88 Advances in spoken discourse analysis
If an Initiation is a simple informing move, and the next utterance
encapsulates it, then IF is a valid structure. R is only necessary when
prospected.
There is no need, in this model, for double codings because they are not
felt to be characteristic of the vast bulk of discourse. There is no reference
to primary and secondary knower, or indeed to any states of awareness of
participants. This is because models based on the exchange as a device for
information transfer do not lead us to the interactive structure, but to some
analysis suitable, perhaps, for the autonomous plane.
The model presented here is intended to cover general conversations.
Some specialized genres have special conventions, and would lead to
elaborations or simplifications of the model. However, I feel that it is
important to make full and detailed statements about the general nature of
discourse, describing the way these structures are deployed in particular
types of conversation. The need for a level of discourse, where the higher
patterns of language can be described without reference to any particular
social use, is fairly obvious.
Figure 1: Exchange structure