ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines misunderstandings occurring between co-members and participants from different ethnolinguistic backgrounds. The concern with misunderstanding as 'problematic' talk is apparent in taxonomies of misunderstanding as they have been proposed by scholars grappling with this ubiquitous phenomenon of discursive action. The book provides a broad overview of six different research strands which she deems relevant for a transdisciplinary approach to the analysis of misunderstanding sequences. These include social views, intercultural misunderstanding, pragmatic theory, philosophical views of the 'self-orientedness' of communication, psychopathological theories and information processing theory. It examines misunderstandings in political news interviews broadcast on Israeli television against the backdrop of misunderstanding in ordinary conversation. The book adopts an interactional sociolinguistic approach in order to examine yet two more interview types, interviews conducted as criminal justice procedures and job interviews.
