Last month, we looked at spoken production (simply producing words). This month, we’re looking at spoken interaction (speaking/conversing with other people). Spoken interaction basically refers to any communicative act in which two or more people are exchanging information. It can take many forms: a casual chat, a formal discussion, a debate, an argument, an interview or a negotiation.
In spoken interaction there is no clear structure. Just think back to the last conversation you had. How did it go? Smoothly? Badly? Basically, the speakers in an interaction construct the conversation together. They listen, respond, put forward ideas and work together to communicate. A number of factors can determine how well the conversation goes: your motivation, who you’re speaking to, where you are and the time of day, your physical and mental state at the time of speaking, and how the other speaker feels. On top of that, paralinguistic elements such as body language, voice pitch and tone of voice can also affect the conversation.