Analysis of dialogue

A dialogue is broadly defined as an exchange of spoken or written ideas, thoughts, and, opinions between two or more interactants. Dialogues are not monologues in that the former involve reciprocation of communication. For example, if one person speaks, then the other person is expected to respond in turn. Reciprocity within dialogues varies in temporality. A dialogue can take many months or even years to complete, as in the case when one book author responds to another. In other situations-namely face-to-face communication – dialogues can end in a matter of seconds. Although, in practice, dialogues occur in a number of different situations and take place over varying degrees of time, the analysis of dialogues within applied linguistics is typically concerned with concurrent spoken interaction. This entry will discuss dialogues from this narrower conceptualization.