use of discourse analysis in examining the classroom language interactions between English teachers and their students builds on the basic concepts of language function and language sequence. The four language functions are eliciting, informing, directing, and boundary marking (marking the divisions of discourse units). The three language…

The actual process of reading diagnosis and the effects of examiner/student interaction upon the diagnostic outcome were explored in this study. A testing session of approximately 50 minutes, conducted by a university professor to determine the reading problems of a nine-year-old boy, was videotaped. Applying an ethnomethodological model for…

Examines how people use "accounts," (communicate their own preferred meaning to explain a failure or problem in a more acceptable way). Illustrates the use of accounts in a teacher-student conference. (PD)

Argues that the study of discourse and the larger context of social interaction requires explicit reference to a broader organizational setting and aspects of cultural beliefs often ignored by students of discourse, conversational analysis, and paralinguistic and nonverbal activities. (FL)

Investigation of discourse structures in bilingual (German-English) families indicated that parents' discursive strategies were related to the children's acquisition of the minority language and that children were more likely to speak the minority language if the respective parent employed a more child-centered mode of interaction than the parent…