Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Studies in dialogue and discourse: II. Types of discourse initiated by and sustained through questioning

  • Published:
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A sociolinguistic approach to the study of language is described. Three types of discourse are defined empirically, each of them initiated and sustained by questions. It is provosed that these types are linguistic expressions or “realizations” of authority relationships between speakers. In the first, Chaining, a conversation is extended through successive questions by the initial questioner; in the second, Arching, it is extended by the respondent's questions; in the third, Embedding, there are two responses to the question. The general hypothesis about the relationship of the linguistic structure of discourse to differentials between speakers in power and authority is examined through an analysis of natural conversations in first-grade classrooms. The findings provide consistent support for this hypothesis. When adults initiate a conversation with a question, they retain control over its course by successive questioning, i.e., by Chaining: when children ask an adult a question, the adult regains control by responding with a question, i.e., by Arching. Children question each other through a more balanced use of Chaining and Arching that might be thought of as either more egalitarian or more competitive.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bellack, A. A., Kliebard, H. M., Hyman, R. T., and Smith, F. L. Jr. (1966).The Language of the Classroom, Teachers College Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (1968). The development of Wh questions in child speech.J. Verbal Learn. Behav. 7: 279–290.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R., and Gilman, A. (1960). The pronouns of power and solidarity. In Sebeok, T. A., (ed.),Style in Language, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Churchill, L. (1970). Questioning as a social activity. Paper presented to meetings of the American Sociological Association, September 1970, mimeo, 11 pp.

  • Gumperz, J. J., and Hymes, D. (eds.) (1972).Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halliday, M. A. K. (1973).Explorations in the Functions of Language, Edward Arnold, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzman, M. (1972). The use of interrogative forms in the verbal interaction of three mothers and their children.J. Psycholing. Res. 1: 311–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hymes, D. (1971). Competence and performance in linguistic theory. In Huxley, R., and Ingram, E. (eds.),Language Acquisition: Models and Methods, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishler, E. G. (1975). Studies in dialogue and discourse: An exponential law of successive questioning.Language in Society 4: 31–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, W. P. (1972).Language and Social Behavior, Penguin, Middlesex, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, W. P., and Rackstraw, S. (1972).A Question of Answers, Vols. I and II, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sacks, H. (1972). On the analysability of stories by children. In Gumperz, J. J., and Hymes, D. (eds.),Directions in Sociolinguistics, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, pp. 329–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherzer, J. (1973). On linguistic semantics and linguistic subdisciplines: A review article.Language in Society 2: 269–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sudnow, D. (ed.) (1972),Studies in Social Interaction Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, R. (ed.) (1974).Ethnomethodology, Penguin, Middlesex, England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ultan, R., Moravcsik, E., and Baron, N. (eds.) (1974).Questions: Readings for Scientists of Language, in press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Hrvard Medical School and Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Massachusetts

    Elliot G. Mishler

Authors
  1. Elliot G. Mishler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

This work has been supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation for research on “Social Context Effects on Language and Communication,” Grant No. GS-3001.

The research staff for the study included Lorraine Landy Heil as senior research assistant, Linda F. Butterworth and Christine R. Ehrlich as coders, and John Rees and Edward DeVos as computer programmers.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mishler, E.G. Studies in dialogue and discourse: II. Types of discourse initiated by and sustained through questioning. J Psycholinguist Res 4, 99–121 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01077031

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01077031

Keywords

Search

Navigation