"This book provides an introduction to conversation analysis as an approach and a
method for studying social interaction usable not only for investigating the organization
of naturally occurring talk, but for investigating the forms, the structures, and the
machinery of a wide range of social actions."
-Lingua
"Conversation Analysis" is a set of rigorous systematic techniques designed
to explore the everyday world of ordinary people through the language they use in mundane
interactions. Developed over the past 30 years, conversation analysis has contributed
enormously to the understanding of social life, social structure, the meaning ascribed by
individuals to interaction, and the rules and structures of conversation. George Psathas'
succinct introduction to conversation analysis outlines its procedures and its major
accomplishments, including discussions of verbal sequence, institutional constraints on
interaction, and the deep structure of talk. This book is of value to students in
sociology, communication, social psychology, sociolinguistics, and cognitive science.
85 pages