ABSTRACT
Thereareanumberofgoodreasonsforchoosingrelativelyinformal conversationbetweeneducatedpeopleastheopeningvarietyfor linguisticanalysis.Conversation,inthesensedescribedinthischapter, iswithoutdoubtthemostcommonlyusedkindofEnglish,and consequentlyavarietywhichwillbemorefamiliartothevast majorityofEnglish-speakingpeoplethananyother.WecanconfidentlyclaimthateveryonemakesuseofthiskindofEnglishevery day,whereasthisclaimcouldnotbemadeofanyothervarietyof Englishwemightwanttodescribeinabooksuchasthis.Also,from thepedagogicalviewpoint,thesortofEnglishusedinconversational situations,withtheextremekindsofnon-fluencymentionedbelow removed,wouldseemtobethemostusefulandleastartificialkindto teachforeignstudentsofEnglishasameansofeverydaycommunication.Suchpracticalreasonsarequiteimportant.
