Strelchenko N. Echo questions in English dialogical discourse

This thesis studies echo questions in English dialogical discourse. It works out a definition of an echo question and offers a methodology for their analysis, establishing the interplay between echo questions and a mental context model of the communicative situation on the basis of the sociocognitive theory of discourse analysis. The study establishes that echo questions are used both to build / update a mental context model and repair communicative failures as well as to perform speech acts and implement strategies and tactics controlled by the mental context model. The dissertation offers a typology of communicative strategies and tactics, based on mental model theory and the components of the communicative act as cognitive-communicative criteria.