| Abstract: |
The paper discusses action sequences that concern the transfer of an object or service, namely requests and responses to them. It focuses specifically on responses, describing how interactants construct them with linguistic, embodied and material resources. The data, a total of 16 h, are drawn from video recordings of casual co-present conversations in English, and conversation analysis is used as the methodology. The majority of the requests are favorably responded to. The paper discusses how the acceptance and fulfillment of requests is achieved, by examining two social action formats for favorably responding to requests and by showing how linguistic and embodied practices are variously employed in the two. The first format covers requests that are responded to by fulfillment only (e.g. handing a sweet), while the second format includes favorable responses that consist of two parts, acceptance plus fulfillment as separate but linked actions (e.g. voicing an affirmative response token and assisting in disentangling a bag strap). It is noted that the ways of responding to requests in the database reflect the fact that, in co-present interaction, requests characteristically deal with concrete objects and events in the immediate semiotic environment and with present activities. |