Culture-Specific Aspects of Turn-taking: An Analysis of Conversations in a Saudi Context

Abstract

The present study comparatively analyzed the culture-specific turn-taking strategies of native Saudi Arabic speakers and non-Saudi native English speakers. It employed the qualitative research design guided by conversation analysis technique of Tannen (2005) and the model of coding analysis of Miles and Huberman (1984). Data was collected from ten students through the use of interviews and actual conversation analysis. Results of the study showed that the English speakers believe in minimum overlapping and minimum gaping in the turn-taking. Thus, they follow a continuous conversation pattern without pause in turn-taking. On the contrary, Saudi Arabic speakers take more time in turn-taking due to the cultural aspect and interruption of linguistic knowledge. Analysis of the findings surfaced that cultural elements in turn-taking are universally accepted for an organized conversation that follows specific norms and rules of the productive discussion. Turn-taking understanding to the speakers stimulates their competency and eventually contributes to deal with business and other informal meetings in a more efficient way. Further, this study presents theoretical and practical implications to EFL learning in Saudi Arabia that helps in understanding turn-taking in the verbal conversation towards global communicative competence.