Constructing disagreement space

Abstract

Abstract The study is a single case analysis and explores how disagreement space is constructed in a dialogue that addresses language ideology and identity issues in Belarus. Disagreement space is understood as a set of the interactant’s commitments, beliefs, intentions that can be reconstructed from their actions and “called out” by another participant (Jackson 1992). The interactional data includes the video-recording of the debate that was devoted to the issue whether Belarusian should be the only official language of Belarus. While two opponents are dominating parties in this debate, the host also plays an important role in this argumentative activity. The current study examines the host’s actions to shape disagreement space and argues that the host should be viewed as a valid party in a multi-party argumentative activity.