Let's Talk: How English Conversation Works

Contents: 1:Greetings! 2:In the beginning... 3:A thousand years of conversation 4:Exchanges 5:Taking turns - or not 6:Interrupting 7:What we talk about 8:How we talk about it 9:Taking it easy 10:Story-telling 11:Stylistic options 12:The vocal and the visual 13:Conversation as theatre 14:Online 'conversations' 15:Cultural conversations 16:Breaking the rules 17:Does conversation change? 
18:#Almost done Epilogue References Index

Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation.

We tend to think of conversation as something spontaneous, instinctive, habitual. It has been described as an art, as a game, sometimes even as a battle. Whichever metaphor we use, most people are unaware of what the rules are, how they work, and how we can bend and break them when circumstances warrant it.