Embodied reference: A study of deixis in workplace interaction

This paper contributes to a growing body of work concerned with the empiric al investigation of referential practice in everyday settings. It uses audi o-visual recordings of work within a telecommunications control centre to e xplore the ways in which colleagues establish, if only momentarily, mutual orientation towards 'objects', such as (features of) documents and computer screens. The paper addresses three key themes. Firstly, it highlights the ways in which visual conduct, in concert with talk, is used to accomplish d emonstrative reference - an often overlooked feature of referential practic e. Secondly, it examines the interactional production of demonstrative refe rence, noting the ongoing and dynamic co-ordination of actions in the colla borative achievement of mutual orientation. Thirdly, it reflects on the way s in which the production and intelligibility of referential actions are gr ounded in the activities, or common business, in, through and for which the y emerge. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.