Conversational structure and facework in arguing

We examine the conversational structure and facework in everyday arguing. Our analyses are predicated on three turn exchanges in arguing, which consist of Speaker A in Turn 1 (T1) making a claim that is disputed by Speaker B in T2, following which A in T3 either directly supports his/her T1 claim or directly disagrees with the T2 disagreement-Examination of the acts within the second and third turn of 164 naturally occurring arguing exchanges revealed distinct types of acts with varying structural and pragmatic characteristics. Additionally, there were regularities in the T2-T3 sequences. It was proposed that speakers' attempts to do facework is a major determinant of these regularities, Analyses revealed that the more Speaker B's T2 act damages Speaker A's face, the more likely A is to respond with a T3 act that directly supports A's T1 claim.