Inside the Emergency Service Call-Center: Reviewing Thirty Years of Language and Social Interaction Research

ABSTRACT

Calls to police agencies featured in some of the earliest work of conversation analysts. Since that time, scholars interested in language and interaction have developed a research program that explores the organization and contextual features of one type of social occasion, citizens calling for emergency services. The publications reviewed for this article address the problem of how specific practices of talk embody or connect with specific identities and institutional tasks. This article aims to illustrate the significant research themes by scholars who examine the interaction between callers and call takers in emergency call centers and considers directions for future research that contributes to theory and practice. Data are in American English.