Investigating the language of decision-making: the combined use of discursive practices

Vol.40,No.1(2014)

Helena Lohrová

https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2014-1-6

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/131485

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Abstract
The text draws on authentic business meetings data collected during a longitudinal study undertaken in a British Chamber of Commerce and Industry; it presents a conversation-analytical approach to the examination of decision-making. The paper adopts the format of a single-case analysis to document how speakers employed three selected discursive practices – Explanations, Accounts, and Formulations – either to launch their contributions or to maintain their influence in multi-party meetings interactions. Specifically, it reports on the phenomenon of how speakers combined these practices in the form of extended turns and how such sequential organisation of their talk facilitated the progression of the meeting. Although the practices have long been of interest to conversation analysts, the examination of their combined use and joint impact on decision-making is innovative and original to the research reported.

Keywords:
accounts – explanations – formulations; business meetings; Conversation Analysis (CA); decision-making; discursive practices; multi-party talk

Pages:
105–127
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