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4.2 Social mechanisms in communication and collaboration 109

such situations the participants will collaborate to overcome the misunderstanding
by using repair mechanisms. Consider the following snippet of conversation be-
tween two people:
A: Can you tell me the way to get to the Multiplex Ranger cinema?
B: Yes, you go down here for two blocks and then take a right (pointing to the
right), go on till you get to the lights and then it is on the left.
A: Oh, so I go along here for a couple of blocks and then take a right and the
cinema is at the lights (pointing ahead of him)?
A: No, you go on this street for a couple of blocks (gesturing more vigorously
than before to the street to the right of him while emphasizing the word "this").
B: Ahhhh! I thought you meant that one: so it's this one (pointing in same di-
rection as the other person).
A: Uh-hum, yes that's right, this one.
Detecting breakdowns in conversation requires the speaker and listener to be at-
tending to what the other says (or does not say). Once they have understood the na-
ture of the failure, they can then go about repairing it. As shown in the above
example, when the listener misunderstands what has been communicated, the
speaker repeats what she said earlier, using a stronger voice intonation and more ex-
aggerated gestures. This allows the speaker to repair the mistake and be more ex-
plicit to the listener, allowing her to understand and follow better what they are
saying. Listeners may also signal when they don't understand something or want fur-
ther clarification by using various tokens, like "Huh?", "Quoi?" or "What?" (Sche-
gloff, 1982) together with giving a puzzled look (usually frowning). This is especially
the case when the speaker says something that is vague. For example, they might say
"I want it" to their partner, without saying what it is they want. The partner may
reply using a token or, alternatively, explicitly ask, "What do you mean by it?"
Taking turns also provides opportunities for the listener to initiate repair or re-
quest clarification, or for the speaker to detect that there is a problem and to initi-
ate repair. The listener will usually wait for the next turn in the conversation before
interrupting the speaker, to give the speaker the chance to clarify what is being said
by completing the utterance (Suchman, 1987).

How do people repair breakdowns in conversations when using the phone or email?

Comment In these settings people cannot see each other and so have to rely on other means of repair-
ing their conversations. Furthermore, there are more opportunities for breakdowns to occur
and fewer mechanisms available for repair. When a breakdown occurs over the phone, peo-
ple will often shout louder, repeating what they said several times, and use stronger intbna-
tion. When a breakdown occurs via email, people may literally spell out what they meant,
making things much more explicit in a subsequent email. If the message is beyond repair
they may resort to another mode of communication that allows greater flexibility of expies-
sion, either telephoning or speaking to the recipient face to face.