Using Laugh Responses to Defuse Complaints

Student smiles and the negotiation of epistemics in L2 classrooms

“…In particular, much research on laughter has pointed to its complex relationship to (dis)affiliation and (dis) alignment (Fatigante and Orletti, 2013;Glenn, 2003Glenn, , 2013Haakana, 2010;Holt, 2012;Markaki et al, 2010;Thonus, 2008;Vöge, 2010). Laughter or laughter particles following a disaligning or disaffiliative move can serve to ''modulate the action'' without disrupting progressivity (Shaw et al, 2013:102).…”

“…Potter and Hepburn (2010) show that by implicitly marking a speaker's stance, laughter can mitigate ''potentially problematic actions'' (p. 1552) and pre-empt potential trouble. Smiles and smile voice have been shown to convey stance as well (Haakana, 2010;Holt, 2012), to be discussed in more detail below. Glenn (2003) argues that ''laughter is indexical; it is heard as referring to something, and hearers will seek out its referent' ' (p. 48).…”

“…Laughter may be seen as pointing to some laughable, but it also may index interactional trouble, allowing participants to mark stance or modulate actions to manage (dis)affiliation and (dis)alignment (Glenn and Holt, 2013b;Haakana, 2002;Jacknick, 2013;Potter and Hepburn, 2010). Holt (2010Holt ( , 2012 has also shown how laughter can be topic termination implicative; speakers who decline invitations to shared laughter tend to pursue topical matters in upcoming turns, whereas shared laughter tends to occur at conversation endings or topic boundaries. Haakana (2010) provides an important caution, arguing that ''laughter and smiles have different functions in different sequential and verbal contexts'' (p. 1499), and so finding that laughter or smiles show participants' pursuit of affiliation in one instance does not mean these resources always accomplish this action.…”

“…Because it is so closely associated with laughter, often preceding or co-occurring with it, smile voice has often been included in analyses of laughter (Haakana, 2010;Holt, 2012;Jacknick, 2013;Lavin and Maynard, 2001). Lavin and Maynard's (2001) analysis of laughter in telephone surveys provides one of the earliest accounts of smile voice as an interactional phenomenon.…”

“…In the case of interactional trouble related to epistemic access, we argue that student smiles serve to maintain affiliation and to promote the progressivity of talk. 1 Laughter and smiles have been shown to be implicated in the resolution of interactional trouble of various kinds (Glenn and Holt, 2013b;Haakana, 2010;Holt, 2012;Jacknick, 2013;Jefferson, 1984;Potter and Hepburn, 2010). As Glenn and Holt (2013b) note, ''in moments of trouble, [laughter] provides a resource for aligning, modifying actions, and mitigating meanings' ' (p. 2).…”