ABSTRACT
There exist several different approaches to the study of participation. A re search tradition in fields such as linguistic anthropology uses models pro posed by Goffman in works such as Footing (1981) as a point of departure for the construction of typologies for different kinds of participants within speech events (for instance, ratified versus unratified participant, hearer or overhearer). Within such a categorical framework, little attention is paid to how parties build action in concert with each other through ongoing analy sis of what each other is doing, and how such mutual reflexivity is relevant to the collaborative production of future action. Another approach to partici pation focuses on how newcomers become competent members of a com munity through processes such as peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Although this is certainly relevant to what is described here, it pays less attention to the detailed, moment-by-moment organization of specific, temporally unfolding activities.
