Staying on topic
An explication of conversational relevance∗
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11274128 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Karen Tracy (0000-0002-6904-7427, Temple University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1984 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 447-464 |
| Publication date | 1984-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Discourse Processes (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-853X • E-ISSN: 1532-6950 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01638538409544600 |
| OpenAlex | W2066252504 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
| References cited | 27 |
This paper identifies the two most likely rules that conversants use to guide their conversational commenting as they attempt to stay on topic and make their remarks relevant. The local rule suggests that conversants should chain to the last part of their partner's utterance; the global rule suggests that conversants should extend the main idea in the partner's talk. Prior research supporting the global version of the relevancy rule is reviewed, critiqued, and generalizability concerns are raised. An experiment is presented which tests whether communicators use the rule to guide their own talking as well as to judge others' behavior. Results support prior research. Two conditions under which the rule is predicted to apply only weakly are also tested. The first condition, “message comprehensibility” is found to have an influence; the second, “perceived message importance,” is not. A qualitative analysis of the data is presented and questions for future study are identified
Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Explication · Generalizability theory · Natural language processing · Relevance (law · Utterance · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Computer Science · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
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Conversational Topic along a Continuum of Perspectives
Conversational Relevance
Coherence
Cellphone relevance in face-to-face interactions
The conversational skills of school‐aged children
Topic Management, Shared Knowledge, and Accommodation
The effect of multiple goals on conversational relevance and topic shift
The Issue-Event Distinction
Relevance
Lexical cohesion in multiparty conversations
The development of talk‐activity frames that foster perspective‐focused talk among peers
Also' as a Discourse Marker
Edited dialogues
Coherence-inducing strategies in conversations amongst the aged
A decade of relevance theory
The Discourse of Requests
Communication Yearbook 3
Sociological methodology, 1969
Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences
Cohesion in English
Adult-child discourse
Contextual prerequisites for understanding
Toward a model of text comprehension and production.
Logic and Conversation
On Getting the Point
The impact of self interest and desire for liking on the selection of communicative strategies
The language-as-fixed-effect fallacy
Statistical Significance as a Decision Rule
Constructivism and the study of human communication
Nonverbal Communication
Using Quasi F to prevent alpha inflation due to stimulus variation
On the self-erasing nature of errors of prediction
Therapeutic Discourse
The Issue-Event Distinction
| Unique citing works | 17 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,4 |
| Citation span | 1983 - 2020 (38) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 17 |