How shared representations are created, updated and used in the coordination of task-related conversation

Adrian Bangerter
Institut de Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Shared representations emerge from joint dialogical projects, which they serve to coordinate. This contribution examines how discourse markers and acknowledgment tokens (okay, all right, uh-huh, m-hm, yeah) are used to coordinate task-oriented dialogue. These words have previously been studied as devices for managing turntaking. In contrast, the theoretical perspective adopted here conceptualizes language use as a form of joint activity which must be coordinated by participants (Clark, 1996). Acknowledgment tokens and discourse markers coordinate transitions in discourse. In task-oriented dialogue, participants must move from one part of the task to the next. They need to create and update a shared representation of where they are in the task. They use dialogue to coordinate two kinds of transitions: vertical transitions, or entering and exiting joint projects; and horizontal transitions, or continuing within joint projects. I review evidence from several types of tasks that uhhuh,m-hm and yeah are used for horizontal transitions, and okay and all right for vertical transitions. These words form a conventional system of contrasts specialized for navigating joint activities. For the small group meeting, this work has implications for understanding the conventional nature of shared representations and how they serve joint activity.