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I guess what I am trying to say is that if you are translating a marketing blurb about some college course designed to improve students' communication skills, then “sequence of utterances” will look out of place. On the other hand, if what you are translating is a study/theory of communication skills development, than your level of language should be different, and “sequence of utterances” will fit nicely. However, just from the quotations you’ve offered, don’t you think that “short-run” and “long-run” coulb be actually the terms you were looking for? “The vocabulary of RT
In RT theory the terms long-turn and short-turn are often used. A short-turn, often referred to as language for informational purposes, is a markedly abbreviated exchange between persons. A long-turn, often referred to as language for transactional purposes, is an extended conversation involving a series of exchanges….The researchers point out that the long-turn speaker takes responsibility for creating a “structured sequence of utterances” that enable the listener to “create a coherent mental representation” of what the speaker is trying to say. Brown and Yule (1983, 19) stress that training students to produce short-turns “will not automatically yield students who can perform satisfactorily in long-turns.” The point is, teachers should do all they can to encourage students to produce complete sentences rather than short utterances.
Through the use of paraphrasing, reported speech, question formation and concept-checking, students learn to find synonymous expressions or substitutes, practice relaying information, and familiarize themselves with the structuring of questions. The teacher makes certain that the instructions or concepts have been understood. When the teacher asks a question such as “Did you have a good weekend?” students tend to give short responses, that is, a short-turn such as “Yes” or “No.” Likewise, if a teacher asks, “What did you do?” a student could simply say “Nothing!” Such a response provides no details; it merely responds to the question in as brief a way as possible. Clearly, teachers need to prompt students to produce longer utterances if they are to be effective communicators, and they need to help listeners get a clearer idea of what is expected of them. They can do so by beckoning the student, by word or gesture, to give a long-turn answer, such as: “Uh… I went to the movies with some friends. We saw a terrific movie and after the show, we had something to eat.” Producing long-turns is part and parcel of RT.”
http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol42/no2/p20.htm
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