Making Way and Making Sense for Arrivers: Pre-present Parties' Previous Activity Formulations

Author:

• Danielle Pillet-Shore (Univ of California, Los Angeles)

Abstract:

When a person arrives to a setting in which a party of persons is already engaged in some activity, parties must make choices about how they manage the pre-present party's previous activity. This paper analyzes sequences in which pre-present speakers formulate their previous activities for arrivers, showing how co-participants use these formulations to include newcomers, making way and making sense for them so they can merge into the interaction.