I

Interaction

The act of communicating in and through verbal and body cues

Interactional floor

The notional space or opportunity for participating in a conversation. E.g., in a 999 call each person takes turns to speak, the call taker ‘holds’ the floor through the questioning process

Interactional trouble

Any issue that negatively impacts the flow of conversation e.g., difficulties in understanding the meaning of certain words used in a particular context, difficulties in responding, difficulties in continuing speaking, etc. These ‘bumps’ are common when people communicate, often they are easy to mitigate but they can also have serious consequences to the overall encounter

Interrogation / interrogative series

A series of questions that a call-taker needs to ask a caller according to the scripted system, so as to get information about the emergency.

Intonation

The change of pitch/tone in speech

L

lexical choices

The words we use and the words we choose to use in specialised contexts.

Linguistic practice

The way we communicate in our daily lives and its consequences. E.g., the way a question is asked has immediate implications for the quality and quantity of information that will follow. Linguistic practice is systematic and known to those socialised in a professional setting.

Q

Questions indexing

The use of specific linguistic cues, such as word order or intonation, to signal that a sentence is a question

R

Reformulation (of questions)

Asking for the same information by changing the structure or lexis of a question or replacing the original question with a new question asked from a different angle.

Risk indicators

Verbal and nonverbal cues that could signal urgency and severity of an emergency, e.g., lexical choices, stress, breathing of the speaker.