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Les effets d'une action linguistique dépendent du contexte. Cela pose plusieurs questions, auxquelles il est essentiel qu'un modèle linguistique réponde: comment représenter le contexte conversationnel, la façon dont celui-ci influe sur le "sens" de chaque contribution et sur le choix rationnel fait par un agent de ce qu'il va dire ensuite? Il existe plusieurs théories de la structure du discours, mais celles-ci ne s'accordent pas sur un ensemble précis de contraintes structurelles régissant le contexte conversationnel. Nous proposons un formalisme unifié pour traduire et comparer entre théories et représentations distinctes et nous étudions les fondations axiomatiques d'une mesure de déviation 'sémantique' entre deux contextes conversationnels, et de l'impact de l'entrée de nouveaux éléments dans le contexte sur cette deviation. Un second travail porte sur l'interaction entre forme logique et rationnalité dans les conversations, plus spécifiquement, lorsque les intérêts des participants divergent. Nous proposons un modèle en théorie des jeux, dans lequel une conversation est une séquence infinie de coups linguistiques. Dans ce cadre nous formalisons certaines contraintes linguistiques génériques comme des conditions nécessaires au succès d'un agent (rester consistant, cohérent, crédible). Les préférences des agents sont décrites par des contenus auxquels ceux-ci souhaitent, ou ne souhaitent pas s'engager. Crucialement, on peut justifier et expliquer via des considérations sémantiques le choix des objectifs conversationnels des agents, et montrer quand et comment certaines inferences (implicatures) survivent ou disparaissent. Cela nécessite une sémantique adéquate, pour l'obtenir nous définissons une logique modale dynamique des engagements publics. Celle-ci permet de représenter les déclaration des participants vis-à-vis de leur propre engagements et de ceux de leurs interlocuteurs. Cela permet enfin un modèle de "grounding" a granularité plus fine que les approches existantes, qui demeurent cependant axiomatisable comme des cas particulier. / The effects of a linguistic action depend on its context of use. This raises a certain number of issues for a model of language use: how to represent the conversational context, its relation to the meanings that agents convey, and how to model agents' rational choice of the next thing to say, in context? There is, between existing theories of discourse structure, no general agreement on a precise set of structural constraints governing the conversational context. To remedy this, we propose a unified framewok to translate and compare between distinct theories and representations. We then lay the axiomatic foundations of metrics measuring the semantic deviation between two conversational contexts, and the changes brought into such a deviation, as new moves enter the context. A second body of work focuses on the modeling of conversational meaning and its interaction with that of rationnality in conversations, more specifically strategic dialogs, where the interest of the participants diverge. We propose a game theoretic account of such conversations, as infinite sequences of linguistic moves. We formalize linguistic constraints that are generic necessary conditions on successful plays (staying coherent, consistent, credible), and describe agents' preferences in terms of the contents that agents commit to. Crucially, we can describe a player's objective and explain why it is adopted on semantic grounds. We show on this basis how and when inferences to non-litteral meaning survives or are cancelled. As this requires a semantics expressive enough, we define a dynamic logic of public commitments to represent participants' commitments about the content of theirs, or their opponent's moves, and keep those representations subject to a sound notion of logical consequence (and hence, of consistency). This yields an account of acknowledgment and grounding more formal and fine-grained than traditional approaches, recoverable as particular cases.

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PURPOSE. This thesis takes a contextualised stakeholder approach to exploring alignment between organizational talent management and individual career development. The contribution and nature of career conversations as an opportunity for alignment is considered. DESIGN. This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. Phase one involved semi-structured interviews with Human Resources and Organizational Development professionals (n = 30). Phase two involved semi-structured interviews using career narratives with line managers and individuals from five case study organizations which were also involved in phase 1 (n = 40). Data were analysed thematically by stakeholder group and within each case study. LIMITATIONS. The sample used within the study were not selected to be representative. The conversations described by participants may not be representative of all of the conversations they have experienced. The case study organizations were all UK based. FINDINGS. For most HR professionals, talent management was driven by organizational goals with little reference to individual needs, hence, alignment was not a priority for them. In contrast, individuals and line managers described a commitment to seeking overlap between organizational and individual goals, with some line managers describing their role as brokers . Career conversations were seen by all stakeholders as an important part of talent management and career development, with the potential to be a vehicle for alignment. Detailed analysis of the career conversations described by individuals identified a broad range of helpful conversations, the majority of which took place informally. Additional categories of career shaper (from Bosley et al, 2009) were also identified as collaborators and catalysts . A variety of contextual features were found to influence the enactment of talent management and career development. These were summarised as a contextual map indicating local, organisational and environmental dynamics. ORIGINALITY/VALUE. The research reinforced the value of taking a contextualised perspective of both organizational talent and individual career (e.g. Cohen et al 2004; Sparrow, 2014). It also captured the voices of different stakeholder groups (e.g. Collings, 2014; Thunnissen et al, 2013).

An action research design, incorporating the repertory grid as a framework for Learning Conversations, is used to examine the management of change for a group of teachers and their schools. The study sets out to analyse how individual, teachers, from twelve primary and middle schools, in three outer London boroughs, learnt about managing change in their schools, in relation to children with Special Educational Needs. To study how the school supported these individuals, Headteachers and Deputy Heads were also included in the research. The sample of teachers was chosen from those who had attended either of two sets of in-service courses on Special Educational Needs in Ordinary Schools. The first set of teachers had recently completed their course; the second had completed courses between five and eight years previously. This gave an opportunity to compare short-term and long-term learning outcomes from these courses. As the study progressed, so did the development of the use of the conversational techniques. Flexible Learning Conversations, which went beyond the repertory grid techniques, were developed, and the evidence showed that this improved individuals' ability to reflect on their work, thus gaining confidence for future action in their schools. It was, also possible to develop a procedure for small groups of participants to share their own constructs, elicited from personal grid conversations. This led, into a Group Learning Conversation, which also included future action planning. The research also examines the interaction of action research and the Learning Conversation using the repertory grid, in helping to develop reflective practitioners and effective schools. As co-ordinating tutor for both sets of in-service courses, as a co-ordinator of LEA support services in two of the LEAs, and in the role as action researcher, my personal learning has formed part of the research outcomes.

Svåra samtal på arbetsplatsen handlar ofta om disciplinära och omvårdande samtal. Dessa hålls mellan chef och medarbetare men stöttas oftast av en HR-praktiker för att leda samtalet. HR-praktikens roll i samtalet kan handla om att strukturera samtalet, stötta chefen och hantera motreaktioner från den berörda medarbetaren. Denna studie syftar till att besvara hur HR-praktiker hanterar och utvecklar sin kompetens att hålla svåra samtal med särskilt fokus på disciplinära och omvårdande samtal på arbetsplatsen. För att undersöka studiens syfte och frågeställningar har en kvalitativ undersökning gjorts där sju personer inom HR-professionen intervjuats. Vidare har det empiriska materialet analyserats med utgångspunkt från studiens frågeställningar. Detta har gjorts i koppling till Argyris single och double loop- lärande (1991) samt Kolb (1984) och Mumfords (1995) teorier om erfarenhetsbaserat lärande. Resultatet visar att HR-praktiker upplever dessa samtal tuffa men att nivån kan öka utan vissa förutsättningar och samtalsverktyg samt att erfarenheten gör det lättare för samtalsledaren att genomföra dem. Det visar även hur hanteringen av det svåra samtalet kan sammankopplas med ett double loop-lärandet samt hur reflektioner från mindre lyckade samtal bidragit till det erfarenhetsbaserade lärandet. HR-praktikerna har därmed hittat olika verktyg för att lättare hantera de utmaningar som de ställs inför i det svåra samtalet. / Difficult conversations in the workplace are often about disciplinary or nurturing conversations. These are held between manager and employee but are usually supported by an HR practitioner to lead the conversation. The HR practitioner's role in the conversation may involve structuring the conversation, supporting the manager and handling backlash from the concerned employee. The conversations are often described as tough, but that experience makes it easier for the person leading the conversation to carry them out. This study aims to answer how HR practitioners manage and develop their skills to hold difficult conversations with a particular focus on disciplinary and nursing conversations in the workplace. In order to investigate the purpose and questions of the study, a qualitative survey was conducted in which seven people within the HR profession were interviewed. Furthermore, the empirical material has been analyzed based on the study's questions. This has been done in connection with Argyris' single and double loop learning (1991) and Kolb's (1984) and Mumford's (1995) theories of experience-based learning. The result shows that the experience and handling of the difficult conversation can be connected with a double loop learning and how reflections from less successful conversations contributed to the experience-based learning. The HR practitioners have thus found different tools to more easily handle the challenges they face in the difficult conversation.

A safe environment, conducive to productive and transparent conversations, makes possible the improvement of literacy practices and strengthens teacher/administrator relationships for more honest and vulnerable conversations. In this autoethnographic intrinsic case study I conducted a self-study of my use of language and communication with four literacy teachers during debrief, after classroom walkthroughs, when coaching each on literacy practice. Furthermore, the component under investigation was the debrief meeting where dialogue is the key ingredient for discussing teacher classroom practice. The study was approached through identifying characteristics from my personal and professional background, to my interactions with the four literacy teachers and the insights and perceptions of my role and style as their administrator. Findings revealed, teachers in this study desired positive recognition and praise as a result of my informal classroom walkthroughs. I was able to influence the teachers' beliefs through debriefing and nurture those beliefs about themselves to enhance their attempts to teach their students more effectively. Student engagement increased as the teachers began to unpack the why, what and the how of their teaching during debrief meetings. School wide improvement efforts were also supported as teachers were able to look past themselves when they reflected on connections made to the next grade level or the previous grade level to help understand literacy curricular decisions and goal setting. The findings were discussed as they apply to the debrief experiences realized by both administrator and teacher.

This qualitative study utilized the action-project theory and method to investigate the close, long-term friendships (two to ten years in duration) of female, early adolescent dyads. Ten early adolescent girls between the ages of 11 and 13 were studied. The purpose of this study was twofold; first, to determine the characteristics of best friendship projects and how they manifested within early adolescent friendship conversations and; second, to investigate the nature of self-representations (descriptions of the self) made by the participants. The processes (cognitive, affective, and behavioural) and meaning (goals) of friendship jointly expressed within the conversations were identified. As well, self-representations were analyzed from the perspective of whether they functioned to advance friendship projects. In addition to the friendship conversations, collages explicating the girls’ meanings and processes around their close friendships were also explored through an individual interview with each participant. The participants engaged in five friendship projects within their friendship conversations. First, an overriding project to preserve and maintain the friendship was demonstrated. Other sub-projects demonstrated within the conversations were the desire to have fun, to provide support to each other, and to connect with each other. Simultaneously, while jointly enacting other friendship projects, the participants also demonstrated through action, the project of exploring and discovering aspects of their identities. Multiple functional steps (the means) to achieve these projects were utilized. Gossip, fictional and factual storytelling, teasing, joking, problem solving, asking for advice, and displaying physical affection are examples of these means. Self-representations from the conversations were not always consistent with those revealed during self-confrontation interviews, at times in the service of achieving friendship goals. Self-representations between the collage interviews and the friendship conversations were very consistent, suggesting the complementary nature of the data sources. Meanings and processes gleaned from the friendship conversations were also very consistent with those found within the friendship collages. Implications of these findings for parents, educators, and counsellors are discussed.

This qualitative study utilized the action-project theory and method to investigate the close, long-term friendships (two to ten years in duration) of female, early adolescent dyads. Ten early adolescent girls between the ages of 11 and 13 were studied. The purpose of this study was twofold; first, to determine the characteristics of best friendship projects and how they manifested within early adolescent friendship conversations and; second, to investigate the nature of self-representations (descriptions of the self) made by the participants. The processes (cognitive, affective, and behavioural) and meaning (goals) of friendship jointly expressed within the conversations were identified. As well, self-representations were analyzed from the perspective of whether they functioned to advance friendship projects. In addition to the friendship conversations, collages explicating the girls’ meanings and processes around their close friendships were also explored through an individual interview with each participant. The participants engaged in five friendship projects within their friendship conversations. First, an overriding project to preserve and maintain the friendship was demonstrated. Other sub-projects demonstrated within the conversations were the desire to have fun, to provide support to each other, and to connect with each other. Simultaneously, while jointly enacting other friendship projects, the participants also demonstrated through action, the project of exploring and discovering aspects of their identities. Multiple functional steps (the means) to achieve these projects were utilized. Gossip, fictional and factual storytelling, teasing, joking, problem solving, asking for advice, and displaying physical affection are examples of these means. Self-representations from the conversations were not always consistent with those revealed during self-confrontation interviews, at times in the service of achieving friendship goals. Self-representations between the collage interviews and the friendship conversations were very consistent, suggesting the complementary nature of the data sources. Meanings and processes gleaned from the friendship conversations were also very consistent with those found within the friendship collages. Implications of these findings for parents, educators, and counsellors are discussed.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2002.