Face-to-face dialogue is our basic form of language use. It is, and always has been, the only form of language use that spans all cultures and societies. Face-to-Face Dialogue: Theory, Research, and Applications focuses on the unique combination of features that make face-to-face dialogue the fastest, most precise, and most skillful activity that ordinary individuals do together. Writing for an inter-disciplinary readership, Bavelas draws on her research program of over three decades to reveal the unique features of face-to-face dialogue. Unlike written or mediated forms, face-to-face dialogue uses both speech and co-speech gestures and also permits rapid-even simultaneous-exchanges. This book demonstrates the importance of focusing on interactions rather than individuals and on specific multi-modal acts rather than all nonverbal communication. Bavelas's mixed research methods begin inductively, leading to experiments with qualitative measures. Second-by-second microanalysis uncovers details of how a dialogue works. By focusing on communication as joint action, Face-to-Face Dialogue refocuses the conversation around the science of human communication, with realizable practical applications for researchers and professionals alike.

Called one of the best books ever about human communication, and a perennial bestseller, Pragmatics of Human Communication has formed the foundation of much contemporary research into interpersonal communication, in addition to laying the groundwork for context-based approaches to psychotherapy. The authors present the simple but radical idea that problems in life often arise from issues of communication, rather than from deep psychological disorders, reinforcing their conceptual explorations with case studies and well-known literary examples. Written with humor and for a variety of readers, this book identifies simple properties and axioms of human communication and demonstrates how all communications are actually a function of their contexts.

Topics covered in this wide-ranging book include: the origins of communication; the idea that all behavior is communication; meta-communication; the properties of an open system; the family as a system of communication; the nature of paradox in psychotherapy; existentialism and human communication."