ABSTRACT
This chapter returns to the concept of meaning as something created in interactions, this time drawing on insights from Interactional Sociolinguistics. It discusses how communication is enabled and relies on interactants’ expectations of how the interaction will unfold. The concepts of ‘frame’, ‘primary framework’, and ‘interactive frameworks’ are introduced and discussed. Subsequently, the chapter introduces and discusses the concept of ‘contextualisation cue’, as the speaker’s signal – spoken or unspoken – that indicates what kind of verbal activity they are about to engage in and how what they say should be interpreted. It concludes by talking about impairment and disability, the demands they make on communication and the importance of being aware of issues to do with both.
