Abstract
In initially referring to something in a conversation, a speaker sometimes initiates a recognition search before using a reference term in an action. When such a search is initiated, participants have to manage two potentially competing tasks, that of cooperating in a recognition search activity and that of securing progressivity of an ongoing utterance or sequence. In this paper, I will first describe three procedures which referrers use to initiate a recognition search in Japanese conversation: try-marked recognitionals, request for recognition and inquiry into knowledge. I will then show that each procedure proposes a different type of management of the two potentially competing tasks.
