ABSTRACT
Interactional sociolinguistics (IS) has made a major contribution to the field of English studies by exposing the complexity and variety of and in interaction. It is an integrated programme of theory building, methodology and practical action. As the founder of interactional sociolinguistics, and, indeed, one of the founders of the wider field of socio-linguistics, John Gumperz takes centre place in this chapter. The capillary effect of his work is also widely recognized and this chapter discusses the studies of IS in institutional and local community settings in many parts of the world over the last 30 years.
