Language & Social Interaction (LSI) An Internationally Prominent Subfield of Communication Karen Tracy, University of Colorado, USA

LSI Df. = An area of Communication that studies how talk and text accomplish a variety of functions in social life. Preview – LSI’s institutional history – Seven main approaches – An example: identity and identity-work in the marriage equality debates in the U.S. – Emerging directions

LSI’s History 1987 “Language & Social Interaction” became label for communication research about language, interaction, and culture – At NCA, Speech & Language Sciences Division renamed – The journal, Research on Language and Social Interaction began 1992 LSI became a division in the International Communication Association 2005 Handbook of Language & Social Interaction was published

Theoretical Approaches 1.Cultural approaches – Key impulses—recognize how culture shapes what is desired and possible; values identifying how genres and expressive patterns are community specific – Distinctive Versions Ethnography of communication (Philipsen) Cultural discourse studies (Shi Xu) Natural semantic metalanguage (Wierzbicka)

2.Critical Discourse Approaches – Key impulses—Committed to explicating how routine language and interaction practices normalize existing power arrangements and disadvantage those in categories that are stigmatized – Distinctive Versions Critical Discourse Analysis (Fairclough) Discourse Historical Approach to CDA (Wodak)

3.Ethnomethodological-Conversation Analytic Approaches – Key impulses: Study how people create social order in everyday life through a wide range of small, frequently out-of- awareness actions – Distinctive Versions Conversation analysis (Sacks) Membership categorization analysis (Sacks)

4.Practice Approaches – Key impulses: Take activities in the social world as a start-point for analysis of language and interaction – Distinctive Versions GPT (Craig) Activity Theory (Vygotsky) Community of Practice (Wenger)

5.Pragmatics Approaches – Key impulses: Highly diverse set, arose within linguistics and attends to the functions language serves in social life – Distinctive versions Politeness theory (Brown & Levinson) Genre analysis (Bhatia) Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday)

6.Multimodal Approaches – Key impulse: Stresses the importance of visual aspects of texts and events in conjunction with language – Distinctive version Social semiotics (Kress & van Leeuwen) 7.Social Psychological – Committed to linking psychological processes or outcomes with features of language and interaction – Distinctive Versions Discursive social psychology (Potter) Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles)

Example: Marriage Equality Debates “identities” and “identity-work”

Notable discourse moves (Con speakers) 1.Frame sexual orientation as a matter of “lifestyle” 2.Proclaim positive feelings for category 3.Disclaim negative feelings for category RI: To say that this traditional understanding of marriage as many people do believe, and they honestly believe it, is in fact based on uh, uh bigotry and discrimination, Um I would say that we also have a new problem and I do recognize that in society. Which is how do we demonstrate respect for our gay friends and family members and neighbors? And it is uh- It is a good question. It’s a serious and important question.... Um, I would say this in conclusion, that uh whatever else our marriage tradition is, it is not based on animus or hatred or bigotry or a desire to do harm.

A 4 th Move & the Upshot 4.Apologize – Excuse me, I would like to apologize for some. To reiterate what someone else had said earlier, apologize for those who’ve acted in a hateful manner out of fear and ignorance. That is never acceptable, ever. I would like to stress that this opposition has nothing to do with hate or prejudice. But everything to do with protecting the value and the sanctity of traditional marriage (Hawaii) The Upshot..... – Societal change has solidified gays & lesbians as a legitimate category of person. With that change, persons advocating against marriage rights need to engage in extensive facework strategies as they speak

Future Directions of LSI LSI has always focused on interaction in its situated and messy particularity. As the social world changes, so too does LSI research – Web pages, Twitter, YouTube – Greater work in languages other than English – Analyzing exchanges around emerging social problems