Prescribing conduct: Enactments of talk or thought in advice-giving sequences

Abstract

In everyday interaction, people recurrently animate, enact, or report on talk or thought (Clift and Holt, 2007). In this article, enactments of hypothetical, non-narrative talk in advice-relevant sequences are examined, with a focus on their role in modeling desirable stance or conduct. Data consist of interactions in institutional settings, such as performance appraisal interviews, university teaching, and talk show counseling. It is demonstrated how enactments of possible talk are used as devices for hands-on demonstrations of proper or improper conduct in sequences involving orientations to some kind of problematic behavior or stance, which in turn works to make assessments about different types of conduct. The accomplishment of contrasts between desired and undesired conduct is central, and contributes to the assessment of particular behaviors or stances. Different delivery formats of enactments are examined and compared to the action accomplished. It is argued that modeling talk enactments (MTEs) constitute resources for doing implicit criticism and ‘positive socialization’ in interaction, and that through enactments, participants may perform both explicit and implicit moral work.