Reporting and reacting: Concurrent responses to reported speech

This article uses conversation analysis to investigate reported speech in t alk-in-interaction. Beginning with an examination of direct and indirect re ported speech, it highlights some of the design features of the former, and the sequential environments in which it occurs. Recent research on direct reported speech in interaction has shown that although it purports to be th e accurate replaying of a former locution, speakers can simultaneously conv ey their assessment of the utterance while reproducing it. This investigati on focuses on how speakers implicitly comment on a reported utterance, expl oring the design and sequential placement of the device within the ongoing talk. It is found that direct reported speech recurs in making complaints a nd telling amusing stories. Tn addition, explicit assessment of the reporte d utterance is made commonly by the recipient in the next turn, and the rep orter often collaborates with the recipient's response by producing a simil ar one in overlap. Thus, participants react concurrently to the reported ut terance.