ABSTRACT

When previously unacquainted people spontaneously strike up a conversation in multilingual public space, a fundamental practical problem with which they may be faced is language choice. Using video recordings of naturally-occurring first-time encounters collected in a variety of public settings, this article shows that one way of calibrating initial language choice in emergent encounters is by taking advantage of overhearables in the immediate environment. Analysis demonstrates how incidentally co-present individuals who are within earshot of one another aurally monitor co-present others and accountably exploit their sensory access to a previously-in-progress interaction for then implementing a recipient-oriented, linguistically fitted action when moving into focused interaction, thereby using overhearing as an occasioned resource for recipient-design. The analysis contributes to the study of openings between strangers in public space and our understanding of the relation between embodied participation and everyday multilingualism-in-interaction. Data are in (lingua franca) English, French, Italian, Standard German, and Swiss German.

摘要

当以前不熟悉的人在多语种公共空间自发地搭讪时，他们可能面临的一个基本的实际问题是语言选择。本文使用在各种公共环境中收集的自然发生的第一次相遇的视频记录，表明在紧急相遇中校准初始语言选择的一种方法是利用可听到的在直接的环境中。分析展示了如何偶然地共同呈现的个人在彼此的听力范围内通过听觉监控共同呈现的其他人，并负责任地利用他们对先前进行中的交互的感官访问，然后在进入专注时实施面向接受者、语言适合的行动互动，从而将偷听作为接受者设计的偶然资源。该分析有助于研究公共空间中陌生人之间的开口，以及我们对具体参与与日常互动中的多语种之间关系的理解。数据采用（通用语）英语、法语、意大利语、标准德语和瑞士德语。