Janet Beavin Bavelas proposes that face-to-face dialogue is the primary site of language use, with unique features that make it the fastest, most precise, and most skillful activity that ordinary individuals do together. Writing for an inter-disciplinary readership, Bavelas draws on decades of experimental research combined with qualitative measures to illustrate the advantages of focusing on dialogue (rather than on individuals) and of using a multi-modal lens.

Janet Beavin Bavelas was a Professor of Psychology at the University of Victoria, Canada, from 1970 to 2005, when she became Professor Emerita, doing full-time research and writing on both basic and applied topics. She is the co-author of a seminal work, Pragmatics of Human Communication, with Paul Watzlawick and Don D. Jackson, and publishes journal articles and book chapters in several disciplines. Her honors include election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the International Communication Association.

• Preface by the Series Editor


• Preface by the Author


• Acknowledgements


• Chapter One: Appreciating Face-to-face Dialogue


• PART I. CHANGING THE FOCUS


• Chapter Two: From Individuals to Interactions


• Chapter Three: From Nonverbal Communication to Co-speech Gesture


• Chapter Four: Common Goals, Different Methods


• PART II. INSIDE FACE-TO-FACE DIALOGUE


• Chapter Five: Doing Dialogue


• Chapter Six: Dialogue Favor Demonstrations


• Chapter Seven: The Social Life of Hand Gestures


• Chapter Eight: The Social Life of Facial Gestures


• Chapter Nine: Meaning and Understanding as an Interactional Process


• PART III. DIALOGUES IN APPLIED SETTINGS


• Chapter Ten: Dialogues in Computer-Mediated Communication, Autism, and Medical Interactions


• Chapter Eleven: Psychotherapy as Dialogue


• Chapter Twelve: A Summary So Far


• References


• Index