An analysis overlapping questions in casual ELF conversation: Cooperative or competitive contribution

Abstract

This paper examines how international students from diverse lingua-cultural backgrounds utilize overlapping questions to actively contribute to the development of ongoing interactions on social occasions in British university settings, where English is widely used as a lingua franca (ELF). The data consist of five recordings of elicited casual conversations among friends, and they were analyzed by using a conversation analytic approach. Overlapping talk is frequently reported as a demonstration of active involvement in ELF interactions (e.g., Cogo and Dewey, 2012). Yet little has been explored about overlaps that claim for the turn space. This paper investigates this type of overlap, focusing on overlapping questions. The analysis has shown that an overlapping question results from the simultaneous application of rules 1b (a next speaker self-selects) and 1c (the current speaker continues) of turn-taking by two speakers, although the actual production is sometimes delayed (Murata, 1994). With the overlap, the interactants neither treat the overlap as interruptive nor competitive (Bilmes, 1997; Schegloff, 2000, 2002). Rather, they cooperatively move the talk forward without clinging to the overlap. Their use, resolution, and response to overlapping questions are appropriate in interactions, and consequently, they are successful in achieving mutual understanding and developing interpersonal relationships.