Prospective expertise: The use of ‘listen’ in the discourse of television sports pundits

Abstract

This article details the functions of the imperative verb ‘listen’ in the pre-match build-up discussions of television football pundits. Data were recorded from live coverage of recent national and international football competitions. The analysis shows how ‘listen’ plays a role in what is referred to as prospective expertise: the work accomplished during the extensive pre-game build-up sections of a show, in which pundits engage in highlighting potential points of drama or sporting adversity to be anticipated in the game that is yet to be played. Three patterns are identified, in which different sequential positionings of ‘listen’ yield differing kinds of statements or evaluations, assessments, predictions and caveats regarding the forthcoming game.