Conversational Analysis as a Theoretical Foundation for Language Action Approaches

Abstract

Communication modelling approaches within the Language Action Perspective (LAP) are based on two important theoretical cornerstones: 1) considering language use as action and 2) organisation of communication in accordance with pre-defined patterns. The basis for the first cornerstone can be found in speech act theory, but the basis for other must be searched for elsewhere. The paper investigates the origin for many LAP approaches, the Conversation-for-action schema of Winograd & Flores. It tries to detect an influence from the sociological approach of conversational analysis. Could conversational analysis be a basis for the study of communicative patterns within LAP? A discussion is pursued concerning differences between and possibilities to combine speech act theory and conversational analysis within LAP. This discussion, which is supported by the use of a simple example of business interaction, concludes with a contestation - in a spirit of conversational analysis - of a too heavy use of pre-defined patterns in communication modelling.

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