Most spoken interactions "can be placed on a continuum from relatively predictable to relatively unpredictable" (Nunan, 1991, p. 42). Conversations are relatively unpredictable and can range over many topics, with the participants taking turns and commenting freely. In contrast, Nunan states that "transactional encounters of a fairly restricted kind will usually contain highly predictable patterns" (1991, p. 42), and he gives the example of telephoning for a taxi. According to Nunan, interactional speech is much more fluid and unpredictable than transactional speech. Speaking activities inside the classroom need to embody both interactional and transactional purposes, since language learners will have to speak the target language in both transactional and interactional settings.