Conversation Analysis Exam 14 June 11h45
Week 1 - Chapter 3. Turn Taking
Conversation Analysis: aims to describe, analyze and understand talk as a basic and constitutive
feature of human social life.
Turn-taking system: turns provide the underlying framework of conversation // it’s locally
managed by participants and party-administered
1. Turn-constructional component: units for constructing a turn
(sentences, clauses)
2. Turn-allocational component: techniques for turn-allocation, self or
other selection
One-at-a-time rule =none party talking at a time with no gaps and no overlap most of the time
(execpt when ther are assessments, laughter, and other extensive stretches for overlapping)
Turn-constructional units (TCU) = turns are constructed out of units
● Sentential clause: sentence
● Sentencial-expanded: added something to the turn
● Clausal: subject and verb only
● Phrasal: no verb
● Lexical: only a word
Transition-relevance place (TRPs): are discrete places in the developing course of a speaker’s
talk at which ending the turn or continuing it, transfers of the turn or its retention become
relevant
➢ The second speaker can be seen to orient to the relevance of speaker transition at
possible completion while listening to the syntactic (grammar), prosodic (intention) and
pragmatic (intonation) features
TRPs rules:
a. Current-selects-next: If C selects N, then N must speak next
b. Self-selection: If C does not select N, then any party may self-select
c. Speaker continues: If C does not select N and no other party self-selects, C may continue the
turn
Current selects next:
1. Sequence initiating action: when you obtain a response in your turn
, 2. Repair initiation: when there is a problem in his/her turn and he/she should be the one
to solve it
3. Tags: when you give the turn to the other speaker (e.g. “You know?”)
4. Situational particular: when you show that you know something about the other speaker
(referring to something about someone in a room full of people)
Addressing a next speaker selection:
- Question, request, gaze, complaints
Overlapping: occurs in a highly restricted set of places in conversation; is a product rather than
a violation of the system of turn-taking
1. Turn-terminal overlap: occurs at the end of the other speaker’s turn
2. Turn-initial overlap: occurs at the beginning of the turns
3. Recognitional overlap: occurs when there is recognition, availability and understanding
of the context
Turn-terminal overlap
Beth thought the “see” in Virginia’s turn to be the final turn,
which led to the overlap in the beginning of Beth’s turn.
Turn-initial overlap
Parky’s turn overlap with Old Man’s continuing turn
Recognitional overlap
Avan recognized what Bee was saying as being a question.
Interruption: moments in the overlap that are problematic (in contrast to overlap that
promotes the progress of action embodied in talk and where is recognition, interruption does
not)
, Resolving overlap:
● Dropping out
● Perturbations (volume, pitch, pace)
● Hitches (cut-offs, pace)
● Gaze
Resources to break colloquy/conversation:
1. Inside-out resources: in the conversation, two speakers invite the third to jump by
himself/herself
2. Outside-in resources: someone that is outside of the conversation breaks in by
himself/herself
Turn-taking in institutional interaction:
● Turn-type pre-allocation: management of talk for overhearers in large-scale settings
○ News interviews, courts, formal classroom
● Mediated: management of turn-taking traffic in a large group
○ Meetings
● Mixed pre-allocated & mediated: management of conflictual or sensitive interactions
○ Dispute mediation, specialized counselling techniques
Turn-taking in classroom interaction:
● Turn-type pre-allocation
● Teacher-Student-Teacher pattern: Initiation Response Evaluation (IRE) sequences
● Teacher-Student-Teacher pattern: pass-on-turns
● Other specific turn-taking practices, such as incomplete turn-constructional units
Week 2 - Chapter 4. Action and Understanding
Ways in which understanding is achieved in conversation:
❖ Practices of speaking: design of conversation (“Do you want me to buy you lunch?” //
“I'M buying you lunch”)
❖ Actions-in-talk: offering/informing
Adjacency Pair —-- talk is organised into sequences of paired actions = adjacency pairs
● Adjacent positioning of component utterances
● Different speakers produce each utterance
● Relative ordering of parts: first pair part (FPP) then second pair part (SPP)
● Discriminative relations: FPP provides or not the relevance for a SPP
Week 1 - Chapter 3. Turn Taking
Conversation Analysis: aims to describe, analyze and understand talk as a basic and constitutive
feature of human social life.
Turn-taking system: turns provide the underlying framework of conversation // it’s locally
managed by participants and party-administered
1. Turn-constructional component: units for constructing a turn
(sentences, clauses)
2. Turn-allocational component: techniques for turn-allocation, self or
other selection
One-at-a-time rule =none party talking at a time with no gaps and no overlap most of the time
(execpt when ther are assessments, laughter, and other extensive stretches for overlapping)
Turn-constructional units (TCU) = turns are constructed out of units
● Sentential clause: sentence
● Sentencial-expanded: added something to the turn
● Clausal: subject and verb only
● Phrasal: no verb
● Lexical: only a word
Transition-relevance place (TRPs): are discrete places in the developing course of a speaker’s
talk at which ending the turn or continuing it, transfers of the turn or its retention become
relevant
➢ The second speaker can be seen to orient to the relevance of speaker transition at
possible completion while listening to the syntactic (grammar), prosodic (intention) and
pragmatic (intonation) features
TRPs rules:
a. Current-selects-next: If C selects N, then N must speak next
b. Self-selection: If C does not select N, then any party may self-select
c. Speaker continues: If C does not select N and no other party self-selects, C may continue the
turn
Current selects next:
1. Sequence initiating action: when you obtain a response in your turn
, 2. Repair initiation: when there is a problem in his/her turn and he/she should be the one
to solve it
3. Tags: when you give the turn to the other speaker (e.g. “You know?”)
4. Situational particular: when you show that you know something about the other speaker
(referring to something about someone in a room full of people)
Addressing a next speaker selection:
- Question, request, gaze, complaints
Overlapping: occurs in a highly restricted set of places in conversation; is a product rather than
a violation of the system of turn-taking
1. Turn-terminal overlap: occurs at the end of the other speaker’s turn
2. Turn-initial overlap: occurs at the beginning of the turns
3. Recognitional overlap: occurs when there is recognition, availability and understanding
of the context
Turn-terminal overlap
Beth thought the “see” in Virginia’s turn to be the final turn,
which led to the overlap in the beginning of Beth’s turn.
Turn-initial overlap
Parky’s turn overlap with Old Man’s continuing turn
Recognitional overlap
Avan recognized what Bee was saying as being a question.
Interruption: moments in the overlap that are problematic (in contrast to overlap that
promotes the progress of action embodied in talk and where is recognition, interruption does
not)
, Resolving overlap:
● Dropping out
● Perturbations (volume, pitch, pace)
● Hitches (cut-offs, pace)
● Gaze
Resources to break colloquy/conversation:
1. Inside-out resources: in the conversation, two speakers invite the third to jump by
himself/herself
2. Outside-in resources: someone that is outside of the conversation breaks in by
himself/herself
Turn-taking in institutional interaction:
● Turn-type pre-allocation: management of talk for overhearers in large-scale settings
○ News interviews, courts, formal classroom
● Mediated: management of turn-taking traffic in a large group
○ Meetings
● Mixed pre-allocated & mediated: management of conflictual or sensitive interactions
○ Dispute mediation, specialized counselling techniques
Turn-taking in classroom interaction:
● Turn-type pre-allocation
● Teacher-Student-Teacher pattern: Initiation Response Evaluation (IRE) sequences
● Teacher-Student-Teacher pattern: pass-on-turns
● Other specific turn-taking practices, such as incomplete turn-constructional units
Week 2 - Chapter 4. Action and Understanding
Ways in which understanding is achieved in conversation:
❖ Practices of speaking: design of conversation (“Do you want me to buy you lunch?” //
“I'M buying you lunch”)
❖ Actions-in-talk: offering/informing
Adjacency Pair —-- talk is organised into sequences of paired actions = adjacency pairs
● Adjacent positioning of component utterances
● Different speakers produce each utterance
● Relative ordering of parts: first pair part (FPP) then second pair part (SPP)
● Discriminative relations: FPP provides or not the relevance for a SPP
