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Elise Kärkkäinen, Epistemic stance in English conversation: A description of its interactional functions, with a focus on I think

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 January 2007

Michael P. Lempert
Michael P. Lempert
Affiliation:
Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, [email protected]
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Abstract

Elise Kärkkäinen, Epistemic stance in English conversation: A description of its interactional functions, with a focus on I think. (Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 115). Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2003. Pp. ix, 207. Hb $102.00.

In this innovative study of epistemic stance marking in English conversation, Elise Kärkkäinen attempts to cross-fertilize discourse-functional linguistics with conversation analysis, and her effort bears fruit. She moves deftly between quantitative and qualitative methods, juxtaposing frequency tables with conversational transcripts, and comes out with a bold thesis in hand: “Showing commitment to the status of the information that one is providing, i.e. marking epistemic stance … [is] an essentially interactive activity” (p. 183).

Type
BOOK REVIEWS
Information
Language in Society , Volume 36 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 124 - 127
Copyright
2007 Cambridge University Press

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