ABSTRACT
The way people converse on a routine basis reveals a lot about the social structure of communication. Conversational analysis explores how conversations unfold and what they tell us about social relations. Work on speech acts, speech functions, discourse, and dialogue is discussed and illustrated with examples ranging from simple conversations to courtroom cross-examinations. The ability to use language for conversation is connected to the theory of communicative competence, which has become central to the study of sociolinguistics. The chapter ends with a discussion of body language and its relation to communicative competence.
