Sequence

Jack Sidnell
Table of contents

In conversation, actions are not arranged serially, one-after-the-other, like so many marching penguins but rather come grouped together in various ways. An answer, for instance, responds to a question and the two form together a paired unit. Some of the ways in which actions are grouped together and related to one another so as to form sequences are discussed in what follows. This leads to a consideration of the distinctive way in which understanding is achieved and sustained in conversation. It also leads to an examination of “preference” – a set of biases which operate across a wide range of sequence types.

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