Dialogue

The article unfolds dialogue as the complex whole of human action and behaviour in the theory of New Science. The actual state of research in dialogue analysis seems to be a garden of a thousand flowers where scholars can pick out the flower they like. Can this be science? New Science is introduced as science of complexity which represents a new hierarchy of integrated components derived from the complex whole. The structure of dialogue as the complex whole allows us to describe and explain all pertinent components in one theory. The article briefly outlines the main components: action and grammar. New Science also means the end of unjustified assumptions which underlie most of the various current models of science and philosophy and calls for verification by neuro- and sociobiology.

Communicating communication

Recent years saw the rise of communication experts, operating in various contexts and enjoying high levels of popularity. The paper examines this expertise asking: What kind of expertise do communication experts hold? What is the communication they are expert in? And what can scholars of communication learn from experts who practice it professionally? Based on in-depth interviews with communication experts, we analyze what they believe are the components of their expertise and the reliance of this expertise on communication to communicate itself. We examine this recursive nature of expertise in communication by highlighting the relationship between these experts and laypeople, offering an explanation for the popularity of the former specifically in the era of “the death of expertise”.

Identity, agency and intercultural dialogic competencies in L2 ultimate attainment

This preliminary study seeks to examine the role of agency and bilinguals’ identity negotiated in the processes of acculturation as key factors in attaining a very high or near-native L2 proficiency. Since these aspects appear to have been underestimated in research on L2 ultimate attainment, interviews were carried out with eight L2 speakers of Polish (four near-native and four highly advanced bilinguals) in order to obtain qualitative data on participants’ self-identity and acculturation. The results show that the near-native subjects identified themselves very strongly with the receiving society, whereas highly proficient L2 speakers retained a much stronger sense of L1-related identity. It is hypothesized that bilinguals’ acculturation strategies and intercultural dialogic competencies may be decisive factors in determining L2 near-nativeness.

Constructing disagreement space

The study is a single case analysis and explores how disagreement space is constructed in a dialogue that addresses language ideology and identity issues in Belarus. Disagreement space is understood as a set of the interactant’s commitments, beliefs, intentions that can be reconstructed from their actions and “called out” by another participant (Jackson 1992). The interactional data includes the video-recording of the debate that was devoted to the issue whether Belarusian should be the only official language of Belarus. While two opponents are dominating parties in this debate, the host also plays an important role in this argumentative activity. The current study examines the host’s actions to shape disagreement space and argues that the host should be viewed as a valid party in a multi-party argumentative activity.

“What I advise you to do is…”

The current study aims to examine the realization of the speech act of advising among Egyptian university teachers. To this end, 50 Egyptian university teachers at a private university completed eight role-plays in which they gave solicited advice to their fellow teachers. The role-plays were recorded and later transcribed. The data were coded for the advising strategies as well as the initiators and internal/external modifiers. The results showed the participants’ preference for the use of direct advising. The results also showed a minimal influence for the advisor’s gender and years of teaching experience on the participants’ advising preferences. A major influence, however, was observed for the variable of social dominance as represented in the advisee’s academic rank. The results are interpreted in terms of the Mixed Game Model and earlier studies on the speech act of advising.