ABSTRACT
Conversation analysis (CA) is founded on a sociological conceptualization of the basically social nature of language use in human interaction. However as the work in CA has developed, it has come to be a truly multi-disciplinary fi eld; and in this account of recent developments and the directions in which we see CA heading, we will highlight particularly the implications which CA’s methods and fi ndings are having for core areas in linguistics – focusing especially on the syntax of social actions in talk. But to begin with, we will briefl y review the background to CA’s programme.
