Types of Talk

1. Interactional Talk

Interactional talk primarily manages relationships.

Common examples include:

• greetings and leave-taking;
• small talk;
• personal updates;
• compliments;
• joking;
• supportive responses;
• showing interest;
• thanking and apologizing.

Example:

A: How did your presentation go?
B: Pretty well, but I was nervous.
A: I know that feeling. You looked confident, though.
B: Thanks.

Although information is exchanged, the main work is interpersonal: showing interest and support.

Typical features include backchannels, personal questions, assessments, laughter, reciprocal disclosure, and flexible topic development.

2. Transactional Talk

Transactional talk primarily manages information or tasks.

Examples include:

• asking for directions;
• requesting information;
• arranging appointments;
• giving instructions;
• completing purchases;
• solving problems;
• confirming details.

Example:

A: What time does the office close?
B: Five o’clock.
A: Can I submit the form here?
B: Yes, at the front desk.

Here, success depends mainly on accurate and relevant information.

Transactional talk often includes clarification, confirmation, repetition, explicit reference, sequencing, and summaries.

3. Conversations Can Shift Orientation

Most conversations contain both orientations.

A: Hi! How’s your week going?
B: Busy, but okay.
A: What can I help you with?
B: Could I submit my paper on Monday instead of Friday?
A: Yes. Send it before noon.
B: Thank you. I appreciate it.

Turns 1–2: interactional
Turns 3–5: transactional
Turn 6: interactional closing

A strong analysis therefore identifies where the orientation shifts rather than labeling the entire conversation once.

4. Connecting Modules 7, 8, and 9

Use three questions when analyzing interaction.

Module 7 — Speech Action

What is the speaker doing?

Identify:

• locution;
• illocutionary force;
• direct or indirect speech act;
• uptake.

Module 8 — Sequence

How is the action organized conversationally?

Identify:

• adjacency pairs;
• expected responses;
• turn-taking;
• preference organization;
• pauses or overlap;
• repair.

Module 9 — Orientation and Success

What larger purpose are participants pursuing, and does the interaction succeed?

Ask whether speakers are primarily managing:

• a relationship;
• a task;
• or both.

5. Conversational Breakdown

A conversational breakdown occurs when participants display difficulty establishing or maintaining shared understanding.

Consider:

A: Could you open the window?
B: Yes, I can.

Both sentences are grammatically correct, but B treats the utterance as a question about ability rather than as a request.

Possible causes of breakdown include:

• speech-act misinterpretation;
• unclear reference;
• incorrect assumptions about shared knowledge;
• unexpected responses;
• orientation mismatch;
• turn-taking difficulty;
• failure to recognize or initiate repair.

6. Pragmatic Failure

Pragmatic failure is not simply grammatical error.

A grammatically correct utterance may produce an unintended interpersonal effect.

Student: Give me your notes.

The message is clear, but depending on the relationship and context, the imperative may be interpreted as overly demanding.

Pragmatic failure may involve misunderstanding:

• the intended speech act;
• participant roles;
• directness;
• entitlement;
• politeness expectations;
• appropriate amounts of information.

Avoid automatically labeling speakers as rude or inappropriate. Describe the linguistic and interactional evidence first.

7. Repair

Conversational trouble does not automatically mean communication has failed.

A: I’ll meet you at the bank.
B: The bank downtown?
A: No, the one across from campus.
B: Got it.

B initiates repair, and A resolves the problem.

Repair strategies include:

• clarification requests;
• confirmation checks;
• repetition;
• reformulation;
• self-correction.

The ability to repair trouble is part of communicative competence.

8. Analysis Framework

When analyzing a problematic exchange, ask:

1. Context: Who are the participants and what are they trying to accomplish?
2. Orientation: Is the talk interactional, transactional, or mixed?
3. Speech act: What action is being performed?
4. Sequence: What response does the turn make relevant?
5. Uptake: How does the listener appear to interpret the action?
6. Trouble: Where does misunderstanding or mismatch become visible?
7. Repair: How do participants attempt to restore understanding?
8. Outcome: Is the task completed and/or the relationship maintained?