Language and the Body as Resources for Collaborative Action: A Study of Word Searches in Japanese Conversation

Abstract

This study explores a range of vocal and visual practices deployed by Japanese speakers during the course of a word search in naturally occurring conversation, and shows how such embodied practices provide publicly available resources for recipients to organize their relevant participation in the ongoing word search. In particular, this study addresses the following three main issues: (a) how speakers mobilize their gaze to invite or not invite recipients' coparticipation; (b) how distal demonstrative pronouns (e.g., are "that one," asoko "that place") and/or gestures are deployed to index a particular domain of words to which the searched-for item belongs; (c) how recipients utilize the projective resources made available through the speaker's vocal and visual conduct to achieve a collaborative solution of the ongoing search.