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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Alan Firth
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Editor(s): Baker C, Emmison M, Firth A
Publication type: Edited Book
Publication status: Published
Series Title: Pragmatics and Beyond
Year: 2005
Number of Pages: 351
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Place Published: Amsterdam
Notes: Telephone helplines have become one of the most pervasive sites of expert-lay interaction in modern societies throughout the world. Yet surprisingly little is known of the in situ, language-based processes of help-seeking and help-giving behavior that occurs within them. This collection of original studies by both internationally renowned and emerging scholars seeks to improve upon this state of affairs. It does so by offering some of the first systematic investigations of naturally-occurring spoken interaction in telephone helplines. Using the methods of Conversation Analysis, each of the contributors offers a detailed investigation into the skills and competencies that callers and call-takers routinely draw upon when engaging one another within a range of helplines. Helplines in the US, the UK, Australia, Scandinavia, The Netherlands, and Ireland, dealing with the provision of healthcare, emotional support and counselling, technical assistance and consumer rights, tourism and finance, make up the studies in the volume. Collectively and individually, the research provides fascinating insight into an under-researched area of modern living and demonstrates the relevance and potential of helplines for the growing field of institutional interaction.
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9789027253866
