Week 5 conversation + turn taking

Question 1

primacy of conversation

Answer 1

Conversation provides the context in which most native languages are
learned
• Conversations are highly structured — they have a grammar

(convo = one type of speech event)

Question 2

What must a conversation achieve?

Answer 2

RULES:

• Turn taking, orderly
• interlocutors expect what happens next : if choice, how to decide
• way to repair malfunctions/errors if occur

Question 3

TURN TAKING

Answer 3

participants typically agree on who should speak when and when a
turn is over but this is not negotiated explicitly …

pause/competition/interupption

Question 4

Pause and competition

Answer 4

overlong pause: resolved by repitition of utterance/other means

turn taking conflict resolved:

• one speaker relinquish floor
• a speaker may turn up volume n keep speaking

Question 5

Tolerances for pause and overlaps

Answer 5

• turn taking conventions serve to minimise these problems

- culturally/linguistically bound toleranve

Question 6

Turn Taking signal types

Answer 6

• INTONATIONAL CUES
• TAG-QUESTIONS (isnt it? after statement)
• OTHER DISCOURSE PARTICLES “you know”“or something”
• SIGNIFICANT PAUSES

non verbal:
GESTURE - when your hands stop moving and return to a rest
position it’s the next person’s turn to talk

EYE-GAZE - in Australia it is often the case that when the speaker
returns their gaze to yours it is now your turn to speak

Question 7

ADJACENCY PAIRS

Answer 7

• where conversations organised in terms of EXPECTED SEQUENCES

1. QUESTION + ANSWER
2. INV + ACCEPTANCE /REFUSal
3. ASSESSMENT + DISAGREEMENT
4. REQUEST + GRANTING
5. APOLOGY + ACCEPTANCE
6. SUMMONS + ACKNOWLEDGE MENT

7a. COMPLIMENT + ACCEPTANCE
7b. COMPLIMENT + DEFLECTION
7c. COMPLIMENT + REJECTION

Question 8

Structure of Adjacency pairs

Answer 8

1. parts CONTIGUOUS (+uttered by diff speakers)
   > A. Where’s the cheese I bought this morning?
   B. They said on the radio that it isn’t going to rain for at least
   another week. The cat got it.
   (except embedding)
2. parts ORDERED (eg. q preceeds a)
   > A. Yes, I’d love to come to your party!
   B. Would you like to come over on Saturday?
3. parts MATCHED
   > A. Do you want some more coffee?
   B. That’s okay, you’re not bothering me in the least.

Question 9

Embedding adjacency pairs

Answer 9

CONTIGUOUS can b violated

A. Can I speak to Professor Smith?
*B. May I ask who’s calling?
*A. Joe Bloggs
B. Please hold

Question 10

preferred + dispreferred responses

Answer 10

A. Would you like to see a movie this week?
B. Yes that would be fun. [positive]
*B. Well, mmm, I’m a bit busy this week. I have this linguistics assignment
due, and I need to wash the dog, and I really ought to defrost the
fridge … [negative]

Question 11

socially recognised opening sequences for conversations

Answer 11

o Formulaic greetings (+ phone greetings/etiquette)
o Apologising for interrupting
o Attracting attention
o Making one’s identity known to the other person

Question 12

Closing sequences

Answer 12

• careful negotiation
• usually not

1. anything else to say? o “Okay …”, “Well …”, “Alright then …” PRE-CLOSING turns SLOW CONVO
2. Following a pre-closing sequence a speaker may reintroduce the initial topic
   “Okay, well I was just calling to wish you a Happy Birthday …”
3. Finally, the conversation closes with a parting expression:
   “Goodbye”, “See ya”, “Bye for now”, “A bientôt”, “Wiyalarta”