ABSTRACT
Face-to-face interaction requires participants to engage with issues that do not arise in most forms of written discourse or in some kinds of monologue. A significant contribution is made by such phenomena as voice pitch and volume as well as gesture, posture and the physical distance of one speaker from another (known as paralinguistics, kinesics and proxemics). Deference or contempt can be signalled by these means; there is a recognized offence called ‘dumb insolence’. Eye-contact or gaze is also an issue here.
