37.2333, Confs: Panel at IPC20: Relating and Relationship Development over Time (Finland)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-2333. Tue Jul 14 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.2333, Confs: Panel at IPC20: Relating and Relationship Development over Time (Finland)

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Date: 13-Jul-2026
From: Chilmeg Elden [c.elden at uq.edu.au]
Subject: Panel at IPC20: Relating and Relationship Development over Time


Panel at IPC20: Relating and Relationship Development over Time

Date: 27-Jun-2027 - 02-Jul-2027
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics; Clinical Linguistics;
Discourse Analysis; Pragmatics; Sociolinguistics

Submission Deadline: 15-Oct-2026

This panel is organised by Chilmeg Elden and Michael Haugh (The
University of Queensland, Australia) and will be held as part of the
20th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA2027) at the University
of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Call for Papers:
A growing body of research has examined interpersonal relationships
from an interactional perspective, treating relationships as
interactional achievements between two or more parties, which are
accomplished over various different spans of time, rather than being
static properties of individuals (Arundale, 2010, 2020, 2021a, 2021b;
Enfield, 2009, 2013; Haugh, Kádár & Mills, 2013). However, while an
increasing number of studies have explored the dynamic, in situ
processes by which interactants get to know each other (e.g. Barron
2025; Chang, 2025, 2026; Haugh et al., 2025; Haugh & Pillet-Shore,
2018; Korobov, 2024; Templeton et al. 2024; see also Svennevig, 2025),
as well as how interpersonal relationships are maintained and
negotiated interactionally in family discourse (e.g. Beach 1996;
Sinkeviciute & Rodriguez, 2025), in the workplace (e.g. Chang, 2016;
Spencer-Oatey, 2013; Spencer-Oatey & Lazidou 2022; Spencer-Oatey &
Wang, 2025), medical and health-related interactions (e.g. Beach et
al. 2018, 2024), and mediated interactions (Ran & Zhao, 2018),
relatively little attention has been paid to how relationships develop
over time and across interactions.
The aim of this panel is to expand on the existing research on
interpersonal relationships through drawing attention to temporal
dimensions of relating and relationship development (Depperman and
Pekarek-Doehler 2021). The panel will bring together scholars who
examine how interpersonal relationships are interactionally
accomplished across different timespans in different contexts. We
invite contributions that draw on various kinds of interactional data
which capture temporal dimensions of relating, including co-present
interactions, online interactions, or interactions in mediated
contexts (e.g., reality TV shows), as well as longitudinal studies
that capture developmental trajectories across interactions. Through
incorporating various kinds of interactional data and methodological
approaches, this panel seeks to explore how interpersonal
relationships can interactionally emerge, evolve, be maintained, and,
in some cases, come to an end. The panel is particularly interested in
work that examines: (1) the establishment of interpersonal
relationships in first or subsequent encounters; (2) the maintenance
and negotiation of ongoing relationships; and (3) the interactional
practices of which interpersonal relationships deteriorate or
dissolve.
We anticipate attracting a diverse range of scholars to the panel, as
we will welcome papers that employ a range of different analytic
frameworks and methodologies to examine how interpersonal
relationships are interactionally accomplished, including approaches
drawing on conversation analysis, MCA, discourse analysis, corpus
pragmatics, interpersonal communication and social psychology. We will
especially welcome papers that attempt to bridge one or more of these
approaches. Alongside inviting those who have already established
lines of research in or related areas (including Robert Arundale, Anne
Barron, Wei-Lin Melody Chang, Arnulf Deppermann, Alexandra Gubina,
Ahmad Izadi, Adam Jones, Hanh Thi Nguyen, Thuy Minh Nguyen, Simona
Pekarek Doehler, Carl Eduard Scheidt, Helen Spencer-Oatey, Anja
Stukenbrock, and Emma Templeton), we would also like to launch an open
call for contributions from additional participants in order to
attract a broad range of theoretical perspectives on relating and
relationship development.
References:
Arundale, Robert B. (2010). Relating. In Miriam Locher and Sage
Lambert Graham (eds), Interpersonal Pragmatics (pp.137-165). Berlin:
Mouton de Gruyter.
Arundale, Robert B. (2020). Communicating and Relating. Constituting
Face in Everyday Interacting. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Arundale, Robert B. (2021a). Relationships and relating. In Michael
Haugh, Dániel Z. Kádár and Marina Terkourafi (eds.), Cambridge
Handbook of Sociopragmatics (pp.272-292). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Arundale, Robert B. (2021b). Toward a pragmatics of relating in
conversational interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 179: 19-25.
Barron, Anne (2025). “I’ll get it”: Payment offers, payment offer
sequences and gender on First Dates. Journal of Pragmatics 235: 4-25.
Chang, Wei-Lin Melody (2016). Face and Face Practices in Chinese
Interaction. London: Equinox.
Chang, Wei-Lin Melody (2025). “Being your son is rather tiring”:
assessments and assessment responses in initial interactions in
Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics 235: 43-59.
Chang, Wei-Lin Melody (2026). Sharing affect with the unacquainted:
The role of conversational humour in initial interactions among
Mandarin Chinese speakers. Humor 39(1): 61-93.
Enfield, N. J. (2009). Relationship thinking and human pragmatics.
Journal of Pragmatics 41(1): 60-78.
Enfield, N. J. (2013). Relationship Thinking. Agency, Enchrony, and
Human Sociality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Haugh, Michael, Wei-Lin Melody Chang and Yuji Sato (2025). Negotiating
interactional routines in openings of intercultural first encounters.
Intercultural Pragmatics 22(5): 1049-1079.
Haugh, Michael, Daniel Z. Kádár and Sara Mills (2013). Interpersonal
pragmatics: Issues and debates. Journal of Pragmatics 58: 1-11.
Haugh, Michael and Danielle Pillet-Shore (2018). Getting to know you:
Teasing as an invitation to intimacy in initial interactions.
Discourse Studies 20(2): 246-269.
Haugh, Michael and Valeria Sinkeviciute (2021). The pragmatics of
initial interactions: Cross-cultural and intercultural perspectives.
Journal of Pragmatics 185: 35-39.
Korobov, Neill (2024). The use of praise upgrades in compliment
sequences in natural conversations between young adults in dating
relationships. Journal of Pragmatics 224: 46-56.
Ran, Yongping and Linsen Zhao (2018). Building mutual affection-based
face in conflict mediation: A Chinese relationship management model.
Journal of Pragmatics 129: 185-198.
Sinkeviciute, Valeria and Andrea Rodriguez (2025). Rules of
engagement: Relationships and socialisation practices in family
discourse. Discourse Studies [online first].
Spencer-Oatey, Helen (2013). Relating at work: Facets, dialectics and
face. Journal of Pragmatics 58: 121-137.
Spencer-Oatey, Helen and Domna Lazidou (2022). Making Working
Relationships Work. Melbourne, VIC: Castledown.
Spencer-Oatey, Helen and Jiayi Wang (2025). Relating to others and
(not) getting along: What triggers evaluative reactions? Journal of
Pragmatics 243: 6-23.
Svennevig, Jan (2025). Getting acquainted. In Melisa Stevanovic (ed.),
Research Handbook on Social Interaction (pp.356-370). London: Edward
Elgar Publishing.
Abstracts should be submitted via the conference website:
https://pragmatics.international/page/CfP2027
Deadline: 15 October 2026
If you have any questions regarding the panel, please feel free to
contact Chilmeg Elden (c.elden at uq.edu.au).



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