2009 Volume 16 Issue 1 Pages 65-77
In the Conversation Analytic tradition, one has noted and discussed the substantial contribution of hearers' conduct to the constitution of each utterance in conversation, in ways very sensitive to some prominent sequential positions in interaction such as a possible completion point of an utterance. In this article, I focus on the spatial distribution of orientations which all the participants in interaction show in and through their bodily arrangement. The spatial distribution of participants' orientations constitutes, and is incorporated into, a distinct and describable activity. One should note, however, that the organization of a distinct activity with a distinct distribution of orientations is still embedded in the sequential order of interaction. I show that various context-free, general resources are available in interaction for participants to organize the current, on-going activity sequentially and jointly in and through the actual development of interaction.
