Progressivity

Encyclopedia of Terminology for CA and IL: Progressivity
Author(s):	Elliott M. Hoey (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3220-8119) & Chase Wesley Raymond (University of Colorado, Boulder) (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4353-7345)
To cite:	Hoey, Elliott M. & Raymond, Chase Wesley (2025). Progressivity. In Alexandra Gubina, Elliott M. Hoey & Chase Wesley Raymond (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Terminology for Conversation Analysis and Interactional Linguistics. International Society for Conversation Analysis (ISCA). DOI: [ ]

Progressivity is the fundamental feature of social interaction that captures how every bit of conduct is produced and recognized by reference to how it embodies (or fails to embody) some ‘next’ component of the unfolding interaction. It is an organizationally and structurally pervasive feature, operating at all times and at multiple levels of granularity. As Schegloff (2007) has described it:

Additional Related Entries:

• Micropause
• Pause
• Projection
• Sequence
• Turn-taking

Cited References:

Bolden, G. B. (2011). On the Organization of Repair in Multiperson Conversation: The Case of “Other”-Selection in Other-Initiated Repair Sequences. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 44(3):237-262.

Clift, R. (2016). Conversation Analysis.Cambridge University Press.

Deppermann, A., Mondada, L., & Doehler, S. P. (2021). Early responses: An introduction. Discourse Processes, 58(4), 293-307.

Drew, P. (2013). Turn Design. In Jack Sidnell & Tanya Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp. 131-149). Wiley-Blackwell.

Drew, P., Walker, T., & Ogden, R. (2013). Self-repair and action construction. In Makoto Hayashi, Geoffrey Raymond, & Jack Sidnell (Eds.), Conversational repair and human understanding (pp. 71-94). Cambridge University Press.

Haddington, P., Keisanen, T., Mondada, L., & Nevile, M. (2014). Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond Multitasking. John Benjamins.

Heritage, J. (2007). Intersubjectivity and progressivity in references to persons (and places). In N.J. Enfield & Tanya Stivers (Eds.), Person Reference in Interaction: Linguistic, Cultural and Social Perspectives (pp. 255-280). Cambridge University Press.

Kamunen, A. (2019). How to Disengage: Suspension, Body Torque, and Repair. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 52(4), 406–426.

Keisanen, T., Rauniomaa, M., & Haddington, P. (2014). Suspending action. In Haddington, P., Keisanen, T., Mondada, L., & Nevile, M. (Eds.), Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond Multitasking (pp. 109-133). John Benjamins.

Kitzinger, G. (2013). Repair. In Jack Sidnell & Tanya Stivers (Eds.), The Handbook of Conversation Analysis (pp. 229-256). Wiley-Blackwell.

Lee, S.-H. (2011). Responding at a higher level: Activity progressivity in calls for service. Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 904–917.

Lerner, G. H. (1996). On the ‘semi-permeable’ character of grammatical units in conversation: conditional entry into the turn-space of another speaker. In Elinor Ochs, Emanuel A. Schegloff, & Sandy Thompson (Eds.), Interaction and Grammar (pp. 238-276). Cambridge University Press.

Lerner, G H. (2004). Collaborative turn sequences. In Gene Lerner (Ed.), Conversation Analysis: Studies from the First Generation (pp. 225-256). John Benjamins.

Lerner, G. H., & Raymond, G. (2021). Body trouble: Some sources of difficulty in the progressive realization of manual action. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 54(3), 277-298.

Manrique, E. (2016). Other-initiated repair in Argentine sign language. Open Linguistics, 2(1).

Mondada, L. (2006). Participants’ online analysis and multimodal practices: projecting the end of the turn and the closing of the sequence. Discourse Studies, 8(1), 117-129.

Mondada, L. (2014). Pointing, talk, and the bodies: Reference and joint attention as embodied interactional achievements. In M. Seyfeddinipur & M. Gullberg (Eds.), From Gesture in Conversation to Visible Action as Utterance: Essays in Honor of Adam Kendon (pp. 95–124). John Benjamins.

Raymond, Chase Wesley, and Virginia Teas Gill. (2025). Pre-emptive repair of potential misunderstandings: Prospective procedures for managing intersubjectivity and steering social action. American Sociological Review, 90(4): 690-725.

Raymond, Chase Wesley, Jeffrey D. Robinson, and Galina B. Bolden. (2026). Turn-taking in Social Interaction. Cambridge University Press.

Sacks, H. (1987 [1973]). On the Preferences for Agreement and Contiguity in Sequences in Conversation. In Graham Button & John R.E. Lee (Eds.), Talk and Social Organisation (pp. 54-69). Multilingual Matters.

Sacks, H, & Schegloff, E. A. (2007 [1979]). Two Preferences in the Organization of Reference to Persons and Their Interaction. In N.J. Enfield & Tanya Stivers (Eds.), Person Reference in Interaction: Linguistic, Cultural and Social Perspectives (pp. 23-28). Cambridge University Press.

Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation. Language, 50:696-735.

Schegloff, E. A. (1979). The Relevance of Repair for Syntax-for-Conversation. In Talmy Givon (Ed.), Syntax and Semantics 12: Discourse and Syntax (pp. 261-288). Academic Press.

Schegloff, E. A. (2007). Sequence organization in Interaction: A Primer in Conversation Analysis, Volume 1. Cambridge University Press.

Schegloff, E. A. (2013). Ten operations in self-initiated, same-turn repair. In Makoto Hayashi, Geoffrey Raymond, & Jack Sidnell (Eds.), Conversational repair and human understanding (pp. 41-70). Cambridge Unviersity Press.

Schegloff, E. A., Jefferson, G., & Sacks, H. (1977). The preference for self-correction in the organization of repair in conversation. Language, 53:361-382.

Stivers, T., & Robinson, J. D. (2006). A preference for progressivity in interaction. Language in Society, 35(3):367-392. Sutinen, M. (2014). Negotiating favorable conditions for resuming suspended activities. In Haddington, P., Keisanen, T., Mondada, L., & Nevile, M. (Eds.), Multiactivity in Social Interaction: Beyond Multitasking (pp. 137-165). John Benjamins.

Svennevig, J. (2010). Pre-empting reference problems in conversation. Language in Society 39(2):173-202.

Svennevig, J. (2018). Decomposing turns to enhance understanding by L2 speakers. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 51(4):398-416.

Additional References:

Mondada, L. (2007). Multimodal resources for turn-taking: Pointing and the emergence of possible next speakers. Discourse studies, 9(2), 194-225.

Deppermann, A., Schmitt, R., & Mondada, L. (2010). Agenda and emergence: Contingent and planned activities in a meeting. Journal of Pragmatics, 42(6), 1700-1718.