Initiating reason-for-the-call action in mundane mobile phone conversation

Abstract

This study takes as its analytic topic the identification of different sequentially organized phenomena endemic to initiation of reason-for-the call action in Farsi mobile calls. Using Conversation Analysis, through fine-grained analysis of participants’ observable orientation to the formulation of the reason for the call, it documents the trajectory of talk and the sequential phenomena associated with the statement of the reason for Farsi mobile phone calls. The findings suggest callers routinely perform the task of warranting their calls either by overtly announcing the reason, using the discourse marker of ‘migam’ (I meant to say) and its permutations or non-overtly, by positioning the reason for initiating the contact in anchor position, enabling their co-participants to pinpoint the warrant prompting the call out of various things said by callers and to relevantly respond to it. In addition, location enquiries figure in the reason-for-the-call, if seeking geographic information has localization purposes.