The chapter introduces the shared workspace framework for dialogue and other cooperative joint activities.

The chapter concludes the book bu summarising the main points and indicating future directions and possible applications. We suggest applications such asdisordered dialogue (e.g., involving young children or people with autism) and remote conferencing facilities.

The chapter discusses how motor control theory can be applied to language production in dialogue. We develop the theory starting with control of individual speech production using self-monitoring supported by forward speech models. We then show how the production system supports interpretation of a partner's speech through simulation, as in other forms of action. Finally we show how the combination of forward modelling for comprehension and production supports distributed control of dialogue.

The chapter presents the theory of interactive alignment and primarily focuses on the alignment of linguistic representations underlying the utterances that each speaker contributes to the dialogue.Such representations enable interlocutors to formulate phrases, words, or gestures that move the dialogue forward. We also consider two dimensions of alignment (focal vs. global, and linguistic vs. dialogue model) and how alignment relates to reference and the role of dialogue routines in support of alignment.

The chapter shows how interlocutors achieve alignment of dialogue models -- that is, both situation models and dialogue game models. Such alignment is the basis of successful dialogue. We discuss the importance of co-reference for alignment of situation models. We then consider the role of meta-representation of aiignment in dialogue and how this controls what people choose to say next. We consider the relationship between focal alignment of dialogue models and what is in the shared workspace. Finally, we discuss the relationship between alignment and common ground.

The chapter discusses efficient use of the limited shared workspace and how interlocutors work together to achieve it. We introduce the notion of commentary (both positive and negative) that reflects interlocutors' confidence in focal alignment. We show how positive commentary leads directly to succinct expressions and negative commentary leads to fuller expressions. As a result, positive and negative commentary promote alignment while minimizing collaborative effort.

The chapter discusses cooperative joint activities such as a man and woman jointly constructing a piece of flat-pack furniture. It describes the shared workspace framework for how pairs of individuals can jointly execute such activities.The framework assumes a limited capacity workspace reflecting what the actors jointly attend to at any moment. For cooperative joint activities in general the workspace contains meaningful entities and behaviours that offer joint affordances to the interactants.The combination of the individuals and the shared workspace captures non-monadic aspects of cognition such as alignment and synchrony.

Thechapter introduces the shared workspace framework for dialogue. We show how the framework used to explain cooperative joint activities in general can be applied to dialogue. In dialogue, the framework is similar to that for other cooperative joint activities except that the meaningful entities in the shared workspace are signs as well as associated objects.