After a brief overview of the literature on discourse structure, language functions and classroom interaction, S. and C. present a system to analyze classroom conversations between teachers and pupils. Their system of analysis is partly inspired by the theory of speech acts. After offering a set of analyzed speech acts, S. and C. elaborate on further prospects in discourse analysis, especially with respect to doctor/patient interviews, media discussions, committee meetings and one-to-one radio interviews; here they also make use of the concept of presupposition.