Speakers' Footing in a Collaborative Writing Task: A Resource for Addressing Disagreement While Avoiding Conflict

Abstract

It is widely assumed in studies of conflict that either persons address and resolve disagreement by waging conflict or that persons avoid conflict and thereby fail to address disagreements. However, through our analysis of interactions of people engaged in a collaborative writing task, we found a number of instances where steps were taken to avoid waging conflict or to attenuate it when there was disagreement while still addressing the disagreement and seeking to resolve it. This was done by making use of the alternative footings of speakers engaged in collaboration on a writing task to wage conflict indirectly, off the record. Speakers faced with disagreement changed or adopted footings so as to secure or reify accord or avoid further discord. Three functions of adopting or changing footings when disagreements arise are identified.