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Same Token, Different Actions

A Conversation Analytic Study of Social Roles, Embodied Actions, and ok in German Business Meetings

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, tbarske{at}uwsp.edu

Using a conversation analytic approach, this article presents a systematic analysis of the interactional use of the particle ok in the institutional setting of German business meetings. Through an examination of talk-in-interaction with a thorough description of relevant embodied actions, the author analyzes how meeting participants co-construct social roles by employing different uses of free-standing ok. More specifically, the author focuses on two different uses of free-standing ok in business meetings: ok with averted eye gaze and ok with maintained eye gaze. The author addresses the question of how the chairperson uses free-standing ok to accomplish different actions and to perform "doing-being-facilitator." By describing where the chairperson looks while producing ok, I also discuss how the chair manages both the coordination of face-to-face interaction and the practical task of facilitating the progress of a meeting.

Key Words: conversation analysis • business meetings • ok • embodied actions • social roles

Journal of Business Communication, Vol. 46, No. 1, 120-149 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0021943608325748


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