Comments on “Interactional Foundations of Language: The Interaction Engine Hypothesis”: Perspectives from Related Fields and Disciplines

Abstract

In this report, “The Interactive Engine Hypothesis,” the subject of Professor Stephen C. Levinson’s keynote lecture at the 20th Commemorative Conference of the Japanese Association of Sociolinguistics Sciences, is introduced, reviewed, and critically evaluated by the three participants of the conference panel discussion (the authors of this report). Specifically, the validity of the hypothesis and its impact on related fields, as well as prospects for future research are discussed from the perspective of the related disciplines of linguistic anthropology, discourse pragmatics, and cognitive science.