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Part of
Grammar in Action: Building comprehensive grammars of talk-in-interaction
Edited by Jakob Steensig, Maria Jørgensen, Jan K. Lindström, Nicholas Mikkelsen, Karita Suomalainen and Søren Sandager Sørensen
[Studies in Language and Social Interaction 37] 2025
► pp. 424–441

Chapter 14
Discussion

Where are we now and what are the next steps toward an Interactional Grammar?

 | Aarhus University
 | Aarhus University
 | University of Helsinki
 | Åbo Akademi University
 | University of Agder
The chapters of this volume have taken important first steps toward the ultimate goal that all contributors to this volume share: The creation of comprehensive grammars of talk-in-interaction in specific languages, which are based on, and true to, how language is used in interaction. In this discussion chapter, we extract the main new findings of the contributions to the volume, discuss how these findings might challenge received notions used in grammars, and make suggestions about the next steps that should be taken toward a truly interactional grammar.
Keywords: grammar, linguistics, language description, clauses, method, applied linguistics, data, action, format
Article outline
  • 1.Expansion of the grammar
    • 1.1Interaction-specific formats and uses of formats
    • 1.2Context and external syntax
    • 1.3Social action
    • 1.4Prosody and embodied actions
    • 1.5Projection, emergence, and Collaborative Grammar
    • 1.6Identities, settings, larger activities, participation framework, and positioning
  • 2.Methodology, data and grammatical terminology
    • 2.1Discovery procedures
    • 2.2Interactional setting and grammatical description
    • 2.3Grammatical concepts
  • 3.Practicalities of grammar writing and applications
    of an Interactional Grammar
    • 3.1The structure of an Interactional Grammar
      • 3.1.1Overall organization
      • 3.1.2Contents: Action-to-Grammar and Grammar-to-Action
      • 3.1.3Additional dimensions
    • 3.2The intended users of an Interactional Grammar
  • 4.Possible next steps
  • References
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References (14)
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