Transactional or interactional?

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The distinction has been made between two different aspects of language use in the speech event of service encounters; one aspect of language is mainly for business transactions (e.g., talking about the availability and prices of goods) and the other function is to manage interpersonal relationships (e.g., interchanging small talk, using polite address terms, etc.). The present study examines the merge between transactional and interactional aspects of language in service encounter interactions.
The present paper is based on the data analysis in the study of talk between Korean immigrant shopkeepers and African American customers in service encounters in a Korean-owned store in the United States. From the detailed analysis of talk, it has been found that there were many incidents in the data that displayed a merge of the two aspects of interaction, interactional and transactional. The present paper shows how participants tactfully concentrated on the business or transactional matter at hand and simultaneously achieved the interactional goal of rapport and solidarity building.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Abstract
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Transactional and interactional functions of talk in service encounters
• 3. The data
• 4. Data analysis
• 5. Conclusion
• Appendix. Transcription Conventions
• References