Driven by the metaphor of the computer as dialogue partner, the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) is turning to sociolinguistics—the study of language in social context—for theories, models, and methods. Likewise, sociolinguistics is turning to HCI as a new domain in which to explore classic questions of shared understanding, mutual mtelligibility, and the relationship of human action to the social and material world. This survey article assesses recent sociolinguistic research on human-computer interaction, including developments in the new subfield of computer-supported cooperative work. Keywords: human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, sociolinguistics, conversational analysis, cognitive anthropology, speech act theory, ethnography of speaking.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agre, P.E.1988. The dynamic structure of everyday life. Ph.D. dissertation, AI Technical Report 1085, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
2.
Agre, P.E., & Chapman, D.1988. What are plans for? AI Memo 1050. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
3.
Anderson, P. Bogh.1990. A theory of computer semiotics: Semiotic approaches to construction and assessment of computer systems. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
4.
Bly, Sara A.1988. A use of drawing surfaces in different collaborative settings . In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (250-56, Portland, OR, 26-28 September 1988. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
5.
Bowers, John, & Churcher, John.1988. Local and global structuring of computer-mediated communication: Developing linguistic perspectives on cscw in COSMOS. In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (125-39), Portland, OR , 26-28 September 1988. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
6.
Carasik, R.P., & Grantham, C.E.1988. A case study of cscw in a dispersed organization. In E. Soloway, D. Frye, & S. Sheppard (eds.), ACM SIGCHI conference on human factors m computing systems (61-65), Washington, DC, 15-19 May 1988. New York : Association for Computing Machinery.
7.
Casson, Ronald W.1983. Schemata in cognitive anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology12:429-62.
8.
Cawsey, Allison.1990. A computational model of explanatory discourse: Local interactions in a plan-based explanation. In P. Luff, N. Gilbert, & D. Frohlich (eds.), Computers and conversation (221-34). London: Academic Press.
9.
Ciborra, C.U.1984. Information systems and organizational exchange: A new design approach. In T. Bemelmans (ed.), Beyond productivity—Information systems for organizational effectiveness (135-45). Amsterdam: North-Holland .
10.
Colby, B.N., & Knaus, R.1974. Men, grammars, and machines: A new direction for the study of man. In M. Black & W. A. Smalley (eds.), On language, culture and religion: In honor of Eugene A. Nida (187-97). The Hague: Mouton.
11.
DeCindio, F., DeMichaelis, G., & Simone, C.1988. Computer-based tools in the language/action perspective . In R. Speth (ed.), EUTECO '88: Research into networks and distributed applications. Amsterdam: North-Holland, Elsevier/Commission of European Communities.
12.
Dreyfus, Hubert L.1979. What computers can't do: The limits of artificial intelligence (rev. ed.). New York: Harper Colophon .
13.
Flores, Fernando.1982. Management and communication in the office of the future . San Francisco: Hermenet .
14.
Frohlich, David M., & Luff, Paul.1989. Conversational resources for situated action. In K. Bice & C. Lewis (eds.), ACM SIGCHI Conference m Human Factors m Computing Systems (253-58), Austin, TX, 30 April-4 May 1989. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
15.
—. Applying the technology of conversation to the technology for conversation . In P. Luff, N. Gilbert, & D. Frohlich (eds.), Computers and conversation (187-220). London: Academic Press.
16.
Gaines, Brian R., & Shaw, Mildred L. G.1986a. From timesharing to the sixth generation: The development of human-computer interaction (part I. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies24:1-27.
17.
—. 1986b. Foundations of dialog engineering: The development of human-computer interaction (part II. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies24:101-23.
18.
Goldkuhl, G., & Lyytinen, K.1984. Information system specification as rule reconstruction . In T. Bemelmans (ed.), Beyond productivity—Information systems for organizational effectiveness (79-94). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
19.
Greenberg, Saul.1991. Computer-supported cooperative work and groupware: An introduction to the special issues. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies34:133-41.
20.
—. In press. An annotated bibliography of computer-supported cooperative work. To appear in S. Greenberg (ed.), Computer-supported cooperative work and groupware. London: Academic Press.
21.
Grief, Irene (ed.). 1988. Computer-supported cooperative work: A book of readings. San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufman.
22.
Grudin, Jonathan.1990. The computer reaches out: The historical continuity of interface design. In J. C. Chew & J. Whiteside (eds.), ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (261-68), Seattle, WA, 1-5 April 1990. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
23.
—. 1991. CSCW: The convergence of two development contexts . In ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (91-98), New Orleans, LA, April 1991. New York : Association for Computing Machinery.
24.
Johnson-Lenz, Peter, & Johnson-Lenz, Trudy.1991. Post-mechanistic groupware primitives: Rhythms, boundanes, and containers. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies34:395-417.
25.
Kammersgaard, John.1988. Four different perspectives on human-computer interaction . International Journal of Man-Machine Studies28:343-62.
26.
Keesing, Roger M.1972. Simple models of complexity: The lure of kinship . In P. Reining (ed.), Kinship studies in the Morgan centennial year (17-31). Washington, DC : Anthropological Society of Washington.
27.
Laurel, Brenda.1991. Computers as theater. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
28.
Lave, J.1988. Cognition in practice: Mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
29.
Linde, Charlotte.1988a. The quantitative study of communicative success: Polite-ness and accidents in aviation discourse. Language in Society17(3): 375-99.
30.
—. 1988b. Who's in charge here? Cooperative work and authority negotiation in police helicopter missions. In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (52-64), Portland, OR, 26-28 September 1988. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
31.
Lyytinen, Kalle J.1985. Implications of theones of language for information systems . MIS Quarterly (March): 61-74.
32.
Mackay, Wendy E., Guindon, Raymonde, Mantel, Manlyn, Suchman, Lucy, & Tatar, Deborah.1988. Video: Data for studying human-computer interaction. In E. Soloway , D. Fry, & S. Sheppard (eds.), ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (133-37), Washington, DC, 15-19 May 1988. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
33.
McIlvenny, Paul.1990. Communicative action and computers: Re-embodying conversation analysis? In P. Luff, N. Gilbert, & D. Frohlich (eds.), Computers and conversation (91-132). London : Academic Press.
34.
Meunier, Jean-Guy.1989. Artificial mtelligence and sign theory. Semiotica77 (1/3): 43-63.
35.
Murray, Demse E.1985. Composition as conversation: The computer terminal as medium of communication. In L. Odell & D. Goswami (eds.), Writing in nonacademic settings (205-29). New York: Guilford.
36.
—. 1988. The context of oral and written language: A framework for mode and medium switching. Language in Society17:351-73.
37.
Nadin, Mihai.1988. Interface design: A semiotic paradigm. Semiotica69 (3/4): 269-302.
38.
Nickerson, R.S.1987. On conversational interaction with computers. In R. M. Baecker & W. A. S. Buxton (eds.), Readings in human-computer interaction: A multidisciplinary approach (681-93). San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.
39.
Norman, Michael, & Thomas, Peter.1990. The very idea: Informing HCI design from conversation analysis. In P. Luff, N. Gilbert, & D. Frohlich (eds.), Computers and conversation (51-65). London: Academic Press.
40.
Ouellet, Pierre.1989. Introduction: The "AI turn" in semiotics and language sciences. Semiotica77 (1/3): 1-3.
41.
Quinn, Naomi, & Holland, Dorothy.1987. Culture and cognition. In D. Holland & N. Quinn (eds.), Cultural models in language and thought (3-40). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
42.
Raudaskoski, Pirkko.1990. Repair work in human-computer interaction: A conversation analytic perspective. In P. Luff, N. Gilbert, & D. Frohlich (eds.), Computers and conversation (151-71). London : Academic Press.
43.
Reder, Stephen, & Schwab, Robert G.1989. The communicative economy of the work group: Multi-channel genres of communication. Office: Technology & People4(3): 177-95.
44.
—. 1990. The temporal structure of cooperative activity . In Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (303-16), Los Angeles, CA, 7-10 October 1990. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
45.
Schank, R., & Abelson, R.1977. Scripts, plans, goals and understanding: An inquiry into human knowledge structures. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
46.
Schmandt, C.1986. Voice and graphics in a conversational office environment . In Proceedings of the Second Annual Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Computer Technology Conference (445-51), Long Beach, CA, 29 April-1 May 1986. Wheaton, IL: Tower Conference Management.
47.
Schmandt, Chris, & Arons, Barry. 1985. Phone slave: A graphical telecommunications interface. Proceedings of the Society for Information Display26(1): 79-82.
48.
Schrage, Michael.1990. Shared minds: The new technologies of collaboration . New York: Random House.
49.
Stefik, Mark, Foster, Gregg, Bobrow, Daniel G., Kahn, Kenneth, Lanning, Stan, & Suchman, Lucy.1987. Beyond the chalkboard: Computer support for collaboration and problem solving in meetings. Communications of the ACM30(1): 32-47.
50.
Suchman, Lucy A.1982. Toward a sociology of human-machine interaction: Pragmatics of mstruction-following. CIS Working Paper. Palo Alto, CA: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.
51.
—. 1987. Plans and situated actions: The problem of human-machine communication. New York: Cambridge University Press.
52.
—. 1988. Representing practice in cognitive science. Human Studies11:305-25.
53.
—. 1990. What is human-machine mteraction? In S. P. Robertson, W. Zachary , & J. B. Black (eds.), Cognition, computing, and cooperation (25-55). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
54.
Tang, John C.1989. Listing, drawing and gestunng in design: A study of the use of shared workspaces by design teams. Ph.D. thesis, Stanford University (also available as research report SSL-89-3), Palo Alto, CA, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.
55.
—. 1991. Findings from observational studies of collaborative work . International Journal of Man-Machine Studies34:134-60.
56.
Tatar, Deborah, Foster, Gregg, & Bobrow, Daniel G.1991. Design for conversation: Lessons from Cognoter. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies34:185-209.
57.
Turkle, Sherry.1984. The second self: Computers and the human spint . New York: Simon & Schuster .
58.
Winograd, Terry.1987. A language/action perspective on the design of cooperative work. Human-Computer Interaction3:3-30.
59.
—. 1988. Where the action is. Byte (December) : 256a-58.
60.
Winograd, Terry, & Flores, Fernando. 1986. Understanding computers and cognition: A new foundation for design. Reading, MA : Addison-Wesley.
