MODULE 2 Meaning and discourse in English THE MACHINERY OF SPEECH Lesson 13

Conversation analysis (1) Turn taking Repair Adjacency pairs Insertion sequences Preferred and dispreferred responses

Turn taking Conversation is analysed in turns. One speaker and then the next A turn consists of one or more turn constructional units The end of a turn constructional unit is a point during a turn when another speaker can intervene This point is called a turn transitional relevant point

An example Each of these speeches is a turn. R. so um phoebe tells me you you er play piano M. yeah R. you know I used to play keyboards in college M. why do you have one here? R. no M. OK Each of these speeches is a turn. There are 6 TCU’s and 6 turns The other speaker intervenes regularly at each TTRP

How turn-taking works 3 possibilities The current speaker selects the next speaker OR if this does not operate The next speaker self-selects The current speaker may continue

You need to be able to look at a dialogue and work out what is happening in it with regard to turn-taking So learn the rules of turn-taking and practice using them to analyse conversations

An example R self-selects R selects M M selects R M self-selects R. so um phoebe tells me you you er play piano M. yeah R. you know I used to play keyboards in college M. why do you have one here? R. no M. OK R self-selects R selects M M selects R M self-selects

Repair Repair is needed when the turn taking rules are failing to operate Simultaneous speech often needs repair when two people are speaking at once Silence needs repair because no one is talking. Who repairs the silences in the conversation between Miss A and Mr B and between Mikey and Ross ?

Adjacency pairs Conversation is often structured around pairs of utterances that are dependent on each other.: “good morning” “good morning” “what’s the time?” “3 o’clock” These are called adjacency pairs

Breaking adjacency pairs If you break an adjacency pair (e.g. not answering a question, answering “hello” with “goodbye” you are causing “trouble” in the conversation which needs to be repaired.

Insertion sequences These are sequences which are inserted inside adjacency pairs The topic of the insertion is usually related to the first part of the adjacency pair

Turn 1 Shall I wear the blue shoes? Turn 2 You’ve got the black ones Turn 3 They’re not comfortable Turn 4 Yeah, they’re the best then, wear the blue ones An example Turns 2 and 3 are an insertion sequence and the adjacency pair is completed in turn 4

Preferred and dispreferred responses A preferred response is acceptance and is usually short, without hesitation or elaboration A dispreferred response is refusal and is usually performed hesitantly and elaborately

D: I was thinking we could have fish J: Fine A: well actually I’ve stopped eating fish now because of you know the damage it does to the ocean An example J’s response is a preferred response; it is short and not hesitant A’s response is a dispreferred response; it is hesitant and elaborate

Can you analyse the responses of Ross and Mikey in terms of preferred and dispreferred responses? Which is not an appropriate response?

Discourse markers (markers of interaction They can signal to the listener that the speaker wishes to continue speaking The can signal to the listener where the conversation is going compared to where it has been before

“well actually I’ve stopped eating fish” An example - “well” - “well” is sometimes used at the start of a turn to signal that the speaker wishes to continue speaking (filler) - it is also used to indicate that the speaker is about to say something that is in conflict with what the previous speaker has just said - or it can be used in both ways at the same time

RS-S R. so um phoebe tells me you you er play piano RSM M. Yeah R. you know I used to play keyboards in college? M. why do you have one here? MSR R. No MS-S M. OK R: um er you know I’m divorced er Phoebe er Phoebe says you’ve been divorced

Selection in Friends R selects M M: yeah yeah I I’m sorry I don’t really like to talk about it R self-selects R: oh that’s OK we’ll talk about somethin’ else M self-selects M: So you … you’re a palentologist right and M selects R R: yeh M self-selects M: my cousin’s a paleontologist R self-selects R: ha? R selects M M: (nods) R self-selects R: well he and I would probably have a lot to talk about