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When names fail: Referential practice in face-to-face service encounters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2008

ROBERT J. MOORE
ROBERT J. MOORE
Affiliation:
The Multiverse Network, 1923 Landings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, bobmoore@multiverse.net
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Abstract

Referential practice – the variety of ways in and through which speakers refer to things in social interaction – involves a range of very different methods. When referring to physical objects or processes in face-to-face interaction, people may choose from a variety of resources, including verbal categories, names, pointing, verbal descriptors, depictive gestures, and prop demonstrations. This raises the question: Under what circumstances do speakers choose particular resources over others? To address this question, this study examines referential practice in a particular kind of face-to-face workplace setting, the service counter of a quick print shop. At the service counter, not only do customers use alternative resources in referring to the document services they want, but these resources appear to be ordered relative to one another in terms of a preference for minimization. In referring to document services, customers first try the most minimal form, the official name, but if that fails or is unknown, customers fall back on more expanded forms of reference, such as pointing or depicting.

Keywords

gesturereferential practiceservice encounterconversation analysisvideo analysis
Type
Research Article
Information
Language in Society , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , July 2008 , pp. 385 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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