The speech community and beyond

Abstract

Tools for the comparative study of social interaction are divided among different disciplines, and so a proposal for undertaking this project means assembling an eclectic toolkit. The cross-cultural comparative study of conversation has commenced only recently, but new advances suggest that we may be poised for a period of new emphasis and discoveries in this area. This chapter assembles a set of tools and best practices from across different disciplines. It aims to aid students of language and culture in pursuing a new paradigm of ethnographic, cross-cultural, field-based studies of social interaction. The chapter highlights some of the challenges raised by the prospect of cross-linguistically comparative interaction studies, as well as the diverse approaches developed across the social sciences to meet these challenges. Studying conversation across cultures means taking a perspective on social interaction that is committed to linguistic as well as anthropological insights.

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