Understanding Conversation

The most common mode of spoken communication is the conversation. Through conversations we create and maintain relationships, explore and de­velop personal identities, and accomplish daily tasks. Because this form of dis­course is essential for social survival, conversation has been one of the most studied of all the discourse modes.

Conversation analyst Margaret McLaughlin defines a conversation as “a relatively informal social interaction in which the roles of speaker and hearer are exchanged in a nonautomatic fashion under the collaborative management of all parties.” As the most private and most personal mode of communica­tion, conversation differs from other forms of discourse. It is the most recipro­cal and egalitarian of all discourse forms because participation is equally dis­tributed. Generally speaking, conversation allows partners a degree of freedom not present in any other kind of communication. In most cases, informal lan­guage forms are chosen and personal information is shared. Conversations are also spontaneous, or locally managed; that is, participants make up a conversa­tion as they go along, taking their cues from one another. Thus, conversations are characterized by hesitations, restatements, repairs, and fillers, devices that signal the absence of strategy.

Some forms of discourse are publicly accessible; they are open to a large audience and are “on the record.” Conversations, on the other hand, are pri­vate; in many cases, it is a violation of trust to repeat what is said. Outsiders may have difficulty making sense of conversations because participants use im­plicit, private codes and personal “shorthands” that reinforce the participants, unique bonds. This is important because the overall orientation of conversation is often relational. Although people may accomplish tasks through conversa­tion, they often use conversation to get to know one another. More formal kinds of talk seldom focus on purely relational matters.