@article{jbp:/content/journals/10.1075/ps.7.3.02sol, author = "Solberg, Janne", title = "Argument in professional-client encounters: Building cases through second-hand assessments", journal= "Pragmatics and Society", year = "2016", volume = "7", number = "3", pages = "366-390", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.7.3.02sol", url = "https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/ps.7.3.02sol", publisher = "John Benjamins", issn = "1878-9714", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "second-hand knowledge", keywords = "arguing", keywords = "indirect reported speech", keywords = "Conversation Analysis", keywords = "institutional agenda", keywords = "promotional move", keywords = "oppositional move", keywords = "assessment", abstract = "Adopting the methods of Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis, this article aims to add to our knowledge of the dynamics and resistance in professional-client encounters. It does this by examining the argumentative function of second-hand assessments in the setting of vocational rehabilitation. In the situated negotiation of appropriate work-targeted initiatives (education, job training, etc.), the practice of reporting second-hand assessments functions either as ‘opposing’ the professional’s investigations, or, when used in initiating turns, as ‘promoting’ the client’s case. Regarding the first, second-hand assessments provide opportunities to oppose and redirect the institutional agenda. That is, the issue introduced by the professional is fended off more or less openly through second-hand accounts, which provide a presumptive better grasp on the matter at hand.", }