Language in Society · 1976 · 288 citations · 21 references
Language StudiesCommunicationLinguisticsDiscourse AnalysisInterpersonal CommunicationPragmaticsConversation AnalysisConversation StructureInteractional PragmaticsPragmatic AnalysisService EncounterSpeech ActsCommunication In Service EncountersConversation Analysis Of QuestionsConversationsQuestion InterpretationRequest InterpretationRequest SequencesRequest-response ProcessingService Encounter Talk
The paper examines patterns of talk that arise in service encounters and other conversations. It investigates how discourse structures, such as the question–answer adjacency pair, contribute to the coherence of everyday discourse. The study analyzes the customer‑request–server‑response sequence to assess its conformity to a question–answer pattern. It finds that while some exchanges follow a question–answer pattern, many form question–question sequences that differ in how the second question relates to the first, influencing whether the customer request is interpreted as a request for information or service, and offers tentative generalizations about interpreting responses to questions. Keywords: questions, conversational analysis, discourse analysis, pragmatics, indirect speech acts, coherence, ritual, service encounters, American English.
ABSTRACT This paper is a treatment of some patterns of talk that occur in service encounters (and presumably in other conversations as well). It is an attempt to examine the contribution of discourse structures such as the question–answer adjacency pair to the coherence of everyday discourse. The customer-request–server-response sequence is examined as to its adherence to a pattern of question–answer. Though some sequences do adhere to the question–answer pattern, there are many that do not, but rather are manifested as question–question. The question–question patterns are shown to be of several kinds in terms of the relationship of the second question to the first. The analysis demonstrates the relationship of these patterns to the pragmatic interpretation of the customer-request as either a request for information or as a request for service, and leads to a tentative set of generalizations concerning the interpretation of responses to questions in general. (Questions, conversational analysis, discourse analysis, pragmatics, indirect speech acts, coherence, ritual, service encounters, American English.)
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