ABSTRACT
This chapter is an overview of some aspects of Herbert H. Clark’s theoretical perspective on language analysis, with two other key theories in pragmatics being mentioned briefly (Austin’s Speech Act Theory, which claims that language use can be equated with performing actions linguistically; and Grice’s Cooperative Principle and concomitant conversational maxims, which espouse the view that language use involves rational inferential processes). It is an introduction to Clark’s theory of language-in-use as a form of ‘joint action’. The chapter offers a very brief overview of his position in relation to previous literature to provide some context for his contribution. Thereafter, the use of language as ‘joint action’ is considered using three of Clark’s key terms – common ground, closure and construal. Clark explains common ground between two people as essentially ‘the sum of their mutual, common or joint knowledge, beliefs, and suppositions’.
