529 Sociolinguistic Research on Human-Computer Interaction— A Perspective from Anthropology

Driven by the metaphor of the computer as dialogue partner, the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) is turning to sociolinguistics—the study of language in social context—for theories, models, and methods. Likewise, sociolinguistics is turn-ing to HCI as a new domain in which to explore classic questions of shared under-standing, mutual mtelligibility, and the relationship of human action to the social and material world. This survey article assesses recent sociolinguistic research on human-computer interaction, including developments in the new subfield of com-puter-supported cooperative work. Keywords: human-computer interaction, com-puter-supported cooperative work, sociolinguistics, conversational analysis, cogni-tive anthropology, speech act theory, ethnography of speaking. Computers are beginning to be seen not as tools, but as dialogue partners. A cross-fertilization is occurring between the field of hu-man-computer interaction (HcI)-the study and design of the evolv-ing interface of the human and the machine-and sociolinguistics-the study of language in social context. HCI is looking to sociolin-guistics for theories, models, and methods; sociolinguistics is look-ing to HCi as a new domain in which to explore classic issues of shared understanding, mutual intelligibility, and the relationship of human action to the social and material world. This survey article assesses recent sociolinguistics research on human-computer interaction. Research from four sociolinguistic perspectives is reported here-conversational analysis, cognitive anthropology, speech act theory, and ethnography of speaking. All four perspectives share a concern with language in social context, and differ not only in their idea of what counts as data and as a worthwhile research question but in what counts as social context. The first half of the article concentrates on the individual and the machine, while the second half turns to the recent development o