Bøger i Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics serien

Discourse markers - the particles oh, well, now, then, you know and I mean, and the connectives so, because, and, but and or - perform important functions in conversation. Dr Schiffrin's approach is firmly interdisciplinary, within linguistics and sociology, and her rigourous analysis clearly demonstrates that neither the markers, nor the discourse within which they function, can be understood from one point of view alone, but only as an integration of structural, semantic, pragmatic, and social factors. The core of the book is a comparative analysis of markers within conversational discourse collected by Dr Schiffrin during sociolinguistic fieldwork. The study concludes that markers provide contextual coordinates which aid in the production and interpretation of coherent conversation at both local and global levels of organization. It raises a wide range of theoretical and methodological issues important to discourse analysis - including the relationship between meaning and use, the role of qualitative and quantitative analyses - and the insights it offers will be of particular value to readers confronting the very substantial problems presented by the search for a model of discourse which is based on what people actually say, mean, and do with words in everyday social interaction.

This book makes available five classic studies of the organisation of behaviour in face-to-face interaction. It includes Adam Kendon's well-known study of gaze-direction in interaction, his study of greetings, of the interactional functions of facial expression and of the spatial organisation of naturally occurring interaction, as recorded by means of film or videotape.

Conversations between AIDS counsellors and their clients bring delicate and potentially threatening issues into play. This study applies the principles of conversation analysis to an exploration of AIDS counselling, using data from video-recorded counselling sessions in a London teaching hospital.

The contributors to this volume explore a rich variety of linkages between interaction and grammar, proposing as their starting-point that the very integrity of grammar is bound up with its place in the larger schemes of the organisation of human conduct, particularly social interaction.

This study combines analysis of actual talk and power technologies with a reflection on the communicative representation of cultural constructs such as truth and credibility to examine shifting relationships between witnesses and the Justice Department in the trials of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata, an Italian criminal organisation.

Matters of Opinion offers an interesting insight into 'public opinion' as reported in the media, asking where these opinions actually come from, and how they have their effects. Drawing on the analysis of conversations from focus groups, phone-ins and broadcast interviews with members of the public, Greg Myers argues that we must go back to these encounters, asking questions such as what members of the public thought they were being asked, who they were talking as, and whom they were talking to. He reveals that people don't carry a store of opinions, ready to tell strangers; they use opinions in order to get along with other people, and how they say things is as important as what they say. Engaging and informative, this book illuminates debates on research methods, the public sphere and deliberative democracy, on broadcast talk, and on what it means to participate in public life.

This study identifies key mechanisms through which a young child operates with external knowledge in her immediate social context. In contrast to studies which analyse development under different headings, Tony Wootton links these aspects in his examination of the state of understanding which exists at any given moment in interaction.

This book explores two important tasks of language - presenting 'who' we are talking about and 'what happened' in a narrative - and how this alters according to emergent forms and meanings. Using a range of examples, it shows how words, structures and meanings are re-used in new contexts for new listeners.

The study of teenagers' interaction in the classroom can tell us a great deal about late-modern society. In this revealing account, Ben Rampton presents his extensive sociolinguistic research in an inner-city high school, offering a fresh contribution to some major debates in sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and education.

The essays in this volume are all analyses of prosody - primarily intonation and rhythm - and the role it plays in everyday conversation, and they study material which is taken not from laboratory data but from genuine English, German, and Italian conversations.

The relationship between language, discourse and identity has always been a major area of sociolinguistic investigation, which in recent years has been revolutionized by some pioneering models and approaches. By applying these to numerous social contexts, this volume sheds light on how our social practices help shape our identities.