CMM: Legal Episode

A legal episode taking place in a court room tends to involve speech acts in the form of questions and answers, and the participants usually take turns in speaking. The court room setting generates an expectation that certain kinds of communication will be used, but it is also the use of those kinds of communication over the years that establishes the setting of the court room.

Other kinds of arguments occur in other settings and employ different kinds of communication. An argument in a bar room, for example, would probably involve the shouting of assertions and all participants might be talking at once.

While this behavior might occur in a court room, it would not be considered normal, or even desireable. Thus, the setting creates expectations as to the kinds of communication that will be encountered, and when the participants meet these expectations, they reinforce the setting.