Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:53:36.615Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Marking the interaction order: The social consitution of turn exchange and speaking turns

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Rita Denny
Rita Denny
Affiliation:
Planmetrics, Inc., New York City
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper is about turn exchanges, the structure of speaking turns and the relationship of nonverbal behavior to both exchanges and turns. Its purpose is to present a conceptual framework for analyzing and interpreting turn exchange and speaking turns, and data are cited when possible. First discussed are specific forms of exchange such as “smooth” and “simultaneous.” The Praguean concept of functional differentiation is invoked to argue that forms of turn exchange have indexical value. The relationship of nonverbal behavior to turn exchange is then discussed. An analysis of videotaped, dyadic interactions between strangers, “getting acquainted” conversation, is reported in order to demonstrate that the nonoverlapping exchange has structurally, hence indexically. distinct forms. These forms, defined by both verbal and nonverbal elements, are ordered in a hierarchy of pragmatic markedness. It is concluded that differentiating pragmatic markedness in conversational patterns is a powerful device for determining indexical features of conversation and thus of relevance for a semiotic understanding of everyday speech.

Type
Articles
Information
Language in Society , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 1985 , pp. 41 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ball, P. (1975). Listener's responses to filled pauses in relation to floor apportionment. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 14:423–24.Google Scholar
Basso, K. (1970). “To give up on words” Silence in Western Apache culture. Southwest Journal of Anthropology 26:213–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bates, E., & Benigni, L. (1975). Rules of address in Italy: A sociological survey. Language in Society 4:271–88.Google Scholar
Beattie, G. (1977). The dynamics of interruptions and the filled pause. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 16:283–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beattie, C. (1978a). Floor apportionment and gaze in conversational dyads. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 17:7–15.Google Scholar
Beattie, C. (1978b). Sequential temporal patterns of speech and gaze in dialogue. Semiotica 23:29–51.Google Scholar
Beattie, C. (1980). The role of language production processes in the organization of behavior in face-to-face interaction. In Butterworth, B. (ed), Language production. New York: Academic. 69–107.Google Scholar
Brown, R. & Gilman, A. (1960). The pronouns of power and solidarity. In Sebeok, T. (ed.). Style in language. Cambridge: Technology Press. 253–76.Google Scholar
(Reprinted in Giglioli, P. (ed.) (1972) Language and social context. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 252–82.)Google Scholar
Chafe, W. (1980). Some reasons for hesitating. In Dechart, H. & Raupach, M. (eds.). Temporal variables in speech. The Hague: Mouton. 169–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denny, R. (1982a). Closing up openings: The realization of adjacency pairs in casual conversation. In Schneider, R. et al. (eds.), Nondeclaratives. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society.Google Scholar
Denny, R. (1982b) To talk or be silent: Functional specialization in a system regulating the sequence of talk in conversation. Ph.D. Dissertation. The University of Chicago. Department of Anthropology.Google Scholar
Duncan, S. (1972). Some signals and rules for taking speaking turns in conversation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 23:283–92.Google Scholar
Duncan, S., & Fiske, D. (1977). Face-to-face interaction. Hilisdale, N.J.: Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Duncan, S., Brunner, L., & Fiske, D. (1979). Strategy signals in face-to-face interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37:301–13.Google Scholar
Duncan, S., Kanki, B., Mokros, H., & Fiske, D. (1984). Pseudounilaterality, simple-rate variables and other ills to which interaction research is heir. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46:1335–48.Google Scholar
Eades, D. (1982). You gotta know how to talk …: Information seeking in southeast Queensland Aboriginal society. Australian Journal of Linguistics 2:61–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelsky, C. (1981). Who's got the floor?” Language in Society 10:383–421.Google Scholar
Ervin-Trip, S. (1976). Speech acts and social learning. In Basso, K. & Selby, H. (eds.), Meaning in anthropology. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 123–54.Google Scholar
Esau, H. (1981). Conversational turn-taking: Assessment and overview. Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest 4:45–56.Google Scholar
Esau, H., & Bristol-Poth, A. (1981). Contextural constraints on conversational turn-taking. Journal of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest 4:9–17.Google Scholar
Franck, D. (1979). Speech act and conversational move. Journal of Pragmatics 3:461–66.Google Scholar
Friedrich, P. (1966). Structural implications of Russian pronominal usage. In Bright, W. (ed), Sociolinguistics. The Hague: Mouton. 214–59.Google Scholar
(Reprinted in Friedrich, P. (1979) Language, context and the imagination. Stanford: University of California Press.)Google Scholar
Geertz, C. (1968). Linguistic etiquette. In Fishman, J. (ed.), Readings in the sociology of language. The Hague: Mouton. 282–95.Google Scholar
Geertz, C. (1972). Deep play: Notes on the Balinese cockfight. Daedalus 101:1–37.Google Scholar
(Reprinted in Geertz, C. (1973) The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic,. 412–54.)Google Scholar
Gerstman, L., Feldstein, S., & Jaffe, J. (1967). Syntactic versus temporal cues for speaker switching in natural dialogue. Journal of the Acoustic Society of America 42:1183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual. New York: Anchor Press.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1983). The interaction order. American Sociological Review 48:1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Good, C. (1979). Language as social activity: Negotiating conversation. Journal of Pragmatics 3: 151–67.Google Scholar
Good, D. & Butterworth, B. (1980). Hesitancy as a conversational resource: Some methodological implications. In Dechart, H. & Raupach, M. (eds.), Temporal variables in speech. The Hague: Mouton. 145–52.Google Scholar
Goodwin, C. (1981). Conversational organization. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Havránek, B. (1955). The functional differentiation of the standard language. In Garvin, P. (ed). A Prague school reader on aestltetics, literary structure and style. Washington, D.C.: Washington Linguistics Club.Google Scholar
Hymes, D. (1974). Ways of speaking. In Bauman, R. & Sherzer, J. (eds.), Explorations in the ethnography of speaking. Cambridge University Press. 433–51.Google Scholar
Jaffe, J., & Feldstein, S. (1970). Rhythms of dialogue. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Jakobson, R., & Halle, M. (1956). Fundamentals of language. The Hauge: Mouton.Google Scholar
Joos, M. (1967). The five clocks. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.Google Scholar
Keller, E. (1979). Gambits: Conversational strategy signals. Journal of Pragmatics 3:219–38.Google Scholar
Kendon, A. (1967). Some functions of gaze-direction in social interaction. Acta Psychologica 26:22–63.Google Scholar
Kreiman, J. (1982). Perception of sentence and paragraph boundaries in natural conversation. Journal of Phonetics 10:163–76.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1966). The social stratification of English in New York City. Washington. D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar
Lalljee, M. & Cook, M. (1969). An experimental investigation of the function of filled pauses in speech. Language and Speech 12:24.Google Scholar
Lehiste, I. (1979). Sentence boundaries and paragraph boundaries — Perceptual evidence. In Parasesson on the elements. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. 99–109.Google Scholar
Maclay, H., & Osgood, C. (1959). Hesitation phenomena in spontaneous English speech. Word 15:19–44.Google Scholar
Maynard, D. (1980). Placement of topic changes in conversation. Semiotica 30:263–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDowell, J. (1983). The semiotic Constitution of Kamsá ritual language. Language in Society 12:23–46.Google Scholar
Mokros, H. (1983). Production regularities: A Consideration for the description of social interactions. Paper presented to the American Psychological Association. Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Mokros, H. (1976) (ms.), Smiling as an interactive process: Sequential patterns and durational properties.Google Scholar
Philips, S. (1976). Some sources of cultural variability in the regulation of talk. Language in Society 5:81–95.Google Scholar
Reisman, K. (1974). Contrapuntal conversations in an Antiguan village. In Bauman, R. & Sherzer, J. (eds.), Explorations in the ethnography of speaking. Cambridge University Press. 110–24.Google Scholar
Rutter, D., Stephenson, G., Ayling, K., & White, P. (1978). The timing of looks in dyadic conversation. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 17:17–21.Google Scholar
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E., & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50:696–738.Google Scholar
Sankoff, G. & Brown, P. (1976). The origins of syntax in discourse: A case study of Tok Pisin relatives. Language 52:631–66.Google Scholar
(Reprinted in Sankoff, G. (1980) The social life of language. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 211–56.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sansom, B. (1980). The camp at Wallaby Cross. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal Studies.Google Scholar
Sapir, E. (1925). Sound patterns in English. Language 1:37–51.Google Scholar
(Reprinted in Mandelbaurn, D. (ed.) (1949) Selected writings of Edward Sapir Berkeley; University of California Press. 33–45.)Google Scholar
Schegloff, E., & Sacks, H. (1973). Opening up closings. Semiotica 8:289–327.Google Scholar
Silverstein, M. (1976). Shifters, linguistic categories and cultural description. In Basso, K. & Selby, H. (eds.), Meaning in Anthropology. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 11–55.Google Scholar
Tannen, D. (1981). New York Jewish conversational style. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 30:133–49.Google Scholar
Terrace, H., Petitto, L., Sanders, R. & Bevor, T. (1979). Can an ape create a sentence? Science 206:891–902.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed