Identity and similarity chains in the conversation of high‐involved and low‐involved speakers: Evidence of integrated discourse strategies

Participants engaged in conversation must strategically coordinate multiple features on different levels of discourse. This research examined the strategic coordination of local and global textual resources in conversations of dyads with three different patterns of interaction involvement. Global patterns in the maintenance of meaning relations in conversation were investigated using Hasan's identity and similarity chains. Significant differences among dyad types were found for similarity chains. These global patterns were then correlated with local patterns in the use of grammatical cohesive devices previously reported for these dyad types by Villaume and Cegala (1988). Analysis indicated a strong canonical correlation between the global and local patterns. This correlation was taken as evidence that the dyads did not manage the cognitive burdens of engaging in conversation by the isolated choice of specific features on single levels of discourse structure. Rather, the dyads seemed to rely on integrated discourse strategies leading to the use of unified configurations of discourse resources.