The close study of classroom talk has been an active field of research since the 1970s, when John Furlong made his significant contribution. Focusing particularly on research into teacher-student interactions, we will review the development of this field from the 1970s until the present, considering what has been learned and the educational…

A theory of group interaction with a focus on the trajectories of relevant variables as they change over time is developed in this paper. The four major components of the group interaction process (communication, conflict, involvement, and centralization) are presented and conceptually defined, and the nature of their interdependence is discussed.…

The activities involved in coding conversation sequences and the lack of attention given to their systematic validation within the field of speech communication are discussed in this paper. The paper first reviews briefly the assumptions underlying relational coding and the implications of viewing these activities as practical accomplishments. It…

This paper proposes a general principle of topic resources as a key principle of conversation. The first section of the paper offers a discussion of the notion of cohesion as a condition in which interactants perceive that their utterances are related to one another and presents the "given-new" strategy (in which the interactants…

Drawn from a 1978 Speech Communication Association seminar, this collection of papers and other materials explores the subject of argumentation as epistemology. The first paper reviews several critiques of traditional argumentation theories and offers directions for new theories, and the remaining eight papers offer responses to the ideas and…

Results from a previous experiment relating sex role typing to verbal nonassertiveness are reviewed in this paper in light of other findings in the sex role literature. The first conclusion offered by the review suggests that, with respect to speech behavior, the expected correspondence between androgynous behavior and sex role typing requires…

Presents a theoretical account of how speakers interpret that which is taken for granted in messages. Discusses research concerning enthymemes, argument theory, indirect speech acts, conversational maxims, pragmatic implication and other areas. Provides a framework for a model of how speakers interpret unspoken portions of utterances. (JMF)

This paper proposes the use of interaction process analysis to study negotiation behaviors. Following a review of current literature in the field, the paper presents a theoretical framework for the analysis of both labor/management and social negotiation processes. Central to the framework described are two systems of activities that together…

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)

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)

Traces the development of an approach to studying face-to-face interaction that proposes to expound the rules or procedures of interaction and to account for observed behavior in terms of how it functions as a communicational system. A selective literature review and recommendations for further study are included. (EJS)

Among other findings, results of this study strongly indicate that (1) males and females differ in their communication behavior in initial interaction depending on whom they are talking to; and (2) a unique pattern of female interaction does exist which is different from interaction in dyads of other sex composition. (PD)

An analysis of interpersonal communication research supports the existence of the notion "communicative style," the method or manner by which an individual interacts with others. Scholars concerned with interpersonal behavior acknowledge that individuals develop habitual styles of interactive behavior that tend to produce optimal…