Article published in:
Requesting in Social InteractionEdited by Paul Drew and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen
[Studies in Language and Social Interaction 26] 2014
► pp. 145–170
The social and moral work of modal constructions in granting remote requests
Jakob Steensig | Aarhus University
Trine Heinemann | University of Helsinki
Previous research has established that participants in interaction distinguish between those requests that can be satisfied immediately and those that are to be satisfied at some point in the future. Whereas immediate requests can be granted simply by the recipient carrying out the requested action, the preferred and aligning response to a remote request is a full-clause response with which the recipient commits to carrying out the requested action in the future. This paper investigates the most frequently occurring forms of full-clause, complying responses to remote requests in Danish interactions. We show that those full-clause responses that contain a modal adverb differ in interactionally relevant ways from those full-clause responses that do not contain a modal adverb. Full-clause responses without a modal adverb are treated by participants as indicating that the relevance of carrying out the requested action is a given and as such something that both requester and recipient understand as an appropriate action. Full-clause responses with modal adverbs, by contrast, are employed to indicate that the requested action is not recognizably appropriate to the recipient, but will be carried out specifically because it was requested.
Published online: 17 December 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.26.06ste
https://doi.org/10.1075/slsi.26.06ste
References
Aachmann, Allan
Curl, Traci, and Paul Drew
DDO. Den Danske Ordbog. Moderne dansk sprog. [The Danish Dictionary. Modern Danish language
At http://ordnet.dk/ddo. Visited on June 30, 2013.
Goodwin, Marjorie Harness, and Asta Cekaite
Heinemann, Trine
Heinemann, Trine, Anna Lindström, and Jakob Steensig
Heinemann, Trine, and Ben Matthews
forth. “Concessions in the Audiology Clinic.” In Restricted Interactional Activities ed. by Fabienne Chevalier, and John Moore xx xx Amsterdam John Benjamins
Heinemann, Trine, and Jakob Steensig
in prep. “Accounting for breaks in progressivity: The Danish turn-initial particle altså in Danish Talk-in-interaction.” To appear in Turn-initial Particles [Working title] ed. by John Heritage, and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
Heritage, John, and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
Holmberg, Anders, and Christer Platzack
Houtkoop-Steenstra, Hanneke
Jefferson, Gail
Keisanen, Tiina, and Mirka Rauniomaa
Lindström, Anna
2005 “Language as Social Action: A Study of how Senior Citizens Request Assistance with Practical Tasks in the Swedish Home Help Service.” In Syntax and Lexis in Conversation: Studies on the Use of Linguistic Resources in Talk-in-interaction, ed. by Auli Hakulinen, and Margret Selting, 209–230. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

forth. “Accepting Remote Proposals.” In Enabling Human Conduct: Naturalistic Studies of Talk-in-interaction in Honor of Emanuel A. Schegloff ed. by Geoffrey Raymond, Gene H. Lerner, and John Heritage xx xx Amsterdam John Benjamins
Lindström, Anna, and Trine Heinemann
Rossi, Giovanni
Schegloff, Emanuel A
Stevanovic, Melisa, and Anssi Peräkylä
Thompson, Sandra A., Barbara Fox, and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen
forth. Grammar and Everyday Talk: Building Responsive Actions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cited by
Cited by 6 other publications
Arano, Yusuke
Fox, Barbara & Trine Heinemann
Kendrick, Kobin H. & Paul Drew
Landgrebe, Jeanette & Trine Heinemann
Sørensen, Søren Sandager
Vatanen, Anna & Pentti Haddington
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 14 may 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.