Telephone conversation is one of the most common forms of communication in contemporary society. For the first time in human history, some people are spending as much time, if not more, talking on the telephone as they are on face-to-face conversations. The aims of this book are: to bring together in one volume research on telephone conversations in different languages, to compare and contrast people’s methods of handling telephone conversational tasks in different communities, and to explore the relationship between telephone conversational practice and cultural settings. The papers are based on first-hand, naturally-occurring data obtained from a variety of languages, including Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, and Persian. Theoretical and methodological issues pertaining to research on telephone conversations are discussed.

Table of Contents

Notes on the contributors Introduction Studying telephone calls: Beginnings,developments,and perspectives Kang Kwong Luke and Theodossia-Soula Pavlidou Part I. Opening telephone calls Recognition and identification in Japanese and Korean telephone conversation openings Yong-Yae Park On the telephone again! Telephone conversation openings in Greek Maria Sifianou Politeness in telephone conversation openings in Persian Carmen Taleghani-Nikazm Language choice in international telephone conversations Gitte Rasmussen and Johannes Wagner Part II. Problem solving,topic management and closing Reporting problems and offering assistance in Japanese business telephone conversations Lindsay Amthor Yotsukura The initiation and introduction offirst topics in Hong Kong telephone calls Kang Kwong Luke Moving towards closing:Greek telephone calls between familiars Theodossia-Soula Pavlidou Part III. Theoretical and methodological considerations Comparing telephone call openings: Theoretical and methodological reflections Paul Ten Have Reflections on research on telephone conversation: Issues ofcross-cultural scope and scholarly exchange, interactional import and consequences Emanuel A. Schegloff Index