Abstract
This article reports a study of the organization of talk in discussion in a public setting. The study investigated the sequential patterns of talk in discussion in university classes using the construct of exchange structure (Sinclair and Coulthard 1975, 1992; Coulthard and Brazil 1992). It was found that this construct enabled analysis of sequences concerned with the interchange of ideas and information. Based on analysis of the data, both simple two-part and more complex structures were identified. Proposals are made for extended exchange patterns involving third-part follow-on moves. Conventionally, exchanges have been seen as driven by either eliciting or informing moves. The article argues that exchanges of ideas and information in discussion are initiated only by eliciting moves and proposes a categorization of eliciting acts. Sequences of talk concerned with the management of conversation presented difficulties for the analysis of discussion in terms of exchange structure. It is argued that discussion in the public arena involves two types of talk, display and management of interaction, and that more than one approach may he needed to analyze talk in any one encounter.
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