Interpersonal communication (IC) is a continuous game between the
interacting interactants. It is a give and take - a continuous, dynamic
flow that is linguistically realized as discourse as an on-going sequence
of interactants' moves. Interpersonal communication is produced and
interpreted by acting linguistically, and this makes it a fascinating
research area. The handbook, Interpersonal Communication , examines how
interactants manage to exchange facts, ideas, views, opinions, beliefs,
emotion, etc. by using the linguistic systems and the resources they offer.
In interpersonal communication, the fine-tuning of individuals' use of the
linguistic resources is continuously probed. The language used in
interpersonal communication enhances social relations between interactants
and keeps the interaction on the normal track. When interaction gets off
the track, linguistic miscommunication may also destroy social
relationships. This volume is essentially concerned with this fine-tuning
in discourse, and how it is achieved among various interactant groups.
The volume departs from the following fundamental questions:
* How do interpersonal relations manifest themselves in language?
* What is the role of language in developing and maintaining
relationships in interpersonal communication?
* What types of problems occur in interpersonal communication and what
kind of strategies and means are used to solve them?
* How does linguistically realized interpersonal communication interact
with other semiotic modes?
Interpersonal communication is seen and researched from the perspective of
what is being said or written, and how it is realized in various generic
forms. The current research also gives attention to other semiotic modes
which interact with the linguistic modes. It is not just the social roles
of interactants in groups, the possible media available, the non-verbal
behaviors, the varying contextual frames for communication, but primarily
the actual linguistic manifestations that we need to focus upon when we
want to have a full picture of what is going on in human interpersonal
It is this linguistic perspective that the volume aims to present to all
researchers interested in IC. The volume offers an overview of the
theories, methods, tools, and resources of linguistically-oriented
approaches, e.g. from the fields of linguistics, social psychology,
sociology, and semiotics, for the purpose of integration and further
development of the interests in IC.,
* Orientation to interaction as primarily linguistically realized processes
* Expertise on theorizing and analyzing cultural and situational
contexts where linguistic processes are realized
* Expertise on handling language corpora
* Expertise on theorizing and analyzing interaction types as genres
* Orientation to an integrated view of linguistic and non-linguistic
participant activities and of how interactants generate meanings and
interact with space
* Expertise on researching the management of the linguistic flow in
interaction and its successfulness.