Chapter 9 illustrates how conventional grammatic categories such as a specific tense or auxiliary verb may be linked with interactional behaviour as it is described in this grammar. The chapter shows how formal grammatical items may be practised in interactional sequences in the classroom.

In Chapters 4 and 5, we focus on the smallest component of the interactional grammar: expressions. Chapter 4 presents a way of analysing and describing expressions which are meant to lubricate the flow of interaction. The acquisition of such expressions is very important for learners, who need to be made aware of their use. We define this category of expressions as Gambits. While it is a popular assumption that Gambits – often called ‘discourse markers’ in the literature – are devoid of meaning, we shall show that this is far from being the case.

Chapter 2 discusses the dilemma posed by the requirement that ‘communicative’ English be taught in a foreign language classroom – which is naturally different from real life – and suggest different ways out of this dilemma as general possibilities. The chapter therefore provides a practical applied linguistic background for the more theoretically motivated chapters that follow. We argue that many of the teaching dilemmas triggered by the setting of the foreign language classroom relate to the fact that the classroom provides its own ritual space, in which the conventions and practices and related rights and obligations holding for daily life are turned upside down. Thus, a key dilemma invariably facing the foreign language teacher is how to teach real-life language use in a non-real-life setting.

Chapter 6 presents a key component of this interactional grammar: illocutionary acts. In this grammar, we use the expressions ‘illocutionary act’ and ‘speech act’ interchangeably. The chapter provides a systematic and replicable interactional typology of illocutionary acts. This typology is particularly suitable for analysing discourse and understanding the role of illocutionary acts in any types of data and any language.

Chapter 3 presents a comprehensive way of analysing and describing interaction, serving as a model for the descriptions offered in the rest of the book. In the descriptive system explicated in this chapter, we approach interaction through units of various size, including expressions, illocutionary acts and Types of Talk representing discourse. The system presented in this chapter was not derived in a top-down manner, but rather emerged as an outcome of extensive empirical research.

In Chapter 5, we examine those expressions through which language users conventionally indicate illocutionary acts such as requesting. We define these expressions as Ritual Frame Indicating Expressions (RFIEs), arguing that they are recurrently used to indicate illocutionary acts in specific standard situations with preset rights and obligations for participants. Learning and teaching the use of such expressions can be particularly difficult due to their interactional load and linguacultural specificity.

In Chapter 7, we provide an introduction into the highest unit in this grammar, discourse, through the analytic unit of Types of Talk. Types of Talk consist of interactional structures, into which speech acts can be slotted. We propose an inventory of speech acts by means of which one can systematise Types of Talk.

Chapter 1 introduces the background, scope and objectives of this interactional pedagogic grammar of English. A ‘grammar’ is commonly understood as a body of rules concerning the relations between different parts of sentences of a language. We are attempting to describe language in use, such that we are interested in what speakers do with it when they talk to each other, hence pursuing an essentially pragmatic approach to language. The chapter also summarises the contents of the book and the transcription conventions.

Chapter 8 presents a case study of an important Type of Talk, namely Opening Talk. The chapter illustrates why the acquisition of speech acts and related Types of Talk is often challenging for learners of English. We report on experiments conducted with Chinese learners of English.