| type of talk | focus | participation | example |
| dominating communication |
focal activity |
ratified participants |
a professor is giving a lecture to a group of students in a lecture theatre |
| subordinate communication |
nonfocal activity |
by-play |
ratified participants |
two students on the 6th row hold a "private" conversation |
| side-play |
non-ratified participants |
two students who happen to pass by appear in the doorway of the lecture theatre and exchange comments to each other |
| cross-play |
a ratified and a non-ratified participant |
a bystander in the doorway addresses a student in the lecture theatre |
Based on: W. Hanks (1996: 207ff.
) |
