Abstract

The cognitive and interactional dynamics of speech acts is examined, with particular attention to speech act sequences in conversation. Speech act theory is supplemented with a conception, inspired by narrative semiotics, of an action as a move in a sequence. It is argued that action (as opposed to cognitive representation) plays a major role in determining or validating the illocutionary effects of utterances. But a cognitive factor concerning the way in which we understand actions, that is, the “narrative schema” proposed by A. J. Greimas in the framework of narrative semiotics, is claimed to play an important role in structuring speech act sequences. Two examples are taken from naturally occurring conversations to show how responses manifesting the interlocutor’s uptake contribute to determining the illocutionary effect of previous conversational moves and how the narrative schema can shed light on the sequential relations between speech acts. A case of insisting is especially focused upon.