The concept of communicative competence, which has recently become so influential in language teaching, has resulted in a new emphasis on the nature of interaction. Questions concerning the communicative needs of language learners are raised with regard to the types of interaction they will participate in, the roles they will have, and the communicative acts they wish to perform. Innovations in language teaching that take communicative needs into account should be based on a description of communicative interaction and its various components. This paper is a contribution to that description. The concepts of status and role are defined and discussed, and the place of role in interaction is explored. The types of linguistic act which realize role are examined, and a brief passage from a French lesson is analyzed as an example of this approach to the description and definition of role. (CLK)